Ronnie Williams
When the dust settled on the Icebreaker SK Modified feature on April 10 at Thompson Speedway it was a familiar looking car in third place after race, but a face maybe not so familiar to the track’s regular fans.
But Ronnie Williams of Tolland is hoping the fans at Thompson will be recognizing him more and more this season at the track.
Williams, a regular the last two years in the SK Modified division at Stafford Motor Speedway, finished third in a Keith Rocco backup SK Modified at Thompson’s Icebreaker event.
He returns to the track for the second event of the season Wednesday sitting third in the points, but essentially the closest pursuer in the standings to Rocco, the points leader. Ted Christopher, who finished second to Rocco at the Icebreaker and is second in the standings, will not run at Thompson regularly in 2016 and will not be part of Wednesday’s event.
Williams said the third place at the Icebreaker was a big help in boosting his confidence on the high-banked .625-mile Thompson oval.
“Getting a third place in the first race of the season definitely boosted my confidence,” Williams said. “Especially being at a track I had never really raced at. I think it just makes us want to go back and compete even harder there. Usually we’re not really that great with opening races, so to get a third and already be up there in the points. I just want to stay consistent now and hopefully something good can happen.”
Christopher is three points behind Rocco in the standings. Williams is eight points behind in third. Ryan Preece is fourth in the standings, 10 points behind Rocco.
“We’ve just got to beat Keith now,” Williams said of the man who owns the car he’s racing.
Williams said he doesn’t foresee the driver – car owner relationship leading to any sort of issues.
“I know that he’s a competitor and I’m a competitor,” Williams said. “Once we get on the track we’re not really worrying about that stuff. We’re both going for wins. I have an extreme respect for Keith. But I know at the end, he’ll move me for a win so I’ve got to take that into account too.”
There’s little question about Williams confidence at Stafford Speedway.
The 19-year old had six wins in the SK Modified division in 2016, matching division champion Rowan Pennink for the lead for victories for the season. He finished sixth in the standings.
Consistency issues though are the focus of improvement for Williams’ family owned team at Stafford.
“We had that five or six week period where we didn’t even finish a race and that kind of set us back in the points,” Williams said. “I would say that’s really our main thing to fix this year.”
Williams points to a 17th place finish in the season opening SK Modified division event on April 24 at Stafford’s NAPA Spring Sizzler as actually being a positive in the teams hunt to improve consistency and standings numbers in 2016. Williams said he could have likely just parked his car after being involved in a lap 33 wreck. Instead his team worked to get back out on track and likely gained 10 positions on the track because of it.
“If I had just pulled in and got out of the car we would have finished 27th instead of 17th with all the wrecks that happened afterward,” Williams said. “Those points that we got for that, I mean I was happy with a 17th place finish at that point. What it could have been compared to what we got, it was huge. Turning those bad weeks into sort of good weeks I think is the key thing for us.”
We’re not really fishing around for anything. If an offer came our way, of course we’d take it. But right now I think we’re focused on the championship at Stafford and at Thompson. If something pops up great, but if something doesn’t there’s always hope for next year.
As far as looking beyond the SK Modified divisions at Stafford and Thompson, Williams said he’s not searching for anything for now. Williams made his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour debut in the NAPA Fall Final 150 at Stafford Speedway last October, finishing 24th. He said, as of no, there are no prospects for any Modified Tour rides in the near future.
“We’re not really fishing around for anything,” Williams said. “If an offer came our way, of course we’d take it. But right now I think we’re focused on the championship at Stafford and at Thompson. If something pops up great, but if something doesn’t there’s always hope for next year.”
I go to all the tracks to watch Mods race and I have to tell you, I really like this kid. He seems very respectful and humble in his radio, news stories and after podiums, but on the track, he is a hard, clean, competitive racer that is really fun to watch. I only wish the best for this kid. He is the type of racer and person that makes this sport better. Can’t wait to see him as a regular on the Tour. A pure homegrown Mod racer with a very bright future.
Question Shawn: is the kid going to be running any Waterford shows? He ran a few last year and did great. It wasn’t his normal Stafford car, a back up maybe?
ModFan,
I am not sure if they plan to run anything at Waterford this year. He did not mention they would be.
Good 4 racing
Shawn – thanks for clarifying TC’s status for Weds. night. With or without TC there, it’s tough to imagine anyone beating Rocco for the Thompson SK title this year.