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Williamson to Take Over for Semi-Retiring Kerwin

Ransomville- Since 1983, fans at Ransomville Speedway have witnessed the driving talents of Scott Kerwin in various divisions at the 62 year old dirt track facility.
In recent years, Kerwin has applied his skills behind the wheel in Ransomville’s weekly headlining Krown Undercoating 358 Modified division.
The times however are changing at the Niagara County based speedway.
Kerwin, of Newfane, NY., has semi-retired as an active weekly driver at Ransomville after this past season. His replacement in the No. 7 Modified, owned by the trio of Pete Cocco, Paul Wendt and Dave Wood, will be Canadian rising-star Mat Williamson.
The car will be renumbered No. 6, which is Williamson’s trademark number. Williamson hails from St. Catharine’s, Ont.
While horsepower and handling are important, what must be stressed is that the No. 7 team has been built and powered by the deep friendships of those involved.
While Kerwin has been associated his entire career with the Cocco family, the current No. 7 team profile that also includes the ownership contributions of Wendt and Wood was formed two years ago.
“I’m just stepping out of the driver’s seat for this year,” Kerwin said. “I’m taking a year off and see what happens. I’m not retiring. I may be in the car for a couple of races if Mat can’t make it and I plan on perhaps driving for another team at Ransomville in a few Sportsman races.
“I never said I’m totally retiring but just stepping out of the driving side for next year on a regular basis. I’ll still be in the pits with the team every week working on the car. After 2019, we’ll see what happens.
“I want to sincerely thank Paul Wendt and Wendt’s Propane and Oil for teaming up with us and building a great team made up of a bunch of friends and partners such as Pete and Dave. Mat is a great driver. He’ll do fine. I’ll still be around but will have more time now to enjoy the summertime a little bit more.”
Cocco says that not having Kerwin in the seat of his race car will be an emotional experience when the green flag flies at Ransomville in 2019.
“Scott’s been at this for almost 40 years,” Cocco said. “That’s when I first met him. He got me into racing and I’ve been running with him ever since.”
Kerwin has been racing since 1983 at Ransomville. He drove in the former Bomber class through 1988. He then went to Sportsman in 1989. Kerwin claimed four Ransomville Sportsman titles spanning 1990-92 and 2004.
Kerwin made the move to 358 Modifieds for the first time in 1993. After a brief racing hiatus for family reasons lasting from 1995-2000, he returned to the sport driving Pro Stocks in 2001.
Kerwin earned the 2002 Ransomville Pro Stock title and later that same year was victorious in the Pro Stock portion of the World Finals at the Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Kerwin returned to the Sportsman in 2003.
Then he journeyed back to the 358 Modifieds in 2007 which he has raced in ever since.
Kerwin expressed to the team during the middle portion of the 2018 Ransomville season that he was thinking about retiring.
“As far as the every night deal, Scott talked about it in the middle of the year about retiring and I kept bugging him that I didn’t want him to quit,” Cocco said. “We do this as a friend thing. The whole bunch of us has been friends forever.
“For Scott it was time. I’m sure he’ll maybe get in this car a time of two next year and he’ll still be turning the wrenches on it in the pits every night.”
The partnership of Williamson and the No. 7 team had its roots planted at Oswego Speedway this past October during NAPA Super DIRT Week activity.
“We weren’t advertising yet the fact that Scott was semi- retiring,” Cocco said. “We were waiting until after Oswego in October. We put Billy Decker in the car for the 150 lap race at Oswego. During Oswego, Mat approached my son John (Cocco) and said that he understood that Scott was retiring. John told Mat that he might be.
“Mat told John that if Scott is retiring he would be interested in driving for us. Mat actually started the ball rolling. So first we ask Scott if he was okay with it. He said absolutely. So we talked to Mat’s dad about it and now here we are.”
Williamson scored an incredible ten wins on his way to the 2018 Merrittville Speedway DIRTcar 358 Modified championship.
Williamson has been turning heads throughout the entire dirt track Modified and 358 Modified foot print over the last few seasons as a rising star. He placed a strong third in the Short Track Super Series Modified North Region points in 2018 while also placing 14th in Super DIRTcar Series Modified points. Williamson was victorious in the Super DIRTcar 358 Modified series finale in October in Brockville, Ont.
Williamson has two career 358 Modified titles at Merrittville and four big-block Modified championships at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa.
Williamson is pleased with his association with his new team at Ransomville.
“It’s a great opportunity to drive for this team,” Williamson said. “They’ve always had great equipment and have been frontrunners at Ransomville so I’m excited to get in the seat. I went and talked to Scott and he said that he doesn’t race enough anymore to be as competitive as he wants to be. The team wants to win races.
“I think these days you’ve got to race 100 times a year to be at a top level and I drive for different teams that allow me to do that. This ride at Ransomville is another stepping stone in my career. I’m super excited to work with these guys at Ransomville. When they race it looks like they’re always having a ton of fun so I’m excited.”
In 2019, Ransomville fans will be able to enjoy the driving talents of Williamson and still see Kerwin in the pits. Whether Kerwin ever comes back to full-time driving remains to be seen but even if he never does, his place as one of the most winning, competitive and popular drivers has already been stamped nicely into the Ransomville history books.

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