It’s Willison Again In Must See Sprint Battle At Owosso
Aaron Willison in victory lane at Owosso Speedway. (David Sink photo)
OVID, Mich. (Aug. 31, 2024) – There’s just something about Owosso Speedway that Canadian hotshoe Aaron Willison has found to his liking in the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series presented by Perfit.
The Langley, British Columbia veteran and current National Pavement Sprint Car Rankings leader drove from ninth to first in a dicey 40-lap feature Saturday night at the three-eighths-mile oval, notching his second series win of the year and completing a season sweep of MSR events at Owosso.
Willison surgically picked his way up seven positions to second in the first 11 laps, then ate into early leader Jason Blonde’s advantage at the front of the field.
A near-two-second lead was erased in a matter of moments, and Willison made what turned out to be the race-winning pass with an outside-inside cross in turn three on lap 18.
From there, Willison checked out, opening up a gap of more than five seconds before fellow Canadian Ryan Litt found his way to second with 13 laps left.
Litt knocked two seconds off the deficit, but it was a caution with six to go – after Florida’s J.J. Dutton spun in turn two – that truly gave the field one quick chance at dethroning Willison’s dominance.
Willison chose the inside lane for the lone restart of the night, and surged away on the green flag as teenager Colton Bettis scrapped for second with Litt behind him.
That brief battle allowed Willison to pull away to a .949-second victory in owner Dick Myers’ familiar, red-and-yellow No. 50m sprinter.
Aaron Willison (50m) en route to victory Saturday night at Owosso Speedway. (David Sink photo)
“To roll [forward] from ninth like we did, Dick Myers and the crew had the RAM Engineering (No.) 50m rolling tonight. That baby was really, really good,” he said in victory lane. “Four-ten sprint cars on three-eighths miles are my jam. We’ve got a three-eighths [track] at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe, Washington, that I’m really good at. I just like the rhythm of those tracks because they’re a great size for these cars.
“Places like here at Owosso are just big enough we can get up and move around, but they’re not too big that [the racing] gets all strung out. Awesome, awesome facility and I had a lot of fun out there.”
Making the night extra special were the different historical threads that intersected in the final laps also.
Willison’s triumph marked the 50th win for Myers since taking ownership of the iconic ‘Mopar Missile,’ a mark that few pavement sprint car teams anywhere in the country have been able to reach.
In a feat of longevity, Myers has done so all with the same car, affectionately known as Seabiscuit.
The veteran leader will also be inducted into the Michigan Motorsports Hall of Fame in October, making the fact that such a milestone happened at a Michigan racetrack all the more fitting.
“It’s just such an honor that Dick lets me drive this race car,” Willison noted. “Everyone in sprint car racing knows this (No.) 50 car and to give Dick his 50th win with it … that’s something as a driver I’ll remember for a long time.”
Bettis, the standout 14-year-old from Lutz, Fla., matched his MSR career-best after passing Litt for second place during the final restart.
Though he got to the runner-up spot on lap 35, Bettis said he just didn’t have enough on the short run to be able to keep pace with Willison at the end.
“I think if I would’ve figured out passing a little bit better, we would’ve definitely been a hundred times better getting through there and giving ourselves a shot. Toward the end, I started figuring it out a little bit, but Aaron had a rocket ship out there. He’s the best in the country right now and he proved why in that one.”
Litt completed the podium after having no practice laps all day due to slowdowns getting across the American-Canadian border en route to the racetrack.
Ohio’s Kevin Mingus was fourth after starting from the pole, and retook second in the point standings as a result of his efforts. He was just ahead of 2022 series champion Charlie Schultz in fifth.
Series point leader Joe Liguori finished sixth and extended his championship advantage, unofficially, to 52 points with one race remaining. Blonde faded to eighth with a worn out right-rear tire after leading the first 17 laps.
Willison’s fast lap during qualifying was 12.773 seconds (105.692 mph) and netted him a $500 bonus. Blonde and Dorman Snyder dominated their respective eight-lap heat races prior to the main event.
The Must See Racing Sprint Car Series season culminates with the season finale Friday night, Sept. 13 at Birch Run (Mich.) Speedway and Event Center. Liguori is in command as he looks to close out the points race and capture the season championship.
The results:
Qualifying (best of two laps): 1. Aaron Willison, 50m, Myers-12.773; 2. Joe Liguori, 68, Liguori-12.806; 3. Colton Bettis, 26ap, Pierce-12.890; 4. Ryan Litt, 07, Litt-12.971; 5. Rick Holley, 85, Reiser-13.003; 6. Dorman Snyder, 99, Stickney-13.086; 7. Charlie Schultz, 9s, IBT-13.139; 8. Jason Blonde, 42, Nosal-13.180; 9. Kevin Mingus, Z10, Mingus-13.295; 10. J.J. Dutton, 86s, Dutton-13.295; 11. Tommy Nichols, 55, Nichols-13.379; 12. Adam Biltz, 8a, Reiser-13.734; 13. Bobby Komisarski, 7, Fogle-13.794; 14. Teddy Alberts, 44, Wolverine-13.908; 15. Jeff Bloom, 26, Bloom-NT; 16. Tom Geren, 11g, Geren-NT.
Heat 1 (8 laps, all transfer): 1. 42-Jason Blonde [6]; 2. 8A-Adam Biltz [2]; 3. 55-Tommy Nichols [3]; 4. Z10-Kevin Mingus [5]; 5. 7-Bobby Komisarski [1]; 6. 44-Teddy Alberts [7]; 7. 86-J.J. Dutton [4]; 8. 26-Jeff Bloom (DNS).
Heat 2 (8 laps, all transfer): 1. 99-Dorman Snyder [1]; 2. 85-Rick Holley [2]; 3. 07L-Ryan Litt [3]; 4. 50M-Aaron Willison [6]; 5. 68-Joe Liguori [5]; 6. 26B-Colton Bettis [4]; 7. 9S-Charlie Schultz [7].
Perfit A-Feature (40 laps): 1. 50M-Aaron Willison [9]; 2. 26B-Colton Bettis [7]; 3. 07L-Ryan Litt [6]; 4. Z10-Kevin Mingus [1]; 5. 9S-Charlie Schultz [3]; 6. 68-Joe Liguori [8]; 7. 99-Dorman Snyder [4]; 8. 42-Jason Blonde [2]; 9. 85-Rick Holley [5]; 10. 55-Tommy Nichols [11]; 11. 8A-Adam Biltz [12]; 12. 86-J.J. Dutton [10]; 13. 7-Bobby Komisarski [13]; 14. 44-Teddy Alberts [14].
Lap Leader(s): Kevin Mingus (Grid); Jason Blonde 1-17; Aaron Willison 18-40.
Hard Charger: 50M-Aaron Willison (+8)
