Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – OSWEGO, NY – The win streak of Mat Williamson over the last seven days has come to an end…with a second-place run in the Salute to the Troops 150 358-Modified Championship at Super DIRT Week.
Things just didn’t fall the way Williamson and his #6 team thought they would as the 150-lap affair progressed. Did he think he had a chance to challenge winner Stewart Friesen if given another shot?
“Stew’s really good when the tracks are like this and you have to search around and go where the holes aren’t,” Williamson said. “He’s just a better driver when it comes to that stuff.”
How good was Williamson’s #6 Bicknell on Saturday night? With the way the track has been, what were he and his team thinking?
“We had a good car tonight,” he said. “We made some last-minute changes in the pits when the track started to become rough and they seemed to work.”
How did the track conditions impact his thought process?
“It was rough out there,” he said. “It was all about survival. My head’s hurting from beating and banging around and we’ll take a second tonight for sure.”
Now, Williamson’s focus shifts to Sunday and his Buzz Chew 88 team. Does he think the track could be more of the same?
“As you can see, the track crew’s already working on it,” he said right after the race. “Hat’s off to them because this is what they’re dealt with. Jeremie (Corcoran) is the best track prep guy I’ve ever seen. He works hard and does a great job.”
If the conditions stay relatively close to Saturday, what type of mindset will Williamson and his team take for the 200-lap event?
“Unfortunately, the track is what it is at this point,” he said. “They’re working hard to try and make it better but I don’t think it can be. We don’t know what we’re going to do with that Big Block. A Small Block bounces around the holes and a Big Block ‘REALLY’ bounces around them. The plus side is you have the power to get out of the holes but the bad side is it’s 100 pounds heavier.”
Williamson’s worst finish is second in any feature since the Outlaw 200 on October 2nd. He’ll roll off seventh on Sunday. Will this trend continue?
