Mat Williamson Earns Saturday Night Triumph At Merrittville Speedway
Story By: JONATHON HOWE / MERRITTVILLE SPEEDWAY – THOROLD, ONT – 2018 S&W Service Centre 358 Modified track champion and 2019 Super DIRTcar Series champion Mat Williamson from St. Catharines, Ontario returned home and returned to victory lane as Merrittville Speedway hosted a full Bobcat of Hamilton Weekly Racing Series program Saturday night.
Third-generation driver James Michael Friesen from St. Catharines, Ontario won the feature in the Rick’s Delivery DIRTcar Sportsman. Donny Lampman from Caistor Centre, Ontario won the main event for the Hoosier Stocks. Ridgeway, Ontario’s Josh Sliter picked up another victory in the RONA/Doidge Builders Mod Lites. Welland, Ontario’s Kyle Rothwell picked up the victory in the Central Fabricating/Glo & Go Tanning 4 Cylinder Mini Stocks and John Couture from London, Ontario scored the win in the James’ Auto V6.
Matt Williamson won the S&W Service Centre 358 Modified feature, thanks to a little luck. The race was mostly dominated by Mike Bowman, who started third. Bowman quickly got around front row starters Fred Carleton and Scott Wood, before checking out the lead. Williamson started the 35-lap feature in seventh, and had a hard time advancing through the field. Bowman had built a lead over Scott Wood, by over six seconds before an incident with Todd Gordon who was 10th at the time and trying to stay on the lead lap ended both Bowman and Gordon’s nights. With four laps to go, Scott Wood held off Williamson and Gary Lindberg for one lap before another caution came out. This time with only three laps left, Williamson was able to get a great restart and pass Wood before the white flag and would go on and take the win.
In Rick’s Delivery DIRTcar Sportsman action, James Michael Friesen returned to victory lane. On an early stretch of green flag racing, Friesen built a comfortable lead over the field. Cody McPherson worked his way up to second from his fifth starting position. Brent Begolo also had a strong run, running amongst the top five for most of the evening. Friesen was able to survive multiple restarts, including some within the last five laps to win.
Donny Lampman broke through for his first career win at Merrittville in the Hoosier Stocks. Lampman had shown to be a contender in the division throughout the year but was never able to best veterans Rob Murray and Dave Bailey. Murray seemed to have the race won until damage from an earlier incident caused a right rear flat. Lampman would inherit the lead and would hold Steve Shaw to take the checkers.
The Central Fabricating/Glo & Go Tanning 4 Cylinder feature saw Kyle Rothwell pick up his first win of the year. After missing most of the season thus far, Rothwell was ecstatic in victory lane to not only win but to be able to be back at Merrittville.
Lastly, in the James Auto V6 division, Josh Dmytrow looked set to make it three feature wins in a row until he lost a right front bringing an end to his day. John Couture came from eighth on the grid to score the victory after battling with Dustin Duga and Jordan Fidler.
Speedway management would like to thank Pace Automotive for their support of the 358 Modifieds in the coming weeks at Merrittville Speedway.
Merrittville is back in action on August 29th with the 360 Sprint Cars returning to Merrittville. The Sportsman, Hoosier Stocks, 4 Cylinders and V6 will round out the racing card. Race time is scheduled for 7 pm. Fans can register for the lottery draw for admission tickets on Monday afternoons. Details are available on the Merrittville Speedway social media pages.
Fans are encouraged to keep up to date with all the schedules and if any changes are needed by following Merrittville on social media including Facebook (facebook.com/MerrittvilleSpeedway), Twitter (@Merrittville), and now on Instagram (@merrittvillespeedway). For results, point standings, and more, check out www.merrittvillespeedway.com
8-22-20 RACE RESULTS
S&W Service Centre 358 Modifieds: MAT WILLIAMSON, Scott Wood, Gary Lindberg, Austin Wood, Pete Bicknell, Tim Jones, Fred Carleton, Dalton Slack, Tyler Willard, Rob Knapp, Darren Peters, Tom Neale, Derek VanMil, Brandon Gruhl, Tanner Podwinski, JF Corriveau, Mike Bowman (DQ), Todd Gordon (DQ)
Qualifying Heats: Gary Lindberg, Mat Williamson, Todd Gordon
Rick’s Delivery DIRTcar Sportsman: JAMES MICHAEL FRIESEN, Chad Chevalier, Cody McPherson, Brent Begolo, Adam Leslie, Justin Sharp, Jay Mallory, Taylor Vanderzanden, David Flannigan Jr, Luke Carleton, Greg Panunte, Trevor Wright, Billy Bleich Jr, Steve Shaw Jr, Dan McKay, Jeff Panunte, Noah Mamo, Jason VanMil, Rob Sauder, Nathan Peattie
Qualifying Heats: Trevor Wright, Greg Panunte, Adam Leslie
Hoosier Stocks: DONNY LAMPMAN, Steve Shaw, Mike Thorne, Ryan Beagle, Ken Sargent, Barry Beck Jr, Jim Lampman, Rob Murray, JT Miller, Chris Hale, Kasey Huffman, Dave Bailey, Adam Plazek, Zack Bleich, Devon Bacher, Cody Willson, Clinton Nicholls, Go Fast Teeple, Chris VanMil
Did Not Start: Jeff Larmet, Mike Klazinga
Qualifying Heats: Ken Sargent, Dave Bailey, Rob Murray
Central Fabricating/Glo and Go Tanning 4 Cylinders: KYLE ROTHWELL, Leroy Buscumb, Jay Moulton, Vincent Pagnotta, Rob Shaw, Aidan Nigh, Tristan DaSilva, Christopher French, Matt Christie, Braden Keus, Fabio Olivieri, Olivier Larocque
Did Not Start: Danny Wurster, Alex Pidgeon
Qualifying Heats: Olivier Larocque, Jay Moulton
RONA Doidge Building Centre Mod Lites: JOSH SLITER, Jeffrey May, Brent Begolo, Chris Watson, RJ Pietz, Randy Giroux, Tyler Winger, Sean Iftody, Rob Misener, Ryleigh Sliter, Dave Cornish, Ryan Anderson
Qualifying Heats: Jeffrey May, Brent Begolo
James’ Auto and Speed Centre V6: JOHN COUTURE, Jordan Fiddler, Dustin Duga, Joe Bleich, Corey Lawton, Dave Hahl, Chris Mussat, Tom Cole, Elisha Myers, Josh Dmytrow
Qualifying Heats: Dustin Duga, Jordan Fiddler
