Going the distance and then some
Mat Williamson wins 67-lap Brian Stevens Memorial to improve to 5-0
Mat Williamson extended his undefeated streak at Merrittville Speedway by winning, fittingly enough, the first extended-distance race of the season at the Thorold track.
The St. Catharines driver, among the hottest hotshoes racing on the dirt track circuit so far this year, improved to 3-0 at his hometown track with a dominating performance in the 67-lap Brian Stevens Memorial.
Despite losing commanding leads on restarts with eight and two laps remaining, Williamson held off Chad Brachmann of Sanborn, N.Y., and Ryan Susice of Ransomville, N.Y., for the victory in the $2,700-to-win marquee event a special Victoria Day holiday program Monday night.
“It’s real nice to win it again in honour of Brian, he was a great man and he’s certainly missed,” Williamson said in victory lane where he was greeted by Stevens’ daughter Melissa and several former crew members of the Stevens Racing Team.
Among the crew members taking part in the celebration was Ray Samuel, how a member of Williamson’s race team.
“It’s cool to do it again with Ray as my crew chief,” Williamson said after improving his overall record to 5-0.
It was the fourth Brian Stevens Memorial, but the tradition has already had two back-to-back winners: Erick Rudolph of Ransomville and, now, Williamson.
Normally, the payout to the pace-setter in Modified 358, the premier racing class at Merrittville, is $1,200, and usually the longest they race Saturday nights is 35 laps.
However, extra money was added to the pot as well as extra laps — 67, to coincide with the track’s 67th season of racing — to honour the memory of Stevens, a Merrittville Speedway Wall of Fame inductee.
Stevens was a second-generation racer who, following in the tracks of his father Ray, won more than 150 features in Late Models, Big-Block Modified and what is now the S & W Service Centre 358 Modified Division.
In addition to winning points championships at Merrittville in 1982 and 1992, Brian Stevens took two track titles at Humberstone Speedway.
He also competed at Ransomville Speedway and at DIRTcar member tracks throughout the northeastern United States in his racing career.
In 2014 Stevens was inducted into the CAA Niagara Wall of Fame, joining his father on the wall. The Stevens are only one of four father-and-son combinations on the wall.
Modified 358s made up most of the field, but instead of taking the night off, as they were scheduled to do, some Sportsman drivers entered their cars as well.
Modified 358 engines are more powerful than Sportsman — 600 horsepower, compared to 380 —
but a dry racing surface, especially in the late going, could nullify that advantage.
“If the track becomes real dry, they could wind up using some of that extra horsepower spinning their wheels,” Jay Mallory, a Sportsman driver from St. Catharines, said hopefully.
“We got a chance.”
Mallory finished 11th, one back of Modified 358 racer Fred Carlton of St. Catharines and two spots ahead of Rudolph.
A total of 18 cars started the race, with 14 of them sticking around until the end.
Scott Wood’s night ended in the pits with car trouble following a caution flag on the 59th lap.
Before the race the Modified 358 driver from Thorold said the key to staying in contention in extended-distance races comes down to paying close attention to the tires.
“Tire conservation is huge,” the 25-year racing veteran said. “You want to have tires left at the end of the night, you don’t want to go all out right away.
“Cars can go all out for 35 laps, maybe even 50, but nothing after that.”
In the 35-lappers that Modified 358s normally race, Wood wouldn’t begin thinking about making his final push until there were 10 laps to go.
“The same applies tonight, you go with 10 laps remaining,” the 53-year-old millwright with St. Lawrence Seaway Management
Corp. said.
Like Sportsman, mini Stocks also took the night off to clear more room in the pit area for a visit by the Action Sprint Tour featuring Crate Sprint Cars.
Shone Evans of Scotland, Ont., southwest of Brantford, won the 20-lap Crate Sprint feature.
Brad Herron, Jesse Costa, Aaron Turkey and Holly Porter rounded out the top five.
Two familiar names to Mod Lite fans at Merrittville — Beamsville’s Paul Klager and Fonthill’s Steven Beckett — placed eighth and 13th, respectively, in the field of 26.
Thorold’s Brent Begolo, the defending Mod Lites points champion as well as a full-time racer in the Sportsman division, took the checkered flag in the Mod Lite feature for the second time in three starts.
Rob Murray of St. Catharines led a top five of Kyle Pelrine, Ken Sargent, Brad Sheehan and Justin Ramsay across the finish line in the 20-lap Hoosier Stock feature.
There was action in the new V6 division for the third time season, and for the second time Adam Plazek of Caistor Centre had the car that couldn’t be beat.
The Plazeks and the Stevens have a long
history, he said in victory lane after setting the pace in the 12-lapper.
“My grandparents Don and Peggy crewed for Brian Stevens, and we were sponsors of the team,” Plazek said.
Round 1 in the David Chevrolet King of the Crates Series for Sportsman highlights the program when racing resumes at Merrittville Saturday.
Mini Stocks, Hoosier Stocks, Mod Lites and Modified 358s also will be featured, as will V6 Pure Stock.