With a chance to win in front of his home crowd, Mat Williamson didn’t disappoint Tuesday night at Ransomville Speedway.
The 2019 Super DIRTcar Series championship led all 75 laps at his home track to win the Ron Martin Summer Nationals, his sixth Series win of 2024.
“To win at home was super cool,” Williamson said. “Anytime you can get a Series race around home is special.
“It’s a memorial race for Ron Martin. I got to pit next to Greg (Ron’s son) for many years and hang out with Ron and the whole crew and to win this race in honor of him is really cool.”
Williamson, who won the SRI Performance and Stock Car Steel Redraw Bonus, led the field to the green in the 75-lap Feature, pulling ahead of Gary Lindberg in Turn 2 on the race’s opening lap.
As the St. Catharines, ON driver completed Lap 1, 10-time defending Super DIRTcar Series champion Matt Sheppard dove underneath Lindberg in Turn 4 to take over second.
Three laps later, Stewart Friesen snuck by Lindberg on Lap 4 to grab third.
Williamson pulled away from Sheppard early until he reached the tail of the field. That allowed Sheppard to close in on Lap 15. Friesen followed Sheppard as they chased Williamson through traffic.
Sheppard reached Williamson’s back bumper on many occasions, trying to pass the No. 88 while holding off Friesen, who stayed with the top two for most of the race.
The Niagara-On-The-Lake, ON driver’s best chance to pass Sheppard for second came on Lap 55 when he swung to the outside of “Super Matt” in Turn 3. But Sheppard’s momentum was too much as the No. 9S held the position, and Friesen lost ground.
While Friesen had a shot to pass Sheppard, Williamson went untouched at the front, driving to the $7,500 victory. It’s his 28th career Series win, tying him with Jimmy Horton for 10th on the Series all-time wins list.
Despite leading every lap, Williamson said the race reminded him of his mistake while leading at Thunder Mountain Speedway last month.
“I knew that I couldn’t miss the bottom,” Williamson said. “I needed to be very patient and hit my marks. And not do what I did at Thunder Mountain. I wanted to give these guys a win. I drew a good number, and we did what we needed to do.”
Sheppard crossed the line second, appearing in Victory Lane with a right-rear flat tire. And even though he finished behind Williamson, he still extended his lead to 34 points in the Series standings after earning bonus points in Qualifying and by winning his Heat Race.
“It was a good night for us,” Sheppard said. “We didn’t win the race, but we gained points tonight. We had a really good car, but this thing locked down early.
“To come into [Williamson’s] home track and set fast time and win a [Heat Race] and run second to him, we’ll take it.”
Friesen crossed the line third, his sixth Series podium in seven races.
It was a homecoming for the driver of the No. 44, who grew up near the Western, NY facility.
“It’s great to see this event keep going after all these years,” Friesen said. “I spent a lot of time with [Ron Martin] here when I was a kid. It’s cool to see it going, to see all the improvements at the facility and a big crowd.
“We slid by a couple of guys there on the start, and it was what it was. It locked down pretty early. I tried the top a couple of times in Turn 3. I got outside of Sheppard one and tried to slide up and see if there was anything left out of (Turn) 4, but there was nothing there.”
Jack Lehner finished fourth, his best career Ransomville finish and Tim Sears Jr. rounded out the top five.
UP NEXT: The Super DIRTcar Series heads to Lebanon Valley Speedway on Saturday, Aug. 31, for Mr. DIRT Track USA, a 100-lap Feature paying $ 15,000-to-win. A guaranteed starting spot in the Billy Whittaker Cars 200 is also up for grabs.
If you can’t make it to the track, watch all the action live on DIRTVision, either online or with the DIRTVision app.
Ron Martin Summer Nationals (75 Laps): 1. 88-Mat Williamson[1]; 2. 9S-Matt Sheppard[3]; 3. 44-Stewart Friesen[5]; 4. 2-Jack Lehner[4]; 5. 83X-Tim Sears Jr[6]; 6. 37S-Gary Lindberg[2]; 7. 4-Anthony Perrego[8]; 8. 25-Erick Rudolph[7]; 9. 3RS-Dalton Slack[9]; 10. 27J-Danny Johnson[10]; 11. 27JR-Daniel Johnson[11]; 12. 21A-Peter Britten[13]; 13. 91-Felix Roy[14]; 14. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[15]; 15. 35-Mike Mahaney[18]; 16. 70A-Alex Payne[16]; 17. 22-Noah Walker[17]; 18. 12-Darren Smith[24]; 19. 28-Michael Trautschold[21]; 20. 99L-Larry Wight[19]; 21. 26-Kyle Richner[23]; 22. 14-CG Morey[22]; 23. (DNF) 15X-Justin Stone[25]; 24. (DNF) 5-Andrew Smith[20]; 25. (DNF) 3-Chad Brachmann[12]; 26. (DNF) 17-Marcus Dinkins[26]
Contingency Awards:
JAM Performance Fastest Hot Lap Award: Stewart Friesen ($100)
Billy Whittaker Cars Quick Time Award: Matt Sheppard ($100)
VP Racing Fuels Award: Erick Rudolph ($50)
ARP Bolts Award: Jack Lehner ($50)
ASI Racewear Award: Daniel Johnson ($50)
Behrent’s Performance Warehouse Award: Mat Williamson ($50)
Cometic Gasket Award: Peter Britten $50
Comp Cams Award: Danny Johnson ($50)
DIG Racing Products: Dalton Slack ($50)
Fox Factory Award: Tim Sears Jr. ($50)
MSD Award: Tim Sears Jr. ($50)
Swift Springs Award: Anthony Perrego ($50)
Weld Racing Wheels Award: Matt Sheppard ($50)
Hoosier Racing Tire Award: Dalton Slack (Free Tire)
SRI Performance/Stock Car Steel Pole Award: Mat Williamson ($100)
Post Race Tech: Durometers on the right front were checked on top six in Heat Races. All cars passed.
Fuel was checked on top five following Feature. All cars passed.
