Aaron Willison and the Dick Myers 50M continue to be one of the most potent combinations in Sprint Car racing.
Willison completed the Owosso Speedway sweep with the Must See Racing Sprint Series Presented by Perfit Parts Saturday, winning the 40-lap feature event. Willison also won at the track during the series' visit on June 22.
Arguably the only thing that didn't go Willison's way on Saturday night was the dice roll, which gave the Canadian driver plenty of work to do after setting fast time in qualifying. However, he raced his way from ninth to first in the feature for his second win in five Must See starts this year.
"I gotta admit, I wasn't very impressed with our dice roll for the invert there," said Willison. "I was downright mad. I walked away from the officials before I got in trouble for swearing at them. To roll from ninth, Dick Myers and the crew had the Ram Engineering 50M rolling out there.
"That baby was really, really good. Congratulations to Dick and his family and everyone involved with this car. This is win number 50 on this particular chassis, so a milestone for them and a great opportunity for me."
In particular, Willison seems to flourish on 3/8-mile ovals such as Owosso. He credits that to cutting his teeth at tracks such as the 3/8-mile inner oval at Evergreen Speedway.
"410 Sprint Cars on 3/8-miles are my jam. I don't know. We've got a 3/8ths at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe, Washington that I'm really good at. I just like the rhythm of the 3/8-mile tracks with these cars. They're just big enough you can get up and move around, but they're not so big that it gets all strung out. Awesome, awesome facility. The staff, management and ownership of this place are doing an outstanding job, and thanks to everyone for waiting it out tonight."
Colton Bettis finished second in the Sam Pierce Racing No. 26B just one week before his 15th birthday. He continues to impress in his Must See appearances this year, which include another runner-up finish in the Children's Dream Fund 50 at Citrus County Speedway in March.
Bettis started seventh in the feature, and the young driver admitted it took him some time to find the keys to completing passes at Owosso.
"I think, if I would have figured out passing a little bit better, we would have definitely been 100 times better getting through traffic," said Bettis. "Towards the end, I started figuring it out a little bit. That 50M was definitely a rocket like it always is, especially with Aaron. He's the best in the country right now, I don't care what anybody says. He's the man."
Ryan Litt won the series' most recent event at Berlin Raceway on August 10 prior to Saturday's race at Owosso. Litt finished third on Saturday, rebounding from mechanical issues during practice for a strong finish.
Like Bettis, Litt also had high praise for Willison after his win.
"Obviously, we didn't get much practice today with the motor issues," said Litt. "We just threw our old setup at the car, and it was alright. In qualifying, it was pretty tight off, so we made a bunch of changes right before the feature. It was definitely better, and it seemed to get better on the long run. I thought I was maybe catching the 50 car a little bit.
"He checked out, obviously. He had a really good start. That car is always fast and Aaron is obviously one of the best in the country. Once he got out to that big lead, I knew he was going to be tough to track down."
Kevin Mingus finished fourth, with Charlie Schultz rounding out the top five.
The Must See Racing Sprint Series returns to action on September 13 at Birch Run Speedway. Fans can watch live on RacingAmerica.TV.
-Photo credit: Owosso Speedway
Must See Sprints at Owosso Unofficial Results
Fin | No | Driver | Laps | Diff |
1 | 50M | Aaron Willison | 40 | --- |
2 | 26B | Colton Bettis | 40 | 0.949 |
3 | 07L | Ryan Litt | 40 | 2.732 |
4 | Z10 | Kevin Mingus | 40 | 4.006 |
5 | 9S | Charlie Schultz | 40 | 5.656 |
6 | 68 | Joe Liguori | 40 | 6.002 |
7 | 99 | Dorman Snyder | 40 | 7.518 |
8 | 42 | Jason Blonde | 40 | 13.365 |
9 | 85 | Rick Holley | 39 | 1 Lap |
10 | 55 | Tommy Nichols | 39 | 1 Lap |
11 | 8A | Adam Blitz | 39 | 1 Lap |
12 | 86 | J.J. Dutton | 39 | 1 Lap |
13 | 7 | Bobby Komisarski | 26 | 14 Laps |
14 | 44 | Teddy Albert | 21 | 19 Laps |