St. Catharines driver races in big block series in U.S.
Mat Williamson wins $4,000 for second-place finish at Land of Legends Speedway
Mat Williamson didn’t wind up in victory lane but he did finish in the money in each one of the five features in the Oktober-FAST series.
The best finish — and the top payday — for the 30-year-old full-time driver from St. Catharines was a second to Matt Sheppard in a 60-lapper Saturday night at Land of Legends Speedway at Canandaigua, N.Y. The runner-up placement in the field of 28 big blocks was worth US$4,000 while Sheppard went home with $7,500 and Mike Mahaney, the thirdplace finisher, with $2,500.
“We struggled for the first 30 laps, just hanging in there. We would have liked to see the cushion go away a little bit, but you could throw some slide jobs,” Williamson said in a report posted at superdirtcarseries.com.
“It was good hard racing with Mike (Mahaney) and we hope we put a show on for the fans.”
Williamson, the 2019 Super DIRTcar Series champion, earned $1,800 for a fourth-place finish to Jimmy Phelps in the 60-lap feature Thursday night at Fulton Speedway in Fulton, N.Y., and $1,600 after placing fifth to Max McLaughlin in the series finale, a 75-lapper Sunday night at Weedsport Speedway in Weedsport, N.Y.
Williamson’s other finishes behind the wheel of the No. 88 was a seventh Monday night at Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, N.Y., worth $1,300; and a ninth Friday night at Can-Am Speedway in Lafargville, N.Y., $1,100.
Anthony Perrego set the pace at both Albany- Saratoga and Can-Am speedways. Each race was a $7,500-to-win 60-lapper.
The second race in the OktoberFAST series, Tuesday night at Utica-Rome Speedway in Vernon, N.Y., was rained out.