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Justin Haers and Alex Yankowski round out podium with best Oswego finishes
Mike Warren
Photo: Rebecca Eisele Myracenews
Williamson joins Brett Hearn, Stewart Friesen, Billy Decker, and Gary Balough as the only five drivers to win four 200s at Super DIRT Week, a feat he’s accomplished in four of his last six starts.
Along with earning $53,000, he also swept the weekend at Oswego for the second time, after winning the DIRTcar 358 Modified Salute to the Troops 150 on Friday.
“That was awesome,” Williamson said. “I worked really hard to come down here and build a car that would be fast on big straightaways. Hats off to all the guys. It’s a 2025 Bicknell, and it ran pretty good tonight.”
After earning the SRI Performance and Stock Car Steel Pole Award on Thursday, Mat Williamson led the field to the green in the 200-lap Feature, besting Alex Payne into Turns 1 and 2. That lead didn’t last long, though, as Kolby Schroder brought on the caution in Turn 3 with damage to his right front tire.
When the race resumed, Williamson took off down the backstretch, gaining a full straightaway lead over Payne through the first 10 laps. But as the defending Super DIRTcar Series champion caught the tail of the field, it allowed the No. 70A to close on the leader.
It wasn’t much longer before Payne had his first shot to catch the No. 88 in traffic. Payne’s momentum on the inside lane carried him past Williamson, who was in the middle on Lap 25, but Payne didn’t have enough to hold him off as they entered Turn 3.
After almost losing the lead, Williamson got separation from Payne over the next 10 laps, trying to stay ahead of the rest of the field. However, as Williamson seemed to be on cruise control, the caution came out for Matt Stangle, who slowed on Lap 44.
Payne got his next opportunity to wrestle the lead away from Williamson on the ensuing restart, a chance he didn’t let go to waste. Using the outside lane, Payne carried his momentum around the track and cleared Williamson by the time they reached the start/finish line on Lap 51.
While Payne was out front leading, all eyes were on Larry Wight, who drove from 41st to 17th by Lap 52. The Phoenix, NY driver rolled the outside, storming past cars on every lap, reaching the top 10 by Lap 56.
As Wight was charging forward, Payne hit lap traffic on Lap 67, allowing Williamson an opportunity to reclaim the top spot. Like Payne, Williamson didn’t miss his chance, powering by Payne on the inside lane to wrestle the lead back on Lap 67.
With Williamson back out front, Wight continued his charge forward. After a restart on Lap 73, “Lightning Larry” thundered past Jimmy Phelps for fifth on Lap 77. Then, two laps later, he used the same move to pass Alex Yankowski for fourth. Wight wasn’t done there either. By lap 80, he passed Payne for a podium position and set his sights on Justin Haers, who moved into second.
Another caution on Lap 83 gave Wight a chance to earn more positions with a double-file restart. Despite starting on the bottom, he quickly returned to the top and regained his momentum, driving around Haers for second on Lap 86.
Wight started catching Williamson, but a yellow flag on Lap 99 flew just as the No. 99L caught the leader. That yellow also signaled the race’s five-minute competition caution, where teams would be allowed to take fuel and adjust.
When the race resumed on Lap 101, Williamson again gained control of the 41-car field, pulling away from his competition as they raced down the backstretch. However, it wasn’t Wight who Williamson would deal with over the next 100 laps.
Haers stayed with Wight for the next 12 laps, before the Phelps, NY driver found momentum on the inside lane on Lap 113. As Haers and Wight entered Turn 1, Haers stuck to the bottom of the track and drove by Wight to take over second, aiming for his best career Oswego finish.
Just as the pass was made for second, Williamson reached lap traffic again. And like Payne early in the race, Haers quickly closed on the back of the Buzz Chew Chevrolet No. 88, looking for a lane to sneak by. Even though he got close under green flag conditions, a caution on Lap 135 gave him his best shot at a Billy Whittaker Cars 200 win.
As Williamson held his line through the bottom of Turns 1 and 2, Haers tried going to the top of the track, building momentum as the two drivers exited Turn 2. The Phelps Cement Products No. 3 pulled even with Williamson down the backstretch. Then, he carried his momentum through Turns 3 and 4, nosing ahead of Williamson as they completed Lap 140.
That lead was short-lived, though, as Williamson drove back by Hears on the inside of Turns 1 and 2 to re-take the lead with 60 laps to go. Haers kept pace with Williamson over the next 40 laps, until Jackson Gill ran out of fuel with 17 laps to go to give him one last shot.
On the restart, Haers tried to use the outside to get by Williamson again. But this time, “Money Mat” was ready for him. When Haers attempted to use the outside lane to take the lead, Williamson slid in front of Haers in Turn 4, taking his lane away and holding onto the lead.
