BONHAM, Texas – Gary Williams was better than good the first four nights and good enough on the last night of the Red River Tour for IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars.
Williams won two features, with second- and fourth-place finishes as well going into the finale at home track Southern Oklahoma Speedway.
He started 17th that evening and was up to sixth before breaking a spindle bolt. Wobbly tire and all, Williams still managed to earn the tour title with a 14th place finish.
“We weren’t even planning to run the whole tour. Then we won the first night out at Kennedale Speedway Park,” the Bonham, Texas, driver said. “We had been chasing some things and what we found worked. We knew we had a fast car.”
How fast?
Williams was fourth the next night at Heart O’ Texas Speedway, then duplicated his KSP showing with another flag-to-flag run at 281 Speedway. He was runner-up in another star-filled feature at Big O Speedway.
“It was really good to be able to win this tour, racing with the combination of guys who are that good,” Williams said. “We’re not a high dollar team. My son Shelby (fifth in the tour points) and I have homebuilt chassis and camped in a trailer on the way. I kind of felt like the underdog.”
“For me being a 50-year-old guy, I felt like I was racing better than I did when I was 16,” he added. “For a 50-year-old dude, I went out there and did a pretty good job.”
Starts 5 Wins 2 Additional Top Five’s 2
HIS CREW: Wife Lisa, son Shelby and Mark Prater.
HIS SPONSORS: Crazy J Kettlekorn of Desert; Jeff Reynolds Electric of Godley; Chad Jones at Big Iron Service in Bells; and Steve Ott and Steve O. Motorsports of Ardmore, Okla.