Mat Williamson isn’t necessarily tired of finishing second to Matt Sheppard in the Super DIRTcar Series — he’s got plenty of wins to lift his ego — but the 33-year-old is certainly ready for Sheppard’s reign to end.
The rivals entered the season-ending World Finals with 72 points separating them, with Sheppard maintaining a tight grip on the lead.
“We’re going to do everything we can do, but obviously we need some bad luck on his side,” Williamson said on Friday as he evaluated the title fight. “It kind of is what it is once you get down here (to Charlotte).”
It was the same story last season, as Sheppard and Williamson finished 1-2 in the points after the driver of the No. 9s kept Williamson at bay during World Finals week. Despite another round of valiant efforts from the No. 88 modified wheelman, it was no match for Sheppard, who put in near-perfect performances at The Dirt Track at Charlotte and won two of three races.
With the pair of victories further extending his points lead, the No. 9s driver wrapped up his 10th Super DIRTcar Series title during Friday night’s feature.
“It seems surreal to me, honestly,” Sheppard said. “Man, we’ve just had such an incredible run going, it’s hard to even put into words.”
Known as a man of few words, the New York native’s easy smile and lighthearted mood said it all as he stood on the frontstretch on Saturday night, waiting to collect his championship trophy.
In the moments between the confetti flying and the cheers of the crowd, Sheppard took a minute to reflect on his incredible run in the series.
The 41-year-old earned his first Super DIRTcar championship in 2010, winning six races en route to his maiden title. That was his first of three consecutive championships (2010-’12).
“We started rolling there in 2010, we were running good and winning championships and it was like, that’s just what we did, almost every year,” Sheppard said. “We did have some off years and we got beat a few times.”
All in all, Sheppard has won 10 titles in the last 14 years.
Of the three championships he didn’t win, one belongs to Williamson.
“We had a chance in 2019 to race for a championship, where it was pretty much car beat car,” said Williamson, who earned his first Super DIRTcar title in 2019. “But the last couple years, Matt’s had such a gap on the points going into Charlotte that we haven’t had a shot.”
The final points gap between the two was 83 points. Both drivers earned five points-paying wins over the course of the 20-race season.
“We have nothing to hang our heads about, we’ve had a great year. Matt’s just been very consistent. His bad runs were second and third, where ours were 13th and 12th,” Williamson explained. “That’s the difference in winning the championship.”
Sheppard wasn’t necessarily happy with his win record prior to World Finals, as he had only earned three trophies in nine months. But his double dose of victory at The Dirt Track put the exclamation point on his season that he was hoping for.
“We didn’t win the races we wanted to win, but then to come down here and pick two off, finish it in style — it feels really good,” Sheppard said.
When ranking this title in comparison to the nine others he’s collected, the driver of the No. 9s puts it somewhere in the middle.
“You know, some years you really get rolling and it feels like a piece of cake. The next year, you’re really struggling and clawing and you might get beat,” Sheppard described. “This year, we were solid.”