GEORGETOWN, Del. — After a six-month wait, Mat Williamson finally became the seventh driver to earn 40 Super DIRTcar Series victories.
The St. Catharines, Ontario, driver stormed past Jimmy Phelps on a Lap-30 restart and never looked back to win Saturday’s Mid-Atlantic Championship at Georgetown Speedway.
It’s his first triumph since his championship season opener in April, this one worth $10,000.
“We’ve been scratching our heads with the Big Block stuff,” Williamson said. “At no fault of anybody. We’ve just been chasing our tails. Got to give a lot of credit to my guys over the last couple of weeks. There’s been a lot of chirping, and I said, let’s just keep our heads down and keep working and try to come out and win these races.
“It’s a long shot to win a championship next week, but we’re not out of it mathematically just yet.”
Rick Laubach led the field to the green in the 60-lap feature, beating Jimmy Phelps to Turn 1 on the opening lap. And for the first 27 laps, the Quakertown, Pa., driver turned back every challenge from Phelps, rolling the middle to keep his No. 20 out front.
Behind Laubach, Williamson started moving forward, going from eighth to third in 25 laps when he snuck under Matt Caprara, who bobbled in Turn 3. That put “Money Mat” in a position to strike when a yellow flag for Paul Mancini on Lap 27 proved vital in the race’s outcome.
Under caution, Laubach slowed with oil pressure issues on his Big Block Modified, forcing him to pull into the infield to end his night. That gave Phelps the lead and moved Williamson up to second on the next restart.
When the race resumed, Williamson kept his momentum up on the outside in Turns 1 and 2, driving ahead of Phelps as they exited the corner to take the lead.
Williamson quickly pulled away over the next 15 laps, but with five laps to go, Phelps closed in as Williamson struggled to get by Erick Rudolph, a lap car. Once he got by the No. 25 with two laps to go, it was all he needed to earn his fourth series win of 2026.
“I just got the outside on that restart,” Williamson said. “We were in the right lane, and we got by Jimmy right there going into (Turn) 1, and I think right there was the crucial thing.
“I went to go around Erick (in traffic) in (Turns) 1 and 2, and he slid up to the top and took my lane away, and that had me guessing at where to be. That was hairy there in traffic, but at least it was only a short, 20-lap run.”
Phelps settled for second, earning his seventh top five finish of 2026. The Baldwinsville, N.Y., driver said he had a fast car all night but couldn’t fire off as well as he wanted to on restarts.
“I thought we were really good at speed; I just couldn’t restart,” Phelps said. “Even with Rick (Laubach), we were struggling to get going. So, I went to the bottom thinking there was more grip down there, and Mat rolled right around me on the outside. We have to work on that. But at speed, I thought our car was as good as anybody’s.
“It’s a shame because I thought if we could’ve gotten out in clean air, we had a car that could’ve won this race.”
Matt Caprara crossed the line third but was light at the scales after the checkered flag, moving Super DIRTcar Series points leader Alex Yankowski to the final podium spot.
The Covington Township, Pa., driver holds an 89-point lead over Williamson with three races remaining this season.
Ten-time series champion Matt Sheppard finished fourth after starting 16th, and Mike Mahaney rounded out the top five.
The finish:
Feature (60 Laps): 1. 88-Mat Williamson[8]; 2. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[2]; 3. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[11]; 4. 9S-Matt Sheppard[16]; 5. 35-Mike Mahaney[7]; 6. 91-Felix Roy[10]; 7. 1P-Billy Pauch Jr[5]; 8. 6B-Danny Bouc[6]; 9. 2-Jack Lehner[12]; 10. 1-Tyler Dippel[13]; 11. 70A-Alex Payne[15]; 12. 27-Tanner Van Doren[18]; 13. 7MS-Matt Stangle[25]; 14. 15X-Justin Stone[9]; 15. 26-Ryan Godown[17]; 16. 28-Michael Trautschold[21]; 17. 25-Erick Rudolph[14]; 18. (DNF) 12-Darren Smith[3]; 19. (DNF) 29-Ryan Krachun[24]; 20. (DNF) 24-Sammy Martz Jr[22]; 21. (DNF) 30-HJ Bunting[19]; 22. (DNF) 20-Rick Laubach[1]; 23. (DNF) 7M-Paul Mancini[23]; 24. (DNF) 4M-Logan Watt[20]; 25. (DNF) 17-Marcus Dinkins[26]; 26. (DQ) 11-Matt Caprara[4]
