A 358 SERIES WIN FOR MAT WILLIAMSON (11th Sept 2026 BLOG)
The last BLOG ended on the 4th of September while I was on a self inflicted break away from the race tracks. I was in the middle of fighting off a bout of Flu and taking a course of anti-biotics
Normally it would take more than this to keep me away , but I had good reason to be sensible for once, and get rid of it as soon as I could . Last time I had the Flu it developed into Pneumonia and I ended up in hospital for a week. I have an up and coming over-seas trip rapidly approaching , so I have even more reason to ‘nip it in the bud’. I went for over a week without going to the races .
On Sunday the 6th of September it was final points night at my local Cornwall Motor Speedway. It was also the staging of the 115 lap Stephane Lafrance Memorial race and ‘Steph’ was a good friend of mine.
Even though I wasn’t fully recovered , I felt fit enough to get back in action, albeit in a low key capacity.
I park my car behind Victory Lane at the CMS , so if the weather turned cold and miserable, I had somewhere warm to hang out.
Stephane had many friends in the racing world and one of his closest Buddies was Ryan Godown , a top dirt modified driver from New Jersey.
Ryan who had never raced at the C.M.S before was one of the first arrivals .
He was racing at his local Bridgeport Speedway , the night before where he was involved in a terrible wreck. His friendship with ‘Steph’ had been long standing , so he still managed to be up in Cornwall , fielding a car with a special 115 wrap .
Corey Wheeler , one of Cornwall’s local drivers, was also there with his car in a 115 car wrap.
I started my ‘low key ‘ night , by taking a few hot lap shots from pit lane, before moving to the middle for the heat races.
The first Feature of the night was for the Rookie Sportsman and it ran before the intermission.
Justin Lazore was the winner.
After the break, the 115 lap Stephane Lafrance Memorial for the 358 Modifieds got under way.
The parade lap and ‘Salute to the Fans’ was led by the two tribute cars of Godown and Wheeler.
It took a few laps for the race to settle down, after a few early cautions.
There was a good field of cars , with 29 cars in attendance .
It turned out to be a good race , with the outcome in doubt , right to the end.
Louie Jackson Jr took the checkers , which went down well with everyone, as his father was another of Stephs close friends and business associates.
PICTURE FROM LEFT TO RIGHT Peter Mantha, Martin Lafrance, Louie Jackson JR , Yves Lafrance and CMS promoter Raymond Lavergne
After the Victory Lane pics were taken, we moved on to picture the crowning of this years track Champion, Corey Wheeler.
My ‘tog’ buddy Don Simpson , always likes to get a picture taken of the two of us with Corey when he gets a win ……… so here it is
Next up, it was the Pro Stock Feature
Dakota Sharp took the checkers in this one.
Then , Tommy Lizotte was crowned points champion
The Sportsman feature followed this.
With Tristan Ladouceur , not in attendance due to Sportsman DirtCar Series commitments at the Weedsport Speedway , I expected this race to be won by Jacob Nadeau, but I was proved wrong and it was the Moore Brothers who dominated .
Brennan Moore took the Victory
Jacob Nadeau took the season Championship.
The final event of the night was the Mini Stock Feature.
The winner of this was Christopher Proulx.
Point champion was Travis Lamarche
So, this brought and end to my first day ‘back on the job’ since my flu.
Monday the 7th of September the Short Track Super Series was back on my patch .
Back in July the ‘Lumberjack Swing’ at the Autodrome Granby and Le RPM Speedways in Quebec had to be canceled due to rain, and they were rescheduled for the 7th and 8th of September.
Day one was for Granby and day two at RPM.
I joined Don Simpson for the ride up to Granby .
We set off early and arrived in good time to chill out at the track before the races began. Thanks to the Jacob Nadeau Sportsman team for the use of their hauler to store the camera gear.
I shot my Hot Lap pics from the exit of turn four.
After the hot laps it was the opening ceremonies , and in the traditional STSS way, a USA driver did a lap with the Star Spangled Banner attached while their anthem played, and like wise for the Canadian anthem, with the red and white maple leaf flag flying from a Canadian car.
Alex Yankowski was the one chosen for the USA and Donovan Lussier for Canada.
Then it was time for the heats, so I moved to the inside of turn one and two.
I shot the Sportsman heats from there too
After the redraw on the front stretch , the last chance qualifying race took place . I moved to the back straight for this one
It was then time for the first of the features . This was for the Mini Stocks . or as they prefer to call them in Quebec the ‘Sport Compact’
CJ LaVair took the checkers in this one , but I later spotted on ‘My Race Pass’ that second placed man Mathieu Voghel had been given the win, and everyone else moved up a spot. This usually happens when the winner fails post race tech , so I can only assume La Vair was DQ’d for some reason. I’m unable to confirm.
The Rookie Sportsman feature quickly followed.
This was won by Samuel Fortier
It was now time for the big race.
As you’d expect , it started with a four wide Salute to the Fans
Early leader was local hero, Michael Parent
It wasn’t long before Stewart Friesen was up with him and challenging for the lead.
There were at least half a dozen other contenders hot on their tails with Matt Sheppard looking the quickest .
He was soon up with the two leaders and made easy work of getting to the front .
Chris Raabe then became the one to watch as he edged his way up to second .
The result was in doubt right up to the checkers as Raabe attempted to snatch the lead from Sheppard. It didn’t happen and as the laps ran down , Mat Williamson moved up to join them and claim the remaining podium spot.
Victory Lane pictures were all done shortly after 10-15, which was our cue to leave .
Neither Don or I wanted a late night, especially me , as I was in my recovery mode.
In our absence , Tyler Peet took the Sportsman feature
The Short Track Super Series Lumberjack Swing was to be continued the next night at the Le RPM Speedway , Marcel sur Richelieu , but neither of us had intentions of going .
So instead of heading back to Quebec on Wednesday , I followed the race from the comfort of my home.
Stewart Friesen was the Lumberjack Swing winner on the second night.
I was continuing to take things easy, and shake off the sickness before my planned overseas trip .
So my weekend plans were to contiue low key, and selective .
On Thursday / Friday / Saturday (10/11/12 Sept) my local Can Am Speedway had a quality weekend show .
Thursday was for the continuation of the Pabst Shoot Out that got rained out, half way through the program on the 1st of July.
This included a 358 DirtCar Series as well as another for the Sportsman .
Friday had another 358 Series race plus an overload of Sprint Car racing.
Saturday was a SUPER DIRTCAR Series race plus Sportsman.
I would start things off with the Thursday the 11th , and see how things went.
With part of the show already in the books , an early finish looked imminent
So in the afternoon , I took a slow ride down to Can Am , after crossing the border at Cornwall and taking the ‘pretty route’ beside the St Lawrence to Alexandria Bay .
I was at the track by 4-30 pm so still had plenty of time to sooze in the car before the 6-15 hot laps.
When rain brought an end to the Pabst Shoot Out in July, all but one of the Sportsman heats were in the books, and both the Sprint Car heats were yet to run.
So our night started with the remaining Sportsman heat , which was won by Richard Murtaugh .
Then we had the two remaining Sprint Car heats.
The nights program had some allocated slots for last chance qualifiers, but there weren’t sufficient cars to warrant them .
So we went straight into the 50 lap Series race for the Modifieds.
There was a lovely red sunset as they took off for the four wide appreciation lap
Early leader was the Can Am Track Champion, Billy Dunn, who dominated for the first part of the race.
Then Mat Williamson came on the scene to challenge, and take the lead.
That’s how it stayed until the late stages of the race when Lance Willix passed Dunn, to claim second.
It was a great ‘come back’ race for Mat , and just what he needed , following a terrible wreck he had , two nights earlier at the Le RPM Short Track Super Series on Tuesday night (the one I missed)
I must say , it’s nice to see Chip Burdick back at Can Am in a managerial role after an absence of a few years .
Here’s Chip and Dean Reynolds the Race Director of the DirtCar Modifieds.
As I keep repeating, I’m doing things low key , so instead of staying for the Sportsman Series race , I headed for home.
In my absence Richard Murtaugh took the Sportsman Series win.