Hotshoe races to 15th win of the season

New Humberstone Speedway’s regular racing classes don’t include 358 Modified, but that hasn’t prevented Mat Williamson from becoming familiar with the fastest way around the 3/8-mile dirt track in Port Colborne.

On Sunday night, the 29-yearold driver from St. Catharines paced the field in the fifth annual Pete Cosco Memorial, winning the track’s signature race for the second year in a row.

Tyler Willard and Mike Bowman shared the front row for the start of the $4,000-to-win, 75lapper, but it didn’t take Williamson long to become the frontrunner. After taking over second following a restart early in the race, he passed Bowman on Lap 12 and remained out front the rest of the way.

Cosco owned the speedway when he died of a brain aneurysm at age 60 in August 2014.

Williamson’s 15th victory of the year was his second win in an extra-distance race, and second big payday, in as many weeks. He won a 160-lap battle of the big blocks Aug. 17 for car owner Jeff Behrent at Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, N.Y., that was worth $100,000.

Bowman was hoping for a weekend sweep after taking the checkered flag Saturday at Merrittville Speedway in Thorold.

Cody McPherson from St. Catharines won the other extradistance feature on Humberstone’s program Sunday, the 40-lap, $2,000-to-win Race of Champions 602 Dirt Sportsman Modified Series race.

Billy Bleich Jr. from Port Robinson and Mitch Dumont from Welland won their fourth features of the season in Thunder Stock and Pro 4 Trucks, respectively. Rob Pietz from Gasline earned win No. 2 of the year in Late Model and Jeremy Cooper from St. Catharines raced to his first victory in Mini Stock.

Here are the top five finishers as well as heat winners from Sunday night’s racing program at Humberstone:

358 Modified, Pete Cosco Memorial, 75 laps: 1. Mat Williamson, 2. Mike Bowman,

3. Matt Farnham, 4. Todd Gordon, 5. Chad Brachmann.

Heat winners: Williamson, Fred Carleton.

Sportsman, Race of Champions Series, 40 laps: 1. Cody McPherson, 2. Greg Panunte,

3. Brad Rouse, 4. Chad Chevalier,

5. Adam Leslie. Heat winners: Rouse, McPherson, James Michael Friesen.

Late Model, 20 laps:

1. Rob Pietz, 2. Sam Pennacchio,

3. Colton Ledingham, 4. Adam Ferri, 5. Andy Mayhew. Heat winners: Ferri, Jeff Dayman.

Thunder Stock, 20 laps:

1. Billy Bleich Jr., 2. Ken Sargent,

3. Dave Bailey, 4. Jim Lampman,

5. Donny Lampman. Heat winners: Bailey, Bleich, Barry Beck Jr.

Mini Stock, 15 laps: 1. Jeremy Cooper, 2. Jay Moulton, 3. Leroy Buscumb, 4. Craig Vlasic, 5. Evan Curtis. Heat winners: Vincent Pagnotta, Curtis.

Pro 4 Trucks, 15 laps:

1. Mitch Dumont, 2. Dylan Llord,

3. Frank Perry, 4. Jay Dupuis, 5. Brian Aube. Heat winner: Aube.