Williamson earns first World of Outlaws victory at River Cities Speedway
NXTbets Pro | Published On: August 29, 2026
Williamson breakthrough
Garet Williamson captured his first World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series victory Friday at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and he did it with a late pass that put him in control for good. Williamson started on the outside of the front row, worked through the front of the field and moved past David Gravel on Lap 26 of the 40-lap feature. He then held the lead to the finish and left the track with a milestone win in his 163rd career feature start.
The victory carried weight beyond one race. Williamson became the 159th different driver to win a World of Outlaws race and the 20th different winner of the season. He also joined a short list of first-time winners in 2026, becoming the fourth driver to earn that first series victory this year. The result added another entry for Missouri in the series record book, as Williamson became the fifth driver from that state to win a World of Outlaws race.
Gravel challenge
Gravel set the pace early and looked in position to turn his night into a complete sweep of the front-end achievements. He set fast time in qualifying and then won the Dash, giving him the strongest possible foothold before the feature started. Once the 40-lap main event began, he led the first 25 laps and kept Williamson behind him through the opening stages. That stretch gave the race a clear shape, with Gravel controlling the front and Williamson waiting for his chance.
Williamson found that chance just past the halfway point. The move came on Lap 26, after Gravel had dictated the rhythm long enough to make the pass meaningful. Once Williamson got ahead, he did the rest of the work himself and stayed in front through the checkered flag. Gravel finished second after leading the first 25 laps. Michael “Buddy” Kofoid finished third, Spencer Bayston took fourth and Logan Schuchart came home fifth.
That front-running group gave the feature a clear hierarchy by the end of the night. Gravel brought speed from the start, Williamson delivered the decisive move and the rest of the top five followed in order behind them. The race rewarded track position early and composure late, and Williamson handled both sides of that equation with one move and a steady run to the end.
North Dakota tripleheader
The win also came with the World of Outlaws series in the middle of its North Dakota tripleheader, which put added focus on each stop in the state. River Cities Speedway provided the stage for the first-time victory, and the result gave Williamson a spot in the series’ season story at a time when every winner carries extra meaning. A 20th different winner in a season points to a field that has produced variety at the front, and Williamson joined that group with a breakthrough that ended a long wait for his first series triumph.
His path to the win stood out because of how many milestones it touched at once. The start on the outside of the front row gave him a chance. The pass on Lap 26 gave him the lead. The finish sealed the first victory. The career total of 163 feature starts shows how long the climb had taken, while the marks around the World of Outlaws record book show where the win fits in the larger picture. Williamson entered the night as a first-time winner on the series, left it as a race winner, and did so in a field that had already produced plenty of different names at the top this season.
The result also fit the broader shape of the race night. Gravel’s qualifying speed and Dash win showed he had the pace to lead, and his first 25 laps of control proved it. Kofoid, Bayston and Schuchart filled out the top five and kept the front of the feature tight behind the two leaders. Williamson, though, made the key move when it mattered. He took the lead, defended it and turned a strong starting spot into a career milestone on Friday at River Cities Speedway.
