After scoring his first Super DIRTcar Series wins at Albany-Saratoga Speedway and Land of Legends Raceway this season, Mat Williamson added another first to his resume Friday night.
He inherited the lead from Tim Fuller with 21 laps to go and drove away to win the R.D. Hutchinson Memorial—his first Series triumph at Can-Am Speedway.
“Tonight was a lot of luck with drawing the pole and [Fuller] spinning,” Williamson said. “That’s the way our year’s been. We’ve been really lucky or unlucky. Last night, we drew eight out of eight, and tonight, we drew one.
“I was just trying to hit my marks. At the end, I didn’t know where to be. I just wanted to use up the whole racetrack and get to the end.”
Williamson, who earned the SRI Performance and Stock Car Steel Redraw Bonus, led the field to the green in the 67-lap Feature.
He was challenged immediately by 2023 Super DIRTcar Series Rookie of the Year Felix Roy, who tried driving around Williamson’s No. 88 on the outside. However, Williamson pulled away from the Napierville, QC driver in two laps, gaining a one-point-four-second lead in the first 12 laps.
While Williamson led, Tim Fuller started charging through the field after falling back to 11th on the race’s opening lap. The 2024 Can-Am Speedway track champion needed 15 laps to move up six positions, taking over fifth when the yellow flag came out for Alex Payne on Lap 15.
When the race resumed, Fuller quickly moved to third in two corners and chased down Billy Dunn for the runner-up position.
It took the Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Famer four laps to find a way around Dunn, using the extreme inside line in Turns 3 and 4 to pull even with the No. 49. When they reached Turns 1 and 2 on Lap 19, Fuller found a burst of speed and slid past Dunn as they exited the corner and drove down the backstretch.
As Williamson caught lap traffic, Fuller reeled in the 2019 Super DIRTcar Series champion, pulling within a tenth of a second on Lap 27. Two laps later, Fuller found the opportunity he needed to get by Williamson, pulling even with him as they waged war for the lead.
Running the same line he used to pass Dunn, Fuller’s momentum on the inside of Turns 3 and 4 carried him past Williamson as they crossed the start/finish line on Lap 29.
Fuller opened up a three-second lead over Williamson in the next 16 laps. But everything changed for the Edwards, NY driver when he entered Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 46.
He tried driving around the outside of Zach Payne, a lap car, in Turns 3 and 4. When they hit the apex of the corner, Fuller’s left front tire made contact with Payne’s right rear, sending Fuller around in Turn 4 with a left front flat tire.
That handed the lead back to Williamson, who pulled away from Dunn on the restart.
From there, Williamson dominated the final 21 laps to win the R.D Hutchinson Memorial, a victory worth $7,567.
Williamson thanked the Buzz Chew Racing crew members for their efforts in Victory Lane, as the team made several changes to the car after winning the Heat Race.
“We changed the transmission, driveline, driveshaft, and both yokes,” Williamson said. “We picked up a bad vibration and didn’t know what it was, so we changed everything just to be safe.
“It was chaotic over there and to give these guys a win after working that hard, they really deserved it.”
With his 29th career Series win, Williamson cut Matt Sheppard’s points lead to 31 points.
Can-Am Speedway regular Billy Dunn finished second in his first race in a Big Block since Super DIRT Week 51.
Despite a top-three finish, he said he knew he faced an uphill climb running a 358-Modified all season.
“We haven’t run the Big Block all year so, to run up front all night was really nice,” Dunn said. “I didn’t really know what adjustments to make all night. It’s just been so long since we ran a Big Block. It’s a little bit of a home-field advantage, but it’s a disadvantage not running much Big Block stuff. But we’ll take it, that’s for sure.”
Tim Sears finished third, earning his third consecutive podium finish. He also passed Jimmy Phelps for third in the points standings.
The Hastings, NY driver said he found the line he needed to move forward at the end of the race.
“When we went green, I just stayed around the bottom,” Sears said. “But the track looked really good, so I figured it was going to stay really racy. At the end, we started moving around a little bit and found something in Turn 1 and 2. I started rolling the bottom in (Turns) 3 and 4 and tried to pick away our gap with Billy at the end, but we let him just get away too far on the last restart.”
Sheppard finished fourth, earning his fifth consecutive top five and 11th in the last 13 races.
Anthony Perrego rounded out the top five, and Fuller rebounded to finish sixth.
UP NEXT: The Super DIRTcar Series returns to Albany-Saratoga Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 21 for Malta Massive Weekend. A $10,000 prize is on the line in the 100-lap Feature along with a guaranteed starting spot at Super DIRT Week 52.
If you can’t make it to a Super DIRTcar Series event, watch all the action live on DIRTVision, either online or with the DIRTVision app.
R.D. Hutchinson Memorial (67 Laps): 1. 88-Mat Williamson[1]; 2. 49-Billy Dunn[2]; 3. 83X-Tim Sears Jr[5]; 4. 9S-Matt Sheppard[8]; 5. 4-Anthony Perrego[4]; 6. 19-Tim Fuller[6]; 7. 2-Jack Lehner[10]; 8. 91-Felix Roy[3]; 9. 70A-Alex Payne[13]; 10. 12-Darren Smith[7]; 11. 35-Mike Mahaney[11]; 12. 91D-Billy Decker[9]; 13. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[21]; 14. 21A-Peter Britten[12]; 15. 7Z-Zachary Payne[15]; 16. 28-Michael Trautschold[19]; 17. 7S-Shaun Shaw[24]; 18. 15X-Justin Stone[18]; 19. 27J-Danny Johnson[17]; 20. 66W-Derek Webb[22]; 21. 39-Ryan Bartlett[27]; 22. (DNF) 11T-Jeff Taylor[20]; 23. (DNF) 9-Tyler Meeks[23]; 24. (DNF) 99L-Larry Wight[25]; 25. (DNF) 27JR-Daniel Johnson[26]; 26. (DNF) 60-Jackson Gill[16]; 27. (DNF) 17-Marcus Dinkins[14]
Contingency Awards:
JAM Performance Fastest Hot Lap Award: Matt Sheppard ($100)
Billy Whittaker Cars Quick Time Award: Tim Fuller ($100)
VP Racing Fuels Award: Felix Roy ($50)
ARP Bolts Award: Matt Sheppard ($50)
ASI Racewear Award: Mike Mahaney ($50)
Behrent’s Performance Warehouse Award: Mat Williamson ($50)
Cometic Gasket Award: Jimmy Phelps $50
Comp Cams Award: Darren Smith ($50)
DIG Racing Products: Mike Mahaney ($50)
Fox Factory Award: Tim Sears Jr. ($50)
MSD Award: Anthony Perrego ($50)
Swift Springs Award: Tim Fuller ($50)
Weld Racing Wheels Award: Billy Dunn ($50)
Hoosier Racing Tire Award: Matt Sheppard (Free Tire)
SRI Performance/Stock Car Steel Pole Award: Mat Williamson ($100)
Post Race Tech: Checked Engine Rotation and helmets for Traction Control.
