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Kevin Kovac
TUCSON, Ariz. (September 23) - If Brad Williams thought his first career Southwest DIRTcar Late Model Series victory one month ago was a family affair, just imagine the possibilities he has before him this Saturday night (Sept. 27).
The region's premier dirt Late Model tour comes to Williams's backyard on Saturday, visiting USA Race Park in Tucson for an early-autumn showdown in the desert.
"There probably will be about 20 of my family members at the race," said Williams, whose residence in Tucson sits about a half-hour drive from the three-eighths-mile clay oval on the outskirts of the city. "My parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, second-cousins - they're all planning to come out, so I'm really looking forward to the race."
Williams, 34, broke through for his first-ever SWDLMS triumph on Aug. 16 at Prescott Valley (Ariz.) Raceway. Though the track is over 200 miles from Tucson, a large group of Williams's relatives made the trip north and joined him in a jovial post-race celebration.
All of those family members - and more - will have a chance to watch Williams in action close to home on Saturday night at USA Race Park.
Some of Williams's relatives are even working to expand his fanbase for the 25-lap, $1,000-to-win SWDLMS event. The Hoffman family, who operate Hoffman's Dairy Queen of Tucson, have helped arrange carpools to transport members of their church, 22nd Street Baptist in Tucson, to USA Race Park for a high-speed night at the track.
"They're expecting 50 or more people from the church to come out for the races," said Williams, who appeared at the 22nd Street Baptist Church last weekend with his No. 23 Schwartz Chassis dirt Late Model to drum up interest in Saturday's 'Night at the Races.' "A lot of them will be 'race rookies,' so we want to make sure that we give them an exciting show at the very least.
"Hopefully I can get a win for everybody who will be there supporting me, but it's not going to be easy. I think there's going to be an even bigger field of cars than there was at Manzanita (Speedway in Phoenix) for the last Southwest Series race (on Sept. 13), so there will be some tough competition."
Williams, who is in his third-year as a dirt Late Model driver after advancing from go-kart racing, has never reached Victory Lane at USA Race Park. But his roughly 10 career starts at the track feature three runner-up finishes, including one to SWDLMS points leader Lonnie Parker Jr. of El Mirage, Ariz., in USA Race Park's last tour event, on June 14.
"We've been close (at USA Race Park), but we just haven't gotten over the hump," said Williams, who didn't start the track's first SWDLMS event of 2008, on March 29, because his car was sidelined by engine problems during qualifying. "We just have to keep working on the car to make it a little bit better."
Williams will enter Saturday's program with plenty of momentum. After following up his SWDLMS win at Prescott Valley with a third-place finish on Sept. 13 at Manzanita, he's recorded six consecutive top-five finishes in tour A-Mains. The streak has carried him to fifth in the points standings - and in sight of third place - with two scheduled points races remaining after Saturday night.
"When we've finished races this year we've usually been near the front," said Williams. "What we need to do is get our car to where it's good all night long. We haven't run as well as we should in some heat races and that's given us bad starting spots in the feature, which makes it harder to win races."
There's no truth to the rumor, of course, that if Williams wins Saturday night's SWDLMS feature, all the fans in attendance will receive free ice cream cones the next day at Hoffman's Dairy Queen of Tucson. But youngsters who pay a visit to Williams in the pit area after the races will get dibs on a frozen DQ treat.
"I have free ice-cream cards that I hand out to the kids," said Williams, whose car carries sponsorship from his relative's Dairy Queen shop. "I think that's a great reason for them to stop by and see us!"
USA Race Park's pit gates are scheduled to open at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. The front gates will be unlocked at 5 p.m., with a drivers' meeting set for 5:30 p.m. and racing scheduled to get the green flag at 7 p.m.
For more information on USA Race Park, visit www.usadirttrack.com or call 520-574-8515 or 1-888-337-RACE.
Info on the Southwest DIRTcar Late Model Series can be obtained by logging on to www.swdra.com, and additional info on all of the series, sanctioning and member tracks of DIRTcar Racing is available at www.DIRTcar.com.
Southwest DIRTcar Late Model Series Points Standings (as of Sept. 13):
1. Lonnie Parker Jr. 544
2. Mark Fowler 420
3. Tommy Hussak III 352
4. Mike Tahtinen 339
5. Brad Williams 329
6. Joey Moriarty 317
7. Jerry Fincher 309
8. Lonnie Parker Sr. 260
9. Randy Carder 215
10. Wayne Noyes 189
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