Competition Eliminator is living up to its name this year as we’ve seen a different winner at each of the three Division 4 points races this season. The Comp Eliminator Bonus Fund continues to attract more participants and they all have their eyes on the prize. 

In true Comp style, the winner in Houston, Chase Williams, experienced some turmoil before getting to the track last Friday. In fact, there’s a pretty common theme among our winners this season - first comes the struggle, then comes the hustle, and then comes the win. 

When Williams returned home after the event in Nobile, Okla. last month, they discovered some hairline cracks in the cylinder heads while doing some routine maintenance. 

“We had to send them out for a quick repair,” recalls Williams. “Rick McConathy at Slick Rick Racing Heads knocked it right out. Our engine builders at Race Engine Development, Scott Benham and David Cook received the heads back Thursday night before the Houston event, so we were unsure until the last minute that we were going to be able to go.” 

Williams and his crew met Cook at Houston Raceway Park on Friday. They immediately got to work, putting everything together in time for the qualifying passes on Saturday. 

“We knew that if we made a really good run in qualifying it would put us around the seventh or eighth position, and that’s exactly what happened,” said Williams, who qualified eighth at the event. “We felt like it was a pretty good starting position. Everything kind of fell into place.”

Indeed, it did go smoothly, for a couple of rounds. Williams knocked out Christopher Dodd and Ed Federkeil without damaging his index. In the third round of eliminations, however, he faced long-time friend Clark Smiley. 

“I probably took a little more than I should have. I took twelve hundredths. But, racing Clark, you know he’s going to be pretty fast, and typically when we race we always bring it with each other. That’s one of our very best friends but we race them pretty hard when we race.”

After taking a hit on his index, Williams faced Greg Kamplain in the semifinals, a competitor he’s seen in the other lane on more than a few occasions. However, this is the first time that Williams can recall actually beating Kamplain, a feat that cost him a little more of his index before he lined up against Adam Hickey in the finals. Williams cut a killer .002 light, giving him the upper hand.

“I’d been looking at Adam’s lights and he’d been really good all day. And he typically is good. I knew I needed to bring the A-game for him, especially after being down in index. He had some trouble getting down so that was a lucky break for sure.”

Ultimately, Williams entered the winners circle at Houston Raceway Park once again. He’s had multiple wins at the track, both at national events and divisional races. “Houston’s been pretty good to us in the past,” he recalled. “I won the divisional event there the year before last and I won my first national there in 2011. Then I won my third national there last year.”

This win puts Williams toward the top in points for the Comp Eliminator Bonus Fund, started by Rooftec’s Rodger Brogdon to encourage more competition in the category. The Bonus Fund certainly contributed to Williams’s desire to win this weekend. In fact, it influenced his entire racing program for the season. 

“We’ve run B/DA several years prior to this,” he said. “Looking at all the Bonus Fund money and the fact that I was down a tenth in B/DA, we knew we had to do something different to be able to compete with all the guys the money was going to bring in. So we decided to put the B/ED combo together. That’s a totally new combo to us starting this year. So far so good. I’m really pleased with it.”

In addition to dedicating his win to announcing legend Bob Unkefer, Williams wanted to be sure to thank those who impacted his race to victory last weekend: his parents, Greg and Judy Williams; his crew, John Burgess and Jim Williams; the folks at Race Engine Development, David Cook Sr. and Scott Benham; David Cook Jr., of DC Car; Don Thomas of Panhandle Performance; Dick Maris and Craig Bourgeois.

In addition to Brogdon's company, RoofTec, here are the other sponsors of the Comp Eliminator Bonus Fund:

* Ashton and Mignon Hudson - AMBE AMPERSAND SOAP Co.
* Nicky Fowler - SCOGGIN DICKEY PARTS CENTER
* Jerry Haas - JERRY HAAS RACE CARS
* Richard Freeman - ELITE MOTORSPORTS LLC.
* John Clegg - CLEGG INDUSTRIES, Inc
* Stan Holt - LUPE TORTILLA'S
* Joe Napoleon - TURNKEY INDUSTRIES
* Jim Whiteley - J & A Services LLC.
* Clint Neff / Harry Clack - ATC TRANSMISSION CENTER
* Dean Carter - QUALITY FLOORS
* Sean Schwartz - CCR MOTORSPORTS INSURANCE
* Ray Skillman - RAY SKILLMAN AUTO GROUP