BONHAM, Texas (May 26, 2024) – Shelby Williams once again performed in championship style in this year’s IMCA All Star Shootout, successfully defending his 2023 IMCA Sunoco Stock Car title.
Picking up his first win right out of the gate at Southern Oklahoma Speedway on opening night, Williams set the stage going into the rest of the tour with a lot of momentum behind him.
No stranger to Victory Lane at Ardmore, Williams drew well and started on the outside of the front row in the “A”, going on to win.
Night two at Kennedale Speedway Park put a damper on his momentum after being squeezed between two cars coming out of turn four in his heat. After qualifying for the main event through his “B,” Williams started 15th, advanced eight spots and finished seventh.
Onto night three at Heart ‘O Texas Speedway in Waco. With 10 inches of rain hitting the area over the past month, track officials performed a Herculean feat to prepare the track for the last leg of the tour.
Although the track provided its own unique challenges due to the moisture, the racing was definitely exciting.
Williams went into this final night neck and neck in the points race with Jason Batt. Batt had ran well and looked to be his most formidable challenge going into the final night.
Batt led several laps, but ran out of luck, falling out due to mechanical issues. Williams started ninth in the lineup and showed great patience while slowly but surely working his way through the field.
While all the attention was on the battle up front between Paul White, Cody Baker, William Gould, Brandon Hood and Benji Kirkpatrick, Williams suddenly appeared and went to work passing those cars.
When the checkers dropped, White took the win while Williams took second and the points championship while becoming eligible to qualify for the Sunoco Race Fuels Race of Champions at the upcoming IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s.
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