His hard-luck season finally took a turn for the better.
Local stock car driver Bob Williams was the main-event winner in Saturday night's ARCA OK Tire Sportsman Series race in Quesnel, held in conjunction with Billy Barker Days. Williams went into the race day with memories of previous disasters fresh in his mind and was desperately hoping they wouldn't strike again.
Back on May 7, during the season-opening main event at Vernon's Motoplex Speedway, Williams destroyed his car after he went airborne over top of Dave Wilson's ride and crashed nose-first into the wall.
Then, on June 18 at PGARA Speedway Park in Prince George, Williams blew his engine half way through the 100-lap main.
So, if anybody needed a little sunshine on his shoulder on Saturday, it was Williams. To feel the warmth of victory, he survived a couple rain delays at Goldpan Speedway and was rewarded with the checkered flag after 109 laps of hard driving and perseverance.
"It was one of the most enjoyable [wins] we've had," said Williams, who beat Chris Babcock and Ryley Siebert to the line.
"We've received a ton of support from fans and friends and family about how tough a season we had had and how we kept plugging away at it. To win it the way we did the other night -- which was pretty convincing -- was such reinforcement for the crew's efforts and all they've done. Dave [Dyck] and Richard [Sitoski] have worked tirelessly on the car so it was good to see them get their recognition."
Williams also tipped his hat to his sponsors and to Jim's Engines, which provided him with his winning power-plant on Saturday.
Williams was in control for most of the race but got a couple scares on restarts caused by downpours. The final restart happened with only about 25 laps remaining.
"It was hard on my nerves," Williams said with a laugh. "I had a huge lead before the last rain caution came out, which puts the pack right back on your back bumper, and the guy on your back bumper knows that if he can just get to you -- touch you or wiggle you or anything -- he's got your spot and there ain't going to be enough time for you to get back to him. And the track was getting slippery so I was really concerned."
Prince George's Logan Jewell was also in the race and finished eighth.
In the ARCA points standings, Williams jumped from 17th to 10th. He has accumulated 84 points but is still well back of series leader Ian Graham (196). Mark Berriau (194) is second and Siebert (186) sits third.
The next race -- the fifth in the six-event series -- is Aug. 6 in Agassiz.
