Madden drove to victory following Friday’s disappointment
The Spring Nationals made its second appearance in as many nights at the Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn. on Saturday night. After a disappointing finish to what appeared to be possible victory in Friday’s $4,000-to-win feature, Chris Madden rebounded to grab the $10,000 first prize offered up by the Joe and Phyllis Loven owned facility in the Ray Cook promoted series.
Rick Eckert proved to be the fastest in Group A qualifying and overall when he posted a lap of 13.463 seconds around the 4/10 mile clay oval. Gregg Satterlee and Vic Hill were second and third in the group.
Dale McDowell was quickest in Group B time-trials as he clocked in at 13.574 seconds to beat out Madden and Friday night feature winner Mike Marlar in the group.
Eckert bested Devin Gilpin, John Tweed and Josh Putnam in the first heat race of the night while David Payne beat out Satterlee, Jason Covert and Eric Wells in the second preliminary of the night.
McDowell took the win in heat three over Marlar, