JACKSONVILLE, N.C. – Paul Williamson was faced with a must-win scenario on Saturday night at New River All American Speedway, and for the second consecutive season, the Kenansville, North Carolina, driver delivered under pressure.
Rusty Daniels won in the first of two races for the Late Model Stock Car division in controversial fashion, forcing the title race to come down to a winner-take-all showdown in the second act. After a full field invert, Williamson quickly raced his way to the lead but had Daniels in hot pursuit for most of the 40-lap race.
Williamson, however, saved his best for last – driving away from Daniels in the closing laps to clinch his second straight track championship.
“I seem to think we work under pressure the best,” Williamson said in victory lane. “The good Lord was looking out for us, and we were able to win it. Everybody worked hard and I appreciate it. My dad, Wendell [Davis], my fiancé Haley [Brown], my grandparents, everybody. There’s just so many people to thank and to be able to bring it home for everybody, this is for everybody else. This isn’t for me. It’s for everybody else.”
The victory in the second race was also a bit of redemption for Williamson.
In the first act of the doubleheader, he had led over Daniels for much of the race. However, in the apex of turns three and four on the race’s final lap, Williamson would spin off Daniels’s front bumper. Daniels would go on to win while Williamson would recover for a third-place finish.
“That was just hard racing,” Daniels said after the first race. “I believe he got on the binders a little bit for a couple laps there in front of me. I didn’t try to dump him.”
The on-track incident led to an off-track incident between the Williamson camp, the Daniels camp, and NASCAR officials. After the kerfuffle, Williamson said he had to shift his focus.
“To say the least, I was pretty ill, but me and my dad went in the trailer and did the math,” Williamson remarked. “We knew what we had to do. I took all that energy and put it in my right foot on the skinny pedal.”
For Daniels, it’s the third straight season he has been in contention for a championship but not been able to clinch.
“It’s frustrating,” Daniels commented. “The best man won tonight though. Congratulations to those guys, they did a good job.”
The championship showdown between Williamson and Daniels overshadowed a career-best performance for Gerald Benton, who scored a runner-up finish in the first race and a third-place result in the second.
New River All American Speedway roars back into action on Saturday, Sept. 21 with championships on the line in Charger and Mini Stock. The racing program also features the Allison Legacy Series, Bombers, Legends, Bandoleros and Champ Karts.