CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. — In both Super DIRTcar Series stops in 2024 at Land of Legends Raceway, no one has been better than Mat Williamson.
The St. Catharines, Ont. driver grabbed the lead from Alex Yankowski on lap 35 and never looked back, winning Tuesday’s SummerFAST opener and sweeping both series features at the track this season.
“I got jumbled up at the start and fell back to seventh,” Williamson said. “And then, about five laps in, it felt like the tires fired, and I could start picking them off. When you’re reeling in Sheppard, you know you’ve got a good car.
“When I got to Alex [Yankowski], he was really good on the top, but I could really maneuver all over. Hats off to the guys on a good race car. That thing was fun to drive.”
Mike Mahaney, the SRI Performance & Stock Car Steel Pole Award winner, led the field to the green in the 75-lap feature. The Elizabethtown, N.Y. driver led the race’s first three laps before Yankowski challenged him.
The Covington Township, Pa. driver, who started second, wasted no time wrestling the lead away from “Smooth Shoe.” He thundered around the outside of Mahaney’s No. 35 to take the lead on lap four.
“Kid Rocket” pulled away until the race’s first caution came out on lap eight for Matt Caprara. When the race resumed, Yankowski continued his pace out front.
But as Yankowski led, Williamson started moving forward.
After dropping to seventh in the first eight laps, “Money Mat” passed two cars on the lap 12 restart to move into fourth behind Mahaney. His momentum continued over the next five laps as he swung to the inside of Mahaney in turns one and two to take over third on lap 17.
When the race’s second caution came out on lap 23, Williamson gained another position on the next restart, sneaking past Matt Sheppard for second in turn two.
Then, he set his sights on Yankowski. Williamson reeled in the No. 84Y when they completed lap 34, pulling up to his back bumper. When they reached turns one and two, Williamson took advantage of room on the inside to pull even when they reached the backstretch.
Williamson kept his Buzz Chew Chevrolet sponsored No. 88 on the inside wall in turns three and four. And with a burst of speed, he drove past Yankowski to take the lead as they crossed the start/finish line on lap 35.
From there, Williamson went unchallenged, driving to his fifth Super DIRTcar Series win of 2024 and 27th career series win.
Along with the $7,500 prize, he cut Sheppard’s points lead to 16 points. However, he said he’s been focusing more on getting to victory lane.
“Honestly, when we blew up at Weedsport, I stopped looking at the points,” Williamson said. “This deal is so tough to win that when you have a motor go bad, a flat tire, or any bad luck, it’s so hard to make up that ground.
“I feel like tonight was a complete night. We were three one-hundredths of a Quick Time overall, which would’ve given us five bonus points. I don’t know how many we would’ve made up on Matt tonight; I just want a shot going into Charlotte.”
Yankowski settled for second, earning his second consecutive Super DIRTcar Series podium after finishing third at Albany-Saratoga Speedway in June.
While running the top in the race’s first half, Yankowski said he wasn’t sure how long the outside would be the track’s best line.
“I knew the top was going away,” Yankowski said. “But honestly, the toughest part was not knowing where to be. I was hoping someone would show me a nose a little bit so I could try to take advantage.
“A top three in a race like this is always good.”
Stewart Friesen finished third, moving up two spots in the race’s final five laps. After passing Sheppard for fourth, the Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. driver passed Alex Payne for third, coming to the checkered flag.
Payne slid in front of Friesen as the two entered turn four, but Friesen crossed over and dove to the bottom to nose ahead and gain the spot.
With his car better on long runs, he said the two cautions in the first 23 laps didn’t allow him to get the needed momentum.
“We had a good car,” Friesen said. “I think we were a few small adjustments from having an even better car. We just got mired up in a couple of those first restarts, and it didn’t really go our way. We’ll take a top three and we’re glad we got a couple of more spots at the end.”
Payne crossed the line fourth after starting 14th, and Sheppard rounded out the top five.
Feature Finish (75 Laps)
1. 88-Mat Williamson[6]; 2. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[2]; 3. 44-Stewart Friesen[7]; 4. 70A-Alex Payne[14]; 5. 9S-Matt Sheppard[5]; 6. 25-Erick Rudolph[28]; 7. 3H-Justin Haers[8]; 8. 4-Anthony Perrego[18]; 9. 12-Darren Smith[9]; 10. 99L-Larry Wight[15]; 11. 27J-Danny Johnson[13]; 12. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[17]; 13. 21A-Peter Britten[11]; 14. 34-Kevin Root[19]; 15. 11-Matt Caprara[22]; 16. 83X-Tim Sears Jr[20]; 17. 7Z-Zachary Payne[16]; 18. 15X-Justin Stone[25]; 19. 2-Jack Lehner[4]; 20. 91-Felix Roy[24]; 21. 37S-Gary Lindberg[3]; 22. 27JR-Daniel Johnson[26]; 23. 3-Chad Brachmann[23]; 24. (DNF) 42P-Pat Ward[10]; 25. (DNF) 14J-Alan Johnson[27]; 26. (DNF) 35-Mike Mahaney[1]; 27. (DNF) M1-Dave Marcuccilli[12]; 28. (DNF) 19W-Justin Wright[21]