Chris Madden made an early move for the lead then dominated
The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series took to the track on Saturday night at 411 Motor Speedway to complete a two-race weekend. Chris Madden proved to be the feature winner at the Seymour, TN track after he made an early move to take the lead then dominated remainder of the feature. The Gray Court, SC driver left the facility after collecting the winner’s check valued at $10,000.
It was only the second start with his newly formed team for Madden.
Chris Madden led the way in Group A qualifying and overall with a time of 14.319 seconds around the 3/8 mile clay oval besting Ross Bailes, Chase Junghans, Brandon Overton and Cory Hedgecock.
Darrell Lanigan was fastest in Group B time-trials when he posted a lap in 14.537 seconds to top Scott Bloomquist, Donald McIntosh, Cade Dillard and Mike Marlar.
Chris Madden took the win in the night’s first heat race over Cory Hedgecock, Chase Junghans and Brent Larson while Ross Bailes was the victor in the second preliminary after he beat out Brandon Sheppard, Dennis Erb Jr. and Brandon Overton.
It was Darrell Lanigan who took the checkered flag in heat three ahead of Donald McIntosh, Dale McDowell and Mike Marlar just before Cade Dillard was victorious in the fourth and final grid-setting race after he bested Ricky Weiss, Scott Bloomquist and Ashton Winger.
Boom Briggs and Camaron Marlar scored wins in the two Last Chance Showdown races used to set the remainder of the starting lineup for the main event.
The World of Outlaws redraw set the first four rows for the feature in the order of Madden, Dillard, Bailes, Lanigan, Sheppard, McIntosh, Hedgecock and Weiss.
At the start of the 50-lap feature it was Dillard who took the early lead ahead of Madden, Bailes, Lanigan and Sheppard. The Sheppard wasted little time in moving forward as he took Fourth from Lanigan on the second lap while Madden challenged Dillard at the front of the field.
Cade Dillard(97) led early
But on lap 5 Madden’s efforts paid off as he wrested the lead of the race away from Dillard. At the same time, Hedgecock gained a position as he took fifth from Lanigan.
Weiss began to make some noise on lap 9 as he took sixth from Lanigan while at the front of the field the top-4 of Madden, Dillard, Bailes and Sheppard began to encounter slower traffic.
A caution for the slowing car of Austin Neely slowed the pace and allowed the field to regroup on lap 13. On the ensuing restart, Bailes bolted to second and Hedgecock took over the fourth position.
Brandon Sheppard(1) and Cory Hedgecock doing battle
Sheppard regained fourth on lap 15 by passing Hedgecock which then opened the door for Weiss to follow suit and take fifth away from Hedgecock. At the same time, leader Madden was beginning to slip away from his pursuers.
As Madden built his advantage by the halfway mark while Bailes, Sheppard and Weiss ran in tight formation as they battled for positions 2-4. Further back, Dillard, McDowell and Hedgecock fought over positions 5-7.
However, the sixth running machine of McDowell slowed to bring out a yellow flag on lap 28.
Madden continued to control the race after the resumption of green flag action while battles raged behind him. Weiss and Bailes ran side-by-side for numerous laps as they contested the third just behind second running Sheppard while Marlar and Hedgecock did much the same thing for fifth.
Ricky Weiss(7) and Brandon Sheppard fought for second late in the race
Weiss finally cleared Bailes on lap 45 then set off after Sheppard. The Canadian driver tracked the WoO Late Models points leader down and moved by to grab second on the last lap. But no one would challenge Madden’s dominance as he sailed under the checkered flag to take the win.
Feature Finish: 1. Chris Madden, 2. Ricky Weiss, 3. Brandon Sheppard, 4. Cory Hedgecock, 5. Ross Bailes, 6. Mike Marlar, 7. Dennis Erb Jr, 8. Donald McIntosh, 9. Brandon Overton, 10. Cade Dillard, 11. Ashton Winger, 12. Darrell Lanigan, 13. Boom Briggs, 14. Scott Bloomquist, 15. Camaron Marlar, 16. Ryan King, 17. Chase Junghans, 18. David Payne, 19. Ray Cook, 20. Brent Larson, 21. Dale McDowell, 22. John Henderson, 23. Austin Neely, 24. Jordan Rodabaugh
