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Relatives Cheer Brad Williams To First Career Southwest DIRTcar Late Model Series Victory At Prescott Valley Raceway
PRESCOTT VALLEY , AZ – Aug. 19, 2008 – Brad Williams will always remember his first career Southwest DIRTcar Late Model Series feature win.
The milestone came last Saturday night (Aug. 16) at Prescott Valley Raceway – with a horde of his relatives in the bleachers to cheer him on.
“It was pretty exciting to win with a lot of family watching,” said Williams, a 34-year-old from Tucson , Ariz. “I had a couple aunts, uncles, cousins and second-cousins there even though the track is like 200 miles from their homes. They just all decided to make a trip to see me race.”
Williams was especially psyched to have his parents present for his victory in the 25-lap A-Main. His father Larry, after all, plays a key role in his racing effort.
“My dad does a tremendous amount of work on the car,” said Williams, who is in his third year as a dirt Late Model driver after deciding to advance from go-kart racing to a marquee dirt-track division. “He does all of our motor work, so we couldn’t have done it without him.”
Making just his third career start at the three-eighths-mile oval on the Yavapai County Fairgrounds in Northern Arizona , Williams waited until late in the distance to flex his muscle. He passed Mark Fowler of Peoria , Ariz. , who is second in the SWDLMS points standings, for the lead on lap 21 and never looked back.
Art Lacy of Casa Grande , Ariz. , slipped by Fowler for second place on lap 23 and finished there, several car lengths behind Williams. Fowler, who had taken the lead from Lacy on a lap-six restart, settled for third, with Tommy Hussak III of Picacho , Ariz. , and Lonnie Parker Sr. of El Mirage, Ariz., completing the top five.
“Everybody had been running around the bottom, and when I got to second it was pretty clear to me that Fowler was staying down there guarding the line that he thought he needed to,” said Williams, who started fifth. “I figured I might as well give the top a try, and when I went into (turn) one (on lap 21) it seemed to work. I came off of two side-by-side with Fowler so I went to the top in three, and that worked too.”
The $1,000 victory served as a great pick-me-up for Williams, who hasn’t enjoyed quite the campaign he was hoping for. He sits sixth in the SWDLMS points standings, 199 points behind leader Lonnie Parker Jr. of El Mirage , Ariz. , who owns six wins in nine tour events this season but finished 13th on Saturday night after being eliminated in a multi-car tangle on lap six.
“The win was real good for our season,” said Williams, who became the fourth different winner on the 2008 SWDLMS. “We’ve had some troubles this year – we broke a motor, had some other problems. It feels good to get a win.”
What’s more, Williams felt proud of the way he earned his checkered flag, using a 2006 Schwartz chassis car and a homebuilt engine.
“We’re running with some guys who have a lot of equipment and have been racing for a while,” said Williams, who works as an engineer for the Raytheon company in Tucson . “We run what can be considered an off-brand chassis compared to most guys and do all our own work on the motor, so to have it all come together and win a race makes it a lot more satisfying.”
The Southwest DIRTcar Late Model Series will have the next two weekends off before returning to action with another event at Prescott Valley Raceway on Sept. 6.
For more information on the Southwest DIRTcar Late Model Series, visit www.swdra.com.
Additional info on all of the series, sanctioning and member tracks of DIRTcar Racing is available by logging on to www.DIRTcar.com.
Southwest DIRTcar Late Model Series A-Main Finish at Prescott Valley Raceway (25 laps): 1. Brad Williams, 2. Art Lacy, 3. Mark Fowler, 4. Tommy Hussak III, 5. Lonnie Parker Sr., 6. Bruce Duckett, 7. Keith McKinney, 8. Andy Rudy, 9. Jerry Fincher, 10. John Romero, 11. Joey Moriarty, 12. Mike Tahtinen, 13. Lonnie Parker Jr., 14. Wes Hall, 15. Wayne Noyes
Southwest DIRTcar Late Model Series Points Standings (as of Aug. 16):
1. Lonnie Parker Jr. 480
2. Mark Fowler 374
3. Mike Tahtinen 313
4. Tommy Hussak III 312
5. Joey Moriarty 297
6. Brad Williams 281
7. Jerry Fincher 274
8. Lonnie Parker Sr. 260
9. Randy Carder 215
10. Wayne Noyes 189
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