Chris Madden emerged from a lead swapping battle to win at SMS
The Southern All Stars Dirt Racing Series rolled into the Smoky Mountain Speedway to contest a $5,000-to-win feature event on Saturday night that drew a field of 25 cars to the Maryville, Tenn. track. At the end of the night it would be Chris Madden who would take the trophy back to his Gray Court, SC home along with the first place check.
Donald McIntosh earned the pole for the main event when he laid down a lap of 16.972 seconds around the 4/10 mile clay oval to lead Group A time-trials. That time just bettered those of Ryan King, Chad Ogle, Billy Ogle Jr. and Todd Morrow as those drivers also secured starting positions in the first five rows on the starting grid for the feature.
Madden led the way in Group B qualifying as he posted a lap of 16.504 seconds to earn the outside front row starting spot. Shanon Buckingham, Derek Ellis, David Payne and Brad Skinner secured positions on the outside of the first five rows in the feature.
At the start of the 40-lap main event, it was McIntosh who seized the early lead with King and Madden left to duel for the runner-up position. However, that battle would be short lived as King spun in turn two after taking the spot.
McIntosh(7) and Madden fight for the lead early in the event
McIntosh again bolted to the race lead on the ensuing restart but Madden began to employ a higher line around the track in an attempt to gain ground on the front runner. Finally, the No. 44 machine seized the top spot on lap 10 as the two drivers worked their way through heavy traffic. However, McIntosh fought back and regained the top spot on lap 13 as the cars worked through turn four. Soon after, though, Madden employed a crossover move and went back the lead as the two cars raced through turns one and two.
But after a lap 16 restart, the race ran green the rest of the way. And with that, Madden charged to the front and maintained a relatively comfortable margin throughout the remaining laps. However, McIntosh and Ellis carried on an intense battle for second over the course of the race’s second half.
Feature Finish: 1. Chris Madden, 2. Derek Ellis, 3. Donald McIntosh, 4. Shanon Buckingham, 5. Todd Morrow, 6. Tommy Kerr, 7. Billy Ogle, Jr., 8. Steven Roberts, 9. Robby Moses, 10. Bobby Giffin, 11. Brad Skinner, 12. Kayne Hickman, 13. Ryan King, 14. Tommy Bailey, 15. Brian Smith, 16. Tim Rucker, 17. Steve Smith, 18. Cory Hedgecock, 19. David Payne, 20. Chad Ogle, 21. Riley Hickman, 22. Ross White, 23. Craig Greer, 24. Benjy Shaw, 25. Jim Rogers
Madden earned his 49th career Southern All Stars victory
