By Bill Foley
Mat Williamson was “The Intimidator” on Sunday night at the Weedsport Speedway as once taking the lead from early pacesetter Peter Britten he finished the non-stop 100 lap event just about three seconds behind runner up Jimmy Phelps.
The Buzz Chew Chevy 88 was one of only four cars in the lead lap when Dave Farney threw the checkers on the Super DIRTcar Series event.
On “Victory Hill” Mat not only felt he had redeemed himself from the week before, but also felt he had proven something. Mat said, “I let one get away last week and I owed this to Buzz and the crew.”
In the Weedsport 50 lapper just seven days earlier he went for an opening on the low side in turn two as he was attempting to pass leader Matt Sheppard, but the two made contact and Mat’s car was towed off with front end damage.
He said, “The car was really good. Hats off to my guys. Obviously here last week I thought I lost the race for them and had to have a good show. This was a good win so hats off to them guys for getting it straightened out.”
Continuing he said, “I know if they gave me a car. I wanted to give these guys a good show and they deserved it more than anything. Buzz came up from Florida this week so to get this for him means the world. I wouldn’t be where I’m at without him. I think we got something special this year. I’m hoping there’s a whole lot more of these.”
Phelps Passes Sheppard On Last Corner for 2nd
Jimmy Phelps chased Matt Sheppard for the entire event before finally getting past him coming off the fourth turn on the final lap to clinch the runner up position.
Jimmy said, “I really think our cars were pretty even. It seems like when we got in traffic and then, you know, you could lick your chops a bit. It seemed to work out for us and it kind of went our way in the last corner there.”
Continuing he explained, “If you can run with the 9s we’ll take it. You know that at least you are in the ballpark. I really think the track was good. It was smooth and you could run all over it. “
Sheppard got outside of Peter Britten on the 30th lap and settled into second place where he ran until the final turn of the final lap.
Matt said, “You know, we got rolling a little bit in the middle of that race. And I actually thought we were a little better than we were last week. And then kind of at the end there. I just, I just lost the handle of the car. It seemed like I’d either lose the nose or lose the back. I was kind of hanging on and I didn’t know whether to try and drive around the seven or follow him. I guess I didn’t use up the track there at the end and Jimmy was able to drive around me. But you know, all in all, pretty good night for us. You know, been solid here at first and a third. We’ll move on to the next one.
Britten Hoped Weedsport Luck Would Improve
Polesitter Britten had hoped that his Weedsport luck would finally improve.
Talking to Dirt Track Digest after the race, Peter said, “I don’t think we were quite good enough when the track is like that. Obviously, it started off slippery, but then it got more slippery. I just didn’t have the grip. I suck here so it’s been a struggle. I definitely learned a lot out there tonight and I was able to change up my line, kind of roll the middle more. And once I did that, I was able to get my speed back up.”
Continuing, he explained, “Car wise I think we were just good. So it’s a very good step for us, but I think we just needed a little more. Obviously, Williamson was in a class of his own. We got beat by Williamson. Jimmy is really good around here. And then Sheppard, so for us I think it is a good step forward.”
Chris Hile Finishes A Solid 5th
Completing the top five was Chris Hile who had passed Mike Mahaney on the 45th lap to get to where he eventually finished.
Chris talked about the track noting, “It was a lot better than it has been in the past. At least we could kind of move around. I could float the middle and make different lanes. I think we were solid and at the end we could still see fourth and third and second. Congrats to Mat, boy, what a show. I certainly didn’t expect to get lapped running in fifth place, but he was on rails so it was a good one to build on.”
Thinking about “what if” Hile said, “We were rolling good and I was excited. Then again, who knows maybe if we had a yellow we might have been able to pick up one or two more spots, but we’ll take a solid fifth and move on.”