Bobby Santos Storms to Doubleheader Sweep With Last-Lap Pass at Montgomery

Bobby Santos capped off the Southern Shootout for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series in dramatic fashion, passing Aaron Willison on the last lap at Montgomery Motor Speedway for a $10,000 victory.

Santos powered to the outside of Willison entering turn three on the final lap of the 30-lap feature, with both cars jostling behind lapped traffic. Santos carried his speed throughout the corner, beating Willison to the line for the win.

After drawing the seventh starting spot in the redraw, Santos had plenty of work to fight his way to the front of the field. That's exactly what he did, one night after winning from the front row at Five Flags Speedway.

"That was tough," said Santos in victory lane. "After looking at it, I'm so happy we started where we did, but man, I had to work my butt off. That was such a hard race. I didn't know that I was going to get to fifth. I didn't know that I was going to get to third or second.

"I thought the lapped cars cost me an opportunity to win the race, and then the lapped cars ended up giving me an opportunity to win the race. I've just got to thank these guys, they worked so hard. It's a great weekend. I've just got to thank Jim [Hanks] and everybody from Must See Racing. I really appreciate the hard work they did for this weekend. Thanks to everyone for coming out on this swing between Pensacola last night and Montgomery tonight. You guys are some cool fans, we really appreciate you guys."

While working through the field, Santos had to pass some of the best in pavement Sprint Car racing. Willison won the Bob Frey Classic at Sandusky Speedway earlier this season, while Joe Liguori finished third to cap off his second Must See Racing championship.

"This is cool. This is a pretty awesome win," said Santos. "Aaron is unbelievable, Joe's awesome. They both drove great races, and I feel very, very fortunate that we pulled that off.

"Coming to two to go, I thought I had a shot getting into one. Coming to the white, I said I just blew it and I don't got a shot. The lapped cars worked out in my favor tonight. They just held Aaron up just enough. He was a sitting duck, unfortunately. Whatever lane he went, I was going to try the opposite. That's unfortunate. Those guys did a great job, he ran a great race. I don't think there's anything he did wrong, it is just the way lapped traffic worked out."

While Willison missed out on the victory, he took the loss in stride following the race. The runner-up finish gave him two podium finishes on the doubleheader weekend after finishing third at Five Flags on Friday.

"The Statham Construction, Dutton Safer Systems No. 36 was really good tonight," Willson said. "We had a great car, just got burnt. It happens every now and then again. We came up on about four or five of them racing each other real hard and we were just penned in. Nothing you can do."

Liguori clinched his second Must See Racing title as soon as engines fired on Saturday at the Alabama half-mile. However, he still put himself in contention for a win in the season finale before coming home third.

"You know, there in the beginning, Aaron was better than us," said Liguori. "It looks like he started cooking the right-rear a little bit, so I'd sneak up on him and I'd lose the nose. I was already cooking the right-rear up a little bit myself. I had the wing too far back in the dirty air to do anything. I shoved him forward and made a mistake and let Bobby by.

"It's a testament to our team. This has not been a fun day. Had an oil leak, a left-rear tire blew off, had a fuel issue early in the day and hardly got to practice. Finishing up third, to be up there racing with these guys is pretty good. It's a testament to this PCS Racing team here."

Liguori also won the series championship in 2024. While he went winless during his 2025 championship season, he is a four-time race winner in his Must See career.

Stay tuned to RacingAmerica.com for updates regarding the 2026 Must See Racing season.

-Photo credit: Montgomery Motor Speedway

Must See Racing at Montgomery Results

Qualifying (best of two laps): 1. Daniel Miller, P1, P1 Chassis-16.716; 2. Bobby Santos III, 22a, Fieler-16.741; 3. Colton Bettis, 61, Bettis-16.859; 4. Aaron Willison, 36, Statham-17.015; 5. Joe Liguori, 5, PCS-17.083; 6. Alby Ovitt, 20, Parker-17.145; 7. J.J. Dutton, 86, Dutton-17.448; 8. Dodge Carlbert, 9, RAD-17.496; 9. Dylan Reynolds, 24, Reynolds-17.555; 10. Kevin Mingus, Z10, Mingus-17.563; 11. Tommy Nichols, 55, Nichols-17.731; 12. Shane Butler, 18, Butler-17.937; 13. Bobby Komisarski, 7, Fogle-18.118; 14. Johnny Gilbertson, 77, Crowder-18.335; 15. Mickey Kempgens, 68R, Rudolph-19.750; 16. Steven Hollinger, 81, Blake-NT.

TTI Machine Heat #1 (8 laps, all transfer): 1. 36-Aaron Willison [5], 2. 18-Shane Butler [1], 3. Z10-Kevin Mingus [2], 4. 9-Dodge Carlbert [3], 5. 77-Johnny Gilbertson [7], 6. 22a-Bobby Santos III [6], 7. 20-Alby Ovitt [4].

TTI Machine Heat #2 (8 laps, all transfer): 1. 55-Tommy Nichols [1], 2. 24-Dylan Reynolds [2], 3. 61-Colton Bettis [5], 4. P1-Daniel Miller [6], 5. 5-Joe Liguori [4], 6. 86-J.J. Dutton [3], 7. 7-Bobby Komisarski [7], 8. 68R-Mickey Kempgens (DNS).

Perfit Southern Shootout A-Feature (30 laps): 1. 22a-Bobby Santos III [7], 2. 36-Aaron Willison [4], 3. 5-Joe Liguori [6], 4. P1-Daniel Miller [5], 5. 9-Dodge Carlbert [10], 6. 55-Tommy Nichols [3], 7. 18-Shane Butler [2], 8. 77-Johnny Gilbertson [12], 9. Z10-Kevin Mingus [11], 10. 86-J.J. Dutton [9], 11. 24-Dylan Reynolds [1], 12. 20-Alby Ovitt [8], 13. 68R-Mickey Kempgens [13], 14. 7-Bobby Komisarski (DNS), 15. 61-Colton Bettis (DNS).

Lap Leader(s): Dylan Reynolds 1-5, Aaron Willison 6-29, Bobby Santos 30.

Hard Charger: 22a-Bobby Santos (+6)