Madden took the lead late and went on to claim $12,000
The Cherokee Speedway staged the 25th annual Blue/Gray 100 on Saturday night with sanctioning by the Carolina Clash Series. When the dust settled, it was Chris Madden who drove into victory lane to collect the big trophy and the $12,000 first prize.
The Gray Court, SC driver has been on a roll of late. After taking a mid-summer hiatus from the sport, Madden has returned with a vengeance. Switching to the Longhorn Chassis upon his return, he has won or finished second in his last six outings.
Madden set fast time in Group A qualifying when he posted a lap of 14.816 seconds around the 3/8 mile clay oval. He was followed by Don O’Neal and Casey Roberts in that group.
Chris Ferguson was fastest in Group B qualifying and overall when he laid down a lap of 14.654 seconds. The Mt. Holly, NC driver’s time established a new track record for Cherokee Speedway. He bested Ross Bailes and 2015 Carolina Clash Series champion Ben Watkins in that group.
Tim Allen led the way in Group C qualifying with a time of 14.993 seconds to beat out Jay Sessoms and Dennis ‘Rambo’ Franklin for those honors.
Bailes earned the pole for the feature by winning the first heat race while O’Neal received the outside front row starting spot by winning the second preliminary. Sessoms would start third in the feature after taking the checkered flag in the third heat.
At the start of the 100-lap main event, O’Neal went to the early lead followed by Bailes, Pursley and Sessoms. However, things would go awry for the pole sitter quickly as Bailes slowed suddenly and brought out the caution flag on the second circuit.
Bailes would return to the track in his No. 5 machine after having a tire changed but he would be forced to restart from the rear of the twenty car field.
For most of the race’s first half. it was a three man show with O’Neal leading while Madden and Roberts traded the runner-up spot. O’Neal was able to maintain a relatively comfortable margin whenever his car was free of slower traffic, but his pursuers would reel him in once the leaders caught up to the tail of the field.
The first half of the event was slowed by five cautions for various reasons, the most significant of which occurred after a lap 10 restart when multiple cars piled up in turn one after the fourth running Sessoms went sideways with the field bearing down on his car.
While the front runners were staging their own private battle, Ferguson and Bailes were roaring through the pack. Bailes had the previously mentioned flat tire that sent him to the rear just after the drop of the green flag while Ferguson had suffered a broken rear end on the pace lap for his heat race. After repairs, his No. 22 starting from the tail of the field.
As the race entered its closing stages, the top-3 continued to battle as Ferguson, Pursley, Franklin and Bailes lurked within striking distance.
On lap 78, Roberts dropped out of the race which seemingly left O’Neal and Madden to settle the issue.
On a lap 84 restart, O’Neal slowed dramatically to bring out another yellow flag. He ducked into the pit area and shortly returned with new tires. Bailes also changed a tire at this time. Madden continued to lead but with so few cars on the lead lap, it looked as if those drivers with fresher rubber might have the advantage.
When the race went back to green flag conditions, O’Neal and Bailes came storming through the top-5. On lap 90, each was attempting to pass the second place car of Pursley when Bailes was squeezed into the outside wall to bring out yet another caution.
O’Neal restarted right behind Madden and Pursley but was never able to catch the lead car as Madden drove to the checkered flag.
Feature Finish: 1. Chris Madden, 2. Don O’Neal, 3. Johnny Pursley, 4. Dennis Franklin, 5. Ben Watkins, 6. Kelly Guy, 7. Dale Hammond, 8. Ken Rominger, Jr., 9. Kevin Wilson, 10. Ross Bailes, 11. Chris Ferguson, 12. Anthony Sanders, 13. Casey Roberts, 14. Chase McCormick, 15. Tim Allen, 16. Doug Sanders, 17. Robbie Stevens, 18. Jay Sessoms, 19. Zack Mitchell, 20. Robbie Bailey
