Back To Back wins for Mat Williamson (8th of August 2025 BLOG)
My last BLOG came to an end on the 31st of July , following a string of nine races in nine days . The Blog was very short and concise , simply because I had very little time .
Things have now slowed up a bit, so I’m hoping to resume ‘normal service’.
I’ll get started on Friday the 1st of August which began with a morning doctors appointment in Cornwall .
My local Mohawk International Raceway was taking a Friday night off, and my other local alternatives, were either Autodrome Granby, the Can Am Speedway or slightly further away, the Brewerton Speedway.
At Can Am , they had a big Sprint Car show joining the Modifieds on the weekly program, so that was not for me.
The doctors appointment and X rays that followed, went on longer than expected , so it was Granby that ended up as my destination.
It was still the annual Quebec holiday shut down , so I had a nice easy drive up there.
I arrived a bit later than normal, but still had time to check out the pits before racing got under way.
The program consisted of Modifieds , Sportsman , Pro Stocks and Sport Compacts (Mini Stocks) .
I also struck lucky with the Modifieds being the second feature of the night, meaning a potentially early get away.
I went there expecting Granby expert , David Hebert to get the win, but on this occasion, we saw a different winner .
Hebert took the early lead from a front of the grid start, but as the race progressed, Francois Bernier, took over, shortly followed by his brother Steve.
When the checkers fell it was the Bernier Bros first and second.
Mathieu Desjardins was third and Hebert came home in fourth.
The Victory Lane pictures were done by 9-45 so I took advantage and got away early. After a Tim Hortons ‘to go’ just down the road at the Auto Route 10 intersection, I was back home before mid night . Perfect !
With a full schedule of racing coming up in the next few days, I decided to take a rare Saturday off , stay at home and catch up with jobs around the house. The Sprint Car tour that was at Can Am on Friday night, had moved to my local Brockville Ontario Speedway. As many of you know, winged sprints are not my thing, so it was a good night for me to take a break.
Sunday was a regular night at my local Cornwall Motor Speedway, that had a 100 lap Big Block race as the headliner. A few Big Block Modifieds were there but the field mainly consisted of the regular 358’s.
The Pro Stocks also had an extra distance race.
A 50 lapper in their Farnham Series. In my opinion , 50 laps are too many for Pro Stocks, but that’s the way it is.
Sportsman and Mini-Stocks completed the program
The first of the features , was for the Sportsman
Quebec’s Jacob Nadeau took this one.
The 100 lap Modified feature then followed .
Early leader was Samuel Charland , but it didn’t last long , once the fast moving Steve Bernard got past.
As Charland slipped back, Felix Roy and David Hebert were moving up.
They got passed Charland, who eventually had to retire with motor issues.
Late cautions, allowed Roy and Hebert to close in, and get in front of Bernard.
That’s how the race finished as Bernard hung on to third after a late challenge from Tim Fuller .
The Pro Stocks were up next which gave Marc Lalonde another win to add to his resume.
The last race of the night was the Mini Stock Feature
Fresh out of a retirement , Pierre Picard took this one. He was once a regular winner in the Mini Stocks , then after a brief spell in Sportsman he called it day.
That was it for the weekend’s racing , but Monday and Tuesday weren’t going to be days off.
The Short Track Super Series were paying a visit to my area with back to back races at the Can Am Speedway and the Mohawk International Raceway.
Can Am was up first , so Monday afternoon found me heading down to Lafargeville NY .
The program consisted of STSS races for the Big Block Modifieds and Sportsman divisions.
The program also had Thunder Cars (Mini Stocks) as a back up.
The STSS main event for Big Blocks was up first, and once Mat Williamson got to the front, that’s where he stayed to take the win.
Tim Fuller chased Mat to the checkers with Chris Raabe close behind.
The Sportsman had their big race next and Quebec’s Donovan Lussier took another victory to add to his impressive 2025 list.
Cedric Gauvreau was second and Tyler Peet who came up from Pennsylvania completed the podium.
Victory Lane pics were all done by 10-00 pm , so I made my exit as the Thunder Cars began their feature, and with no delays at the border , I was home in Cornwall before mid night.
Normally I would of left home later in the afternoon when heading to the Mohawk International Raceway, but I had good reason to leave earlier.
Don Simpson and I , had been invited to visit the REZ X / Carey Terrance 66X team race shop in Akwesasne before Tuesday nights STSS races.
Back in 2016, I was invited to visit their former HQ by the late Jeff Marshall who at that time was the team principle .
FLASHBACK TO APRIL 2016
Since Jeff sadly passed away, his brother Craig has taken over the running of things, and invited Don and I to come to check out their relocated base.
As before , the shop is very impressive , with cars in various stages of readiness, to be used when needed.
Thanks Craig , the invite was much appreciated.
The 66x Race Car hauler was already loaded up and we all took off at the same time, for the M.I.R which is only about 2 miles down the road.
The team were at the track before us, as we stopped off at Jreck Subs on route.
There was plenty of time before things got started to snooze in the car and check out the pits.
Racing pastor , Greg Nitz was their meeting track staff.
Austin Swamp and Series boss, Brett Deyo were on hand to conduct the pre race drivers
Car count was slightly better than Can Am the previous night , and consisted of a similar line up of STSS Big Block Mods and Sportsman , with Mini Stocks as support.
The first Feature was the series race for Sportsman
Tyler Peet who was third at Can Am went two places better, and got the checkers
Josh Jock who I’d met earlier at the REZ X , workshop came second and Pennsylvania driver Joe Toth was third .
The main event of the night , the 50 lap STSS Big Block race was up next.
Early leader was Jackson Gill who couldn’t hold off Mat Williamson. Once Williamson got passed , he stuck with him, but couldn’t regain the lead.
So it was win number two for Mat Williamson, making it a two day sweep.
Matt Sheppard moved up to third to complete the p0dium.
The Ministock feature ended the night with CJ LaVair taking the win.
STEWART FRIESEN UPDATE
Since the last BLOG , I’ve been reading the regular updates on Stewart , following the serious wreck I witnessed at Autodrome Drummond on the 28th of July. His wife Jess has been keeping the racing fraternity informed with regular updates. This one she posted on social media on the 6th of August . Things look positive and I wish him a speedy recovery.
GET WELL SOON STEW