From there, Williamson went untouched to score his fourth Billy Whittaker Cars 200 win and 34th career Super DIRTcar Series victory.
Despite his dominance, Williamson said he was worried at the end.
“When Alex got by me, he kind of checked out a little bit,” Williamson said. “I started getting off the bottom in (Turn 3), and caught back up to him in lap traffic, and I think that was probably the race there. Another big moment was when Justin got into me going into (Turn) 1.
“I was hanging on at the end. They said his tire was a lot better than mine. My tire’s pretty beat up. So, thankfully, we were good enough to hang on in the end.”
With his win, Williamson extended his Super DIRTcar Series points lead to 77 points over Yankowski with five races remaining.
Haers crossed the line second, earning his best Super DIRT Week finish. “T-Bone” said he gave it everything he had to pass Williamson but knew he had a small window to make it happen.
“It’s bittersweet,” Haers said. “I had a shot to pass him, and I thought if I got by him, he wouldn’t be able to get back by me. I thought he was good, and that we were equally as good.
“I could only run out there for a couple of laps, and then I knew I had to get back down. When we went single file, I was probably the only car that was mad because I would’ve liked to have started next to him. But I tried it multiple times and tried all sorts of different stuff, and once we got into a certain rhythm, I just had to protect my position.”
Yankowski rounded out the podium and earned his best Oswego finish driving the Halmar-Friesen Racing No. 84Y. The Covington Township, PA driver said he was happy with his finish third, but didn’t have enough for Williamson or Haers.
“I’m really happy that we were able to put this deal together,” Yankowski said. “It’s such a hard event. Everything’s got to go right. I thought we made some gains throughout the week, and I guess we have to be happy with a top three.
“This track is tricky. It rubbered up, and then there wasn’t rubber anymore, and then it rubbered up, and you didn’t know where to be. We have to do a little homework just to get a little bit better.”
Wight crossed the line fourth to earn the Penske Racing Shocks Hard Charger award, and Payne, the Fratto Curbing Outside Pole Award winner, rounded out the top five.
Gill, who drove to third at one point in the race, earned the Bart Contracting Hard Luck Award. Erick Rudolph, meanwhile, earned the Swagger Factory Move of the Race after driving from 37th to eighth.
UP NEXT: The Super DIRTcar Series continues its road to the World of Outlaws World Finals on Friday, Oct. 17, with a stop at Brockville Ontario Speedway for Fall Nationals.
If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all of the Super DIRTcar Series action on DIRTVision, either online or with the DIRTVision app.
Billy Whittaker Cars 200 (200 Laps): 1. 88-Mat Williamson[1]; 2. 3-Justin Haers[5]; 3. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[9]; 4. 99L-Larry Wight[41]; 5. 70A-Alex Payne[2]; 6. 9S-Matt Sheppard[20]; 7. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[7]; 8. 25-Erick Rudolph[37]; 9. 9-Marc Johnson[6]; 10. 2-Jack Lehner[38]; 11. 37S-Gary Lindberg[3]; 12. CRAZ8-Max McLaughlin[15]; 13. 28M-Jordan McCreadie[21]; 14. 12-Darren Smith[29]; 15. 98-Rocky Warner[23]; 16. 26-Ryan Godown[33]; 17. 83X-Tim Sears Jr[8]; 18. 7Z-Zachary Payne[18]; 19. 49-Billy Dunn[19]; 20. 4V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[25]; 21. 5H-Chris Hile[24]; 22. 25P-Michael Parent[28]; 23. 1M-Tyler Murray[22]; 24. 99-Kolby Schroder[4]; 25. 28-Michael Trautschold[27]; 26. 3RS-Dalton Slack[13]; 27. (DNF) 91-Felix Roy[16]; 28. (DNF) 60-Jackson Gill[17]; 29. (DNF) 26R-Corey Cormier[26]; 30. (DNF) 17-Marcus Dinkins[40]; 31. (DNF) 19-Tim Fuller[12]; 32. (DNF) 21A-Peter Britten[14]; 33. (DNF) 15X-Justin Stone[39]; 34. (DNF) 15-Todd Root[32]; 35. (DNF) 9X-Tyler Trump[30]; 36. (DNF) 11-Matt Caprara[34]; 37. (DNF) 21C-Brian Calabrese[36]; 38. (DNF) 35-Mike Mahaney[10]; 39. (DNF) 84-Gary Tomkins[31]; 40. (DNF) 4-Anthony Perrego[11]; 41. (DNF) 6-Matt Stangle[35]
