Harvey Williams Jr received the perfect birthday gift after his Rough-N-Ready Racing team achieved victory in America last weekend.

Competing in the California Independent Funny Car Association’s Funny Car Fever at Sacramento Raceway, the Bermudian-owned drag racing team won the 7.0 pro title with American driver Tony Trimp behind the wheel of their 1965 Mustang GT funny car just 24 hours before Williams celebrated his 50th birthday.

The achievement surpassed the team’s expectations as they took part with a new motor at their home track.

“This is really only our second race with the 500 cubic inch motor so we weren’t going out to prove a point because we have a new motor,” said team spokeswoman Jacqueline Williams.

“We went out there just to have fun and that was the most important thing.”

“It definitely was not an easy road because of the simple fact we are running a brand new motor and we had some transmission issues the race before,” Williams said.

“We had to get that fixed and then we were having issues with our blower. We had a blower gasket blow while Tony was doing his burnouts, so we had to take that all apart and reassemble it at that point, which was a setback for out normal routine.

“This Is not unusual for us as we always seem to have some sort of mechanical issue, but our guys just went to work and got it done, and it could not have been more perfect since it was Harvey’s birthday the following day.”

The Sacramento-based team came up just shy of an impressive double after being disqualified for starting too early in the CIFCA final.

“Tony red lit in the CIFCA category but we ended up taking the win in the 7.0 pro category and to run both classes with a new set-up is definitely an accomplishment for us,” Williams said.

‘“It’s not easy trying to work on, and tune, a whole different combination to what we’re normally used to running and so for us to go out there in two categories and get to the finals in both was a huge accomplishment.

The team also managed to punch above their weight despite working with a smaller than usual crew.

“It just happened that we didn’t have all our guys there and even though we didn’t have all of our team members, it did show that we can get it done,” Williams said.

“Whether we have three people or five people we can get it done. No matter what obstacles come up we can overtake them and come out shining in the end win or lose.”

Rough-N-Ready Racing has enjoyed considerable success over the years, winning the California Independent Funny Car Association Championship series on three occasions.

The team’s sole victory in last year’s CIFA Championship also arrived at the Funny Car Fever event in Sacramento.

They have also enjoyed success competing in National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) events with victory at last year’s 30th California Hot Rod Reunion and Good Vibrations Motorsports March Meet at the Famosa Dragstrip in Bakersfield, California.