Niagara driver wins $100K race
Third Modified race in as many days the charm for Williamson
Mat Williamson took the biggest piece of cake when Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, N.Y., celebrated its 100th anniversary with three nights of extradistance races.
The 29-year-old driver-for-hire from St. Catharines pocketed the biggest paycheque, too. His victory in a rain-delayed, 160-lap big block race was worth $100,000 — you read that right, 100K — to Williamson and car owner Jeff Behrent.
“That’s the biggest Modified payday in the last 200, 300 years. That’s crazy,” Williamson said from a cottage in northern Ontario, still wrapping his head around a purse with so many zeroes.
For the record, victory was its own reward for Williamson, who declined to say how much he earned for 1:46:51.224 behind the wheel, not including a two-hour rain delay.
“Nothing. I race for fun. That’s something I can’t say in an interview,” he said with a laugh.
After “a lot of ” second- and third-place finishes driving the No. 3 for Behrent over the last year and a half, everything came together when Williamson started Saturday night’s show stopper on the outside pole.
“We had a good car, and we had a good number. That’s what it takes in racing,” he said. “Fortunately, everything was right for us.”
Williamson, who set the pace in one of six 10-lap qualifying heats, crossed the finish line ahead of Stewart Friesen, formerly of Niagara-on-the-Lake but now living in Sparkers, N.Y., with 1.891 seconds to spare.
Williamson had a good restart with three laps remaining after taking over the lead 20 laps into the feature.
“We restarted on the top, held our lane and kept Stewie at bay.”
It was Williamson’s third extra-distance race in as many days and by far the longest. He placed ninth behind Matt Sheppard in a 100-lap Modified feature Thursday and finished sixth to Sheppard in an 80-lapper the following night, also in a Modified.
“We race a lot of long races. One 60 is pretty long, but that isn’t anything we haven’t seen before,” said Williamson, who has competed in 200-lap races at Fulton and Oswego, as well as at Orange County.
There’s really no trick to racing at longer distances.
“You just have to make sure you keep the car under you, keep the tires under you. Obviously, when you’re playing with fuel mileage, you have to take that into consideration,” he said. “But it felt like we had the car to beat from the start.
“You just have to keep your cool, kind of remain calm when you’re out there playing around.”
Williamson’s biggest payday ever increased his 2019 victory total to 14. Included in that are seven wins at Merrittville Speedway, his home track in Thorold.
Racing is much easier for drivers who are backed by good teams.
“You have to have good people behind you,” he said. “This racing thing can wear you out, but fortunately I’ve got four very good car owners. That makes it easy on my part.”
So how did the driver celebrate his win in the most-lucrative race in the history of dirt track racing? By getting behind the wheel and driving some more, of course.
“Actually, I drove home from Orange County. I got home at 11 o’clock yesterday (Sunday) morning after driving through the night,” he said. “We drove up north after that.”
Thanks to the ever-present New York State Police, Williamson’s speed on the New York Thruway wasn’t as fast as it was on the 5/8th-mile track northwest of New York City.
“They got me a couple of weeks ago, so I couldn’t go as fast as I wanted,” he recalled with a chuckle.
“This racing thing can wear you out, but fortunately I’ve got four very good car owners. That makes it easy on my part.” MAT WILLIAMSON St. Catharines race car driver