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Willison Came a long way from Canada to win $30,000 in Winged Sprints, Montgomery 2nd, Santos 3rd.

Willison Holds Off Sprints Competition to Win Race for the Million Opener at 5 Flags

By Chuck Corder
5flagsspeedway.com reporter
Aaron Willison had extra motivation Friday night at Five Flags Speedway.
Not only were big bucks on the line for the Race for the Million debut event, but Willison was racing with a heavy heart after losing a close team member recently.
Willison held his own against the best 410 winged pavement sprint car drivers and captured the 40-lap feature in front a packed house of the Five Flags faithful.
“I can’t explain what this means to me now,” said Willison, choking back tears. “We’ve had a long, difficult week. This car was on a rail tonight. I was just biding my time, managing my equipment, managing tires and tried to go when the time was right.”
Willison made a nifty move on Lap 18 to get by then-leader Jeff Montgomery, who finished runner-up. Bobby Santos III, the fast qualifier (13.322 seconds), rounded out the podium in third.

“We had a good car,” Montgomery said. “Sixteen laps in, we were blowing brake fluid. I couldn’t see half the time. But no excuses against Aaron. I’m happy to come home in one piece.”
Santos had won three sprint car events at Five Flags coming into Friday, including last October with the Must See Racing Series.
He admitted to being a little flat-footed by all the green-flag racing Friday. After a slew of cautions in earlier races, the A Main saw just one yellow and that came six laps shy of the checkered flag.
“I saved too much early in race,” Santos said. “I should’ve pushed harder at the beginning.
We were slipping and sliding at the end. Aaron made a smart move going for the lead.
“This first (Race for the Million) race was great, and it’s only gonna get better.”

The Race for the Million is a four-track, five-race unsanctioned series for 410 winged sprints.
After debuting at Five Flags, the unsanctioned series heads to the Midwest in the summer where it will race in Michigan and hit Owosso Speedway in June and a twin feature in July at Berlin Raceway where a $50,000 bonus will be on the line to any driver who can win both features. It closes at Colorado National Speedway in August.

Willison and his team left Pensacola $30,000 richer thanks to his victory. Montgomery earned $15,000 and Santos $9,000. Even the drivers that didn’t qualify for the Main received a check for fuel.

Unofficial finish:

1 36 Aaron Willson, Langley, BC, Canada
2 33J Jeff Montgomery, Cobble Hill, BC, Canada
3 22x Bobby Santos, McCordsville, IN
4 88sr Jimmy McCune,SR Petersburg, MI
5 50m Kody Swanson, Brownsburg, IN
6 6G Bryan Gossel, Ft. Collins, CO
7 14 Davey Hamilton, JR, Lutz, FL
8 5 Joe Liguori, Lebanon, IN
9 41 Troy DeCaire, Brownsburg, IN
10 29 Jake Trainor, Marlborough, MA
11 1 Dakoda Armstrong, New Castle, IN
12 99 C J Leary, Fountaintown, IN
13 0 Michael Lewis,
14 44 Jason Blonde, Litchfield, MI
15 24N Kevin Newton, Terra Haute, IN
16 oh6 Adam Hilton, Colorado Springs, CO
17 88 Chase Locke, Pittsboro, IN
18 26 Chase Cabre,
19 57 Evan Margson, Tacoma, WA
20 7 Ryan Litt, Dorchester, ONT, Canada
21 15 Eric Humphries, Madera, CA
22 9 Dodge Carlbert, Wildwood, FL
23 4 Donnie Adams, Yorktown, IN
24 86 J J Dutton, Lutz, FL
25 61 Colton Bettis, Lutz, FL

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