Williamson Over Hilton and Van Pelt on Freedom King of the Hill Championship Night
By DAVE SULLY
DELEVAN, NY- Courtesy of an off night at his Friday home track, Lernerville, where he is the track champion, Mat Williamson, from St Catharines, Ontario, made his debut at Freedom Motorsports Park a successful one, as he out-dueled three time winner, Billy Van Pelt, to claim the 30 lap “King of the Hill” Feature for the Outlaw Modifieds on Friday, September 1st.
Second heat winner, Williamson, started on the outside pole, following the redraw, but was immediately under siege from Van Pelt, who shot to the front on the first lap and looked to be ready top check out, as Williamson, with few laps at the facility settled into second. A lap six caution set up a restart for the two, with Van Pelt opting for the bottom. The move did not pan out for him, as Williamson got a great jump on the outside to grab the lead. He continued to pound the outside and opened a half straightaway lead by the halfway mark, as Van Pelt desperately tried to keep pace.
Just when it appeared that Williamson was going to take the win, the caution flew on lap 29, forcing a one lap shootout to settle it. Williamson was up to the challenge and went on to take the victory, with Adam Hilton, who had kept Van Pelt within range the whole race using a last lap pass to finish second. Hilton also clinched his first Modified championship. Phil Vigneri III and Shannon Whaley completed the top five.
Williamson offered, “Bob has done a great job with this facility. This is a brand new car and the crew worked their tails off to put this deal together.” On the race, he allowed, “Billy is a heck of a race car driver. You know he's always going to race you clean. When he got by me on the outside I knew I gave it away. He kind of left me there. Then he took the bottom on the restart and we fired good and drove up around him. On the restart I knew he'd be there and just did what I could to hold him off.”
The 25 lap Sportsman Feature was a sluggish affair, with six cautions, three of them involving defending champion Brad Rouse, who persevered to finish second and claim the track championship. Kyle Inman, from Darien, started on the pole and led every lap, but had to withstand the blizzard of restarts before he could claim the win.
Much of the action in the race involved Rouse, who blew his motor during the heat and drove the Brian Bellinger car in the feature. He was involved in a crash on the opening lap, then suffered an apparent flat tire on lap eight before being spun into the wall on lap 10. Through it all, he gathered himself back together to finish runner-up to Inman, who ran un-threatened at the front.
At the line, it was Inman, with his second win of the season and Rouse, followed by Austin Fugle, Tim Schram, and Eric Ensell to complete the top five. Inman declared, “This car's fresh. It was a big undertaking. After last Sunday we decided to get this car out and run it for the end of the season. This car was pretty good. We've got a little work to do. I didn't think the race would ever end, but luckily we ended up in the right spot.”
In other events , Dennis Cummings, from Wellsville, started on the pole and led every lap to win the Street Stock Feature, his fourth victory of the season and with it the track championship. Ted Mascho kept him honest in second place. Cummings observed, “We worked hard getting this thing back together after hitting the wall last week.”
Finally, Bill Weller made his only appearance a winning won, as he beat track champion Holden Heineman in the Mini Stock Feature to score his third straight win in this event. Weller, who missed the hear race and started at the rear, but took the lead on lap five, said, “The car itself is from Virginia. Still the same motor. After three years it's a bit down on compression, but we'll run it. I can't believe I'm here. We just built this car in three weeks.”
Budweiser/Sanzo Beverage King of the Hill Championship Night Results
Modifieds: (30 laps) – 1. Mat Williamson, 2. Adam Hilton, 3. Billy Van Pelt, 4. Phil Vigneri III, 5. Shannon Whaley, 6. Ron Cartwright Jr., 7. Patrick Emerling, 8. James Sweeting, 9. Tony Pangrazio, 10. John Venuto, 11. Shayne Pierce, 12. Ricky Newton, and 13. Ray Bliss. Heat winners were Hilton and Williamson.
Sportsman: (20 laps) – 1. Kyle Inman, 2. Brad Rouse, 3. Austin Fugle, 4.Tim Schram, 5. Eric Ensell, 6. Stephanie Megliore, 7..Brian McKelvey, 8. Adam Leslie, 9. Cody Egner. and 10. Alan Bratek. DNS: Brian Bellinger. Heat winners were Leslie and Bellinger.
Street Stocks: (15 laps) – 1. Dennis Cummings, 2. Ted Mascho, 3. Erik Murray, 4. Steve Sklar, 5. Rob Stromecki, 6. Mike Jackson, 7. Bill Taylor, and 8. Jeremy Perry. Heat winners were Mascho and Cummings.
Mini Stocks: (15 laps) – 1. Billy Weller, 2. Holden Heineman, 3. Mike Jackson, 4. Duane Powers, 5. Austin Woodring, and 6. Brad Shepard. DNS: Kurt Babcock. Heat winner was Heineman.
