Mat Williamson came from his fifth place starting spot, passed track favorite Larry Wight midway to win Fulton Speedway’s 60 lap High Bank Hold-Up, DIRTcar 358 Series event on Wednesday night.
The win was his 16th on the 2023 campaign and netted him $4,100. The event was a make up from the original April 29th date and produced a whopping 58 car field.
While some of Williamson’s wins have made headlines in how dominating they were which included a Super DIRTcar Series feature where he lapped all but the top four finishers, this was far different.
When starter Ricky Breed displayed the five-to-go sign, the S&W sponsored #6 had four lapped cars right in front and Wight closing in behind. “I actually had no clue where to go!” exclaimed Williamson, “They were in every lane racing each other and I had to find a way to get by them. I knew with the caliber of field tonight someone was probably behind me.”
That someone was indeed Wight who closed in several car lengths rapidly. “I took a chance going in the middle of them in one and two and then kind of doing a slider there in three and four,” summed up the St. Catharines, ON star, “I was just hoping not to make contact and have something happen to the car. Luckily it didn’t. It always fun to come here and tonight’s win is special.”
For Wight, he lead a good portion of the event early on after passing the pole sitter in Mike Mahaney. While it looked like he would have to settle for second, those lap cars gave him some hope. “Yea, when I saw the lapped cars up ahead I was thinking I might have a chance,” Wight went on, “He then made a move and got through and then I had to do the same.”
It was a $2,500 runner-up for the former track champ, “He (Mat) could roll the middle just a little bit better than us. But, we made some good changes and had a good run.”
When DIRTcar 358 Series announcer Tim Baltz announced the third-place finisher’s name in Amy Holland, a big roar came from the crowd. The second-generation driver is in her rookie year running DIRTcar 358’s and the podium finish was news worthy.
Running the bottom of the speedway from green to checkered, Holland fell back to fifth from her second place starting spot but as the race went on, picked off a few cars to climb her way back to third on lap 60.
“I just have to thank everyone for helping me to where I am. The car today was really good and was getting faster as the race went on,” said the 28 year old driver, “I just tried to stay smooth on the bottom, keep the car straight and it worked. I’m very happy to be here on the front stretch with these guys.”
Behind the podium finishers was Mahaney and Jimmy Phelps in fifth. The next five were made up of current speedway point leader and defending champion Tim Sears Jr., Tim Fuller, Felix Roy, Billy Dunn and Jordan McCreadie
The multi-grooved Fulton Speedway saw cars running three wide at times. The event was slowed by only two cautions on lap 38 and 39.
The 58 car field needed six heats and three last chance showdowns to trim the field to the 30 starters. Take the $100 to win heats were won by Dalton Slack, Holland, Wight, Fuller, Williamson and Mahaney. Winning the last chance showdowns were Willy Decker, Darren Smith and Rocky Warner.
With his 14th place finish, the free Hoosier Tire was won by Dave Marcuccilli.
DIRTcar 358 Modified Series Finish – (60 Laps): 1. 6-Mat Williamson[5]; 2. 99L-Larry Wight[3]; 3. 5H-Amy Holland[2]; 4. 35-Mike Mahaney[1]; 5. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[9]; 6. 83X-Tim Sears Jr[7]; 7. 19-Tim Fuller[6]; 8. 91-Felix Roy[18]; 9. 49-Billy Dunn[14]; 10. 28M-Jordan McCreadie[11]; 11. 3RS-Dalton Slack[4]; 12. 31W-Lance Willix[10]; 13. 713-Tommy Collins[17]; 14. M1-David Marcuccilli[12]; 15. 12-Darren Smith[20]; 16. 11T-Jeff Taylor[15]; 17. 27Z-Dylan Zacharias[24]; 18. 18-Scott Webb[8]; 19. 3B-Chad Brachmann[27]; 20. 39-Ryan Bartlett[30]; 21. 7Z-Zachary Payne[16]; 22. 21R-RJ Tresidder[13]; 23. 37-Mathieu Desjardins[22]; 24. 34-Andrew Ferguson[26]; 25. 06J-Jordan Bennett[23]; 26. 29K-Willy Decker[21]; 27. 38-Jarrett Herbison[29]; 28. 01-Chris Raabe[25]; 29. JS98-Rocky Warner[19]; 30. 9-Tyler Meeks[28]
