Chad Cypert watched a driver whose name he didn’t know line up on the front row of a Heat Race seven years ago.
It was this kid’s Sprint Car debut, competing against the American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) National Tour at Lake Ozark Speedway. He started second and won his first-ever Heat against the country’s best 360 Sprint Car drivers. That kid’s name? Garet Williamson.
“I was there at his first race, and I didn’t know who he was obviously,” Cypert recalled. “He just showed up, and he’s on the front row of a National Tour ASCS race and wins his Heat. He was just absolutely pounding it, never driven a Sprint Car before, just full send. And I’m like, ‘This kid’s going to be alright.’”
Fast forward to 2026, and Cypert and Williamson are cementing themselves as one of the sport’s top crew chief/driver combinations.
Fischer Motorsports launched in 2024 and hired Williamson to be the driver for a pick-and-choose schedule. When they decided to hit the road with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series in 2025, they brought Cypert aboard. That led to Williamson earning Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year presented by Five Star Bodies honors, beating out a stacked rookie class.
This year, Williamson, Cypert, and the entire Fischer crew have upped their game to another level. They began a hot streak in late May that hasn’t slowed down. They’ve reeled off 20 top 10s in the last 28 races after only 10 top 10s through the first 24. The stretch includes seven podiums, including near wins at Angell Park Speedway, Wilmot Raceway, and Eldora Speedway’s prestigious Kings Royal where Williamson led the most laps.
The reasoning for the recent speed? A product of relentless hard work and belief in one another that’s only motivating them to find even more.
“I’ve always thought me and Chaddy (Cypert’s nickname) could get to this spot,” Williamson said. “I’ve always had complete trust and faith in both of us figuring it out together and that we could run up front with these guys. It just takes time. It’s not easy. These are the best guys in the world. I feel like I’ve always seen the vision to do it. That’s always been my goal to do it, and I’ve always been fixated on that. At whatever cost, I want to figure out how to do it. Luckily, I feel like Chaddy has the same mindset of never quitting. He wants to be at the top of his game too, so I think that’s why we gel so good together.”
“It just makes me want it more,” Cypert said of their results. “We both worked so hard. And everybody is going to say they worked harder than the next guy, but I just feel like we get home from the races, and I don’t take Sundays off. I’m in the shop all day Sunday after driving all night, and you can start to see it. Our stuff’s getting more and more consistent. We’re taking the extra steps. I don’t want to be complacent. I haven’t reached any goal by any means. We haven’t won a race, and I want to win a bunch.”
Of course, it takes more than a driver and crew chief clicking for a Sprint Car operation to compete at the top level. The team is completed by Brady Donnohue (car chief) and Dakota Breeland (tire specialist), better known as “Fiddy” throughout the pits. Together, they’re a group that loves to have fun but knows when to get serious. And most importantly, they all harbor the passion needed to go up and down the road with The Greatest Show on Dirt.
“I think that’s something that goes unnoticed, or people overlook how much that matters,” Williamson said. “Just like any stick and ball sport, you’re with these guys every night. It’s just as much of a team sport as anything. We’re trapped up in a hotel room for however many nights of the year, and you put guys in a room together and that much testosterone, guys bicker and don’t get along. Fiddy and Brady are young guys, so they’re just enjoying being out here, and both work so hard. For me as a driver, the trust that I’m not going to have something fall off is so important.
“Fiddy, I feel like is the hardest-working tire guy in the pit area. He has such a good understanding. He’s probably, during a race night, the guy that works the hardest from the standpoint of mounting and dismounting so many tires. How switched on he is with tires and making sure that I have the best tires and everything that goes into right now to have consistent tires, he’s on top of. And Brady, we haven’t had a part failure or something fall off all year. He’s really smart and detail oriented at what he does.”
The Fischer Motorsports No. 23 is rolling at the right time. This week, Williamson gets the rare chance to race in his home state as Pevely, MO’s I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park welcomes the tour for the Ironman 55. Then it’s off to Knoxville Raceway, where Williamson spent plenty of time early in his Sprint Car career, for “The Granddaddy of ‘Em All.” The NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s is the race every Sprint Car driver dreams of capturing, and Williamson is no exception.
“Knoxville, that’s what I kind of hyper fixate on,” Williamson said. “No matter what it is, if we’re talking about the race car, somehow Knoxville gets brought up in the conversation of where we either want to be at that point or how doing this can help us later on at Knoxville. It’s just the biggest race of the year.”
But whether Williamson’s first World of Outlaws win comes at I-55, on the grand stage of Knoxville, or at any of the other dozens of tracks the Series travels to, the celebration is guaranteed to go all night. Williamson and Cypert are where they both wanted to be their entire lives, and their time in Victory Lane is coming. They’ve come a long way from Cypert not knowing the name of a young gasser that impressed him during his first laps in a Sprint Car.
“I think when we do win after all these losses, there will be so much confetti we won’t even think about the losses or the close ones,” Cypert said. “It’ll just be so worth it, and it’s just so great to see him (Williamson) grow as a person all at the same time.”
Williamson and the Fischer Motorsports crew continue their sophomore World of Outlaws campaign at this weekend’s (Aug. 7-8) Ironman 55 at Pevely, MO’s I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park. For tickets, CLICK HERE.
Then it’s off to Knoxville, IA for the 65th NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s at Knoxville Raceway on Aug. 12-15. For tickets, CLICK HERE.
Where can you watch every World of Outlaws race? Live on DIRTVision.
Where can you see the World of Outlaws in 2026? Click to see the full schedule.