Short Week Ends on Positive Front for Mat Willamson

By DAVE SULLY - With a rain-out of the Big Block Series race at Utica Rome on Wednesday and the night off from Lernerville for their Firecracker Late Model special, the team only hit the track once this week, Saturday, June 28th at Merrittville. At the end of the night, the team found itself a mere two points out of the point lead, following a gutty fourth place finish in what at times was a frustrating affair.

Following his fourth place finish in the heat, Mat, with his win the week before being handicapped, found himself slotted twelfth for the feature. Following an early caution, the race went green to checkers, which proved to be a problem for some and a boon to others. One who profited mightily was Pete Bicknell, who suffered a left front flat early, but was able to keep running well as long as there was no caution. He ended up seventh. The ones who didn't profit were those who needed a caution to adjust on their cars.

Mat clawed his way up to fifth by lap 13, and then was involved in a grueling battle for position with Chad Brachmann, Mike Bowman and Todd Gordon, with young Travis Miller in the middle of it, as well. Being a rookie, it was tough for the others to predict what he might do, making passes for position problematical. As the laps wore down, Brachmann took over second, while Mat was able to grab fourth. He tried to challenge Gordon for third, but ran out of time in the race, which was won by large margin by Brandon Easey.

Mat talked about the night, declaring, “I think we had a better car than the guys that finished in front of us, maybe not Brandon. The starting position didn't help, and we got some unlucky breaks where Chad got some lucky breaks. We were just biding our time. We finished behind Chad and Todd, but at one point I was racing in front of them. It was certainly what lane you picked and who you were racing behind which determined who you passed and who you got caught up with. It was good racing between me, Bowman, and Todd. We raced three wide for the last fifteen laps trying to get by Miller. He's all over the place, so you're trying to figure out where he's going and not go with him. It was just hard. We've just got to keep the momentum going and the string of top fives. The S and W car has been great.

At the end of the day, the standings saw Brachmann assuming the lead by those two points, with plenty of racing to go. Heck, we're just entering July, so nothing has been decided yet. With a slew of Series races coming up, along with the weekly shows at Lernerville and Merrittville, there is no time to muse about the past.