With the 2025 DIRTcar 358 Modified Series title already secured and a Super DIRTcar Series victory on Friday, Mat Williamson had one goal on Saturday night. Become the third driver to sweep Brockville Ontario Speedway’s Fall Nationals.
The St. Catharines, ON driver passed Felix Roy with eight laps to go and held on to earn his fifth Series win of the 2025 season, and second in the last eight days.
It’s a victory, Williamson said, that made winning the championship a little more special.
“When you win championships like this, it sucks when you don’t win the last race,” Williamson said. “There’s been a lot of times weekly you win the championship and don’t win the last race, and it doesn’t feel quite as sweet.
“To win in front of these fans is awesome. Thank you to everybody for coming out, and we’ll be back next year.”
Kalen Draper and Roy brought the field to the green in the 100-lap Feature, with Draper gaining the early advantage in Turn 1. The Syndenham, ON, driver then switched lanes to the outside, allowing Roy to go to the bottom. Over the next two laps, Roy gained momentum on the inside line to take the lead away from Draper on Lap 3.
From there, Roy quickly drove away from the field until he caught traffic on Lap 23. That allowed Kyle Dingwall, who passed Draper for second five laps earlier, to close on the No. 91. However, that was as close as Dingwall got to Roy, as “Hollywood” cleared C.J. Castelletti, a lap car, and separated himself from the No. 66.
Dingwall held onto second for the next 15 laps until he slid off the banking in Turn 2 on Lap 38. That miscue for the Williamsburg, ON driver allowed Williamson to go from fourth to second, passing Dingwall and William Racine as he exited the corner.
Williamson started chasing Roy for the lead, but five cautions and a red flag over the next 40 laps didn’t allow Williamson to get an opportunity to pass Roy in traffic. That changed, though, after the race’s final restart on Lap 81.
Felix Roy and Mat Williamson battle side by side at Brockville/Joe Grabianowski
For the sixth consecutive restart, Roy gained the advantage as they raced down the backstretch, holding on for the next 10 laps. However, once Roy caught the back of the field on Lap 90, Williamson was ready to pounce.
With a burst of speed on Lap 93, Williamson dove underneath Roy as they exited Turn 2 and wrestled the lead away to take the lead with eight laps to go. That was all “Money Mat” needed as he went on to sweep Fall Nationals at Brockville.
With a broom and a $10,000 (CAN) check in hand, Williamson celebrated his 19th career Series win, joining Danny Johnson and Erick Rudolph as the only drivers to win both Fall Nationals Features in one weekend.
He said he just needed to wait for Roy to hit traffic, and he knew he’d have a shot.
“The racetrack was so good you could move all over,” Williamson said. “I just needed to get to lap cars. Felix ran a great race. He had a better car than me, I Think. I just got lucky in lap traffic there, I don’t think I would’ve gotten him without the lap traffic for sure.
Roy finished second, narrowly missing out on his first career DIRTcar 358 Modified Series victory. The Napierville, QC driver said he was happy with his race, just that it didn’t go his way in the end.
“We had a great racecar,” Roy said. “I didn’t know in traffic where to be, really. I was just running my line, and I saw him down the backstretch. He was fast. I knew he was close because one time on the backstretch, he showed me he was there.
“That was a close one, but we’re happy with second.”
Gary Lindberg rounded out the podium, earning his best Series finish of the season in just his second start.
“It was tough sledding out there,” Lindberg said. “It was tough to pass. The front straightaway narrows really quick. I got up beside a guy, and thought he seen me in the corner, but then he went to the wall and put us in the wall.
“We got back up there to third. Third is respectable. We were hoping for one more spot after that restart, but these guys knew where I was making my hay.”
Chris Raabe finished fourth, and Mike Mahaney rounded out the top five.
DIRTcar 358 Feature (100 Laps): 1. 6M-Mat Williamson[7]; 2. 91-Felix Roy[2]; 3. 37S-Gary Lindberg[9]; 4. 01-Chris Raabe[8]; 5. 35-Mike Mahaney[20]; 6. 1*-Steve Bernier[5]; 7. 35R-William Racine[4]; 8. 18-Kalen Draper[1]; 9. 41-Samuel Charland[15]; 10. 18R-Brad Rouse[22]; 11. 18JR-Louis Jackson Jr[24]; 12. 21A-Peter Britten[17]; 13. 11S-Steve Lewis Jr[28]; 14. 88Z-Bobby Herrington[14]; 15. 15B-Brianna Ladouceur[19]; 16. 124J-Luke Whitteker[11]; 17. 23-Joey Ladouceur[26]; 18. 13-Kevin Hamel[12]; 19. 22S-Shane Stearns[23]; 20. 44-Johnathon Ferguson[6]; 21. 117-CJ Castelletti[29]; 22. 66-Kyle Dingwall[3]; 23. 60-Jackson Gill[16]; 24. 28-Jordan McCreadie[13]; 25. 77E-Ryan Stabler[25]; 26. 31-Lance Willix[18]; 27. 5H-Amy Holland[27]; 28. 17-Tristan Draper[10]; 29. 92-Andrew Buff[21]; 30. B24-Brendan Gibbons[30]
