(July 4, 2024) Canandaigua, NY – Mat Williamson, the accomplished driver from St. Catharines, ON, achieved his goal of winning his first Super DIRTcar Series Feature at Land of Legends Raceway. Leading the final 62 laps, Williamson secured the victory at the Stars and Stripes Spectacular, marking his third Series win in the last four races.
“To win the Super DIRTcar Series race was why we came here every week,” Williamson said. “Traditionally, we’d go and win at Weedsport and do something completely different at Land of Legends. We never stuck to the same thing. It seems like we went to Albany-Saratoga after Weedsport and ran pretty good, went to Canandaigua on weekly race and run, then went to Ransomville and won with it. It says a lot about my guys to get the car the same between cars, and I can’t thank them enough.”
Race Recap
Anthony Perrego started from the pole and led the field at the beginning of the 76-lap Feature, pulling away from Jack Lehner on the first lap. Meanwhile, Williamson skillfully navigated the outside lane, passing both Jimmy Phelps and Jack Lehner to claim second place by Lap 8.
Following Williamson’s lead, ten-time defending Series champion Matt Sheppard also utilized the outside lane, moving into third place by Lap 10. Unfortunately for Lehner, his impressive run came to an abrupt end due to fuel and ignition issues on Lap 11, bringing out the first caution of the race and positioning Williamson on the outside for the restart.
When racing resumed, Williamson surged ahead, overtaking Perrego on the outside of Turn 2 to take the lead. Sheppard followed suit, passing Perrego for second place on Lap 19.
Williamson extended his lead to two seconds before a flat tire for Zach Payne brought out another caution on Lap 35. On the restart, Williamson outpaced Sheppard, who managed to get close but couldn’t make the pass. Despite another caution with 24 laps remaining, Williamson maintained his lead and drove to victory, securing his fourth win of 2024 and the 26th of his career, tying him for eleventh all-time with Doug Hoffman.
Post-Race Reflections
Despite handling issues, Williamson praised his car’s performance. “I felt really good in the middle keeping the torque arms loaded,” he said. “It didn’t steer very good. It was tight, but I think that’s why we were so good at getting off the corner. I could use the lap cars to judge how good I was on the bottom or the top. And when Matt’s behind you, you never stop thinking. This win meant a lot for the 88 team, and it’s cool to get the win.”
With the $7,600 victory, Williamson extended his Super DIRTcar Series points lead to 15 points over Sheppard, who finished second. Sheppard had switched to a backup car after issues in Hot Laps, which paid off as he climbed from 10th to second in the Feature. “I thought I was going to get him for a little bit there, but when I was trying to get by him, I overheated my right rear,” Sheppard said. “We obviously want to win races, but we keep knocking on the door. If we keep knocking, eventually, we’ll get there.”
Jimmy Phelps earned his first podium finish of 2024 by finishing third. “We fell back to fourth but climbed our way back,” Phelps said. “There were a couple of really fast cars in front of us, and we were just a spec off being able to run with those two. But all in all, that’s the goal right now, and we got to be third before we can beat them.”
Peter Britten, who started 22nd, was named the race’s hard charger, finishing fourth. Anthony Perrego rounded out the top five.
Upcoming Events
Next, the Super DIRTcar Series will debut at Thunder Mountain Speedway in Center Lisle, NY, for The Natural 77 Honoring Dale Planck on Tuesday, July 9. The 77-lap Feature offers a $7,700 prize for the winner. Fans can watch the race live on DIRTVision, either online or with the DIRTVision app.
Stars and Stripes Spectacular Results (76 Laps):
- Mat Williamson [4]
- Matt Sheppard [6]
- Jimmy Phelps [3]
- Peter Britten [22]
- Anthony Perrego [1]
- Alex Payne [11]
- Larry Wight [19]
- Tim Sears Jr [5]
- Justin Stone [9]
- Mike Mahaney [13]
- Erick Rudolph [15]
- Alan Johnson [14]
- Danny Johnson [20]
- Dalton Slack [12]
- Justin Haers [17]
- Darren Smith [24]
- Daniel Johnson [7]
- Michael Trautschold [21]
- Justin Wright [18]
- Felix Roy [10]
- CG Morey [23]
- Marcus Dinkins [26]
- (DNF) Zachary Payne [8]
- (DNF) Dave Rauscher [25]
- (DNF) Todd Root [16]
- (DNF) Jack Lehner [2]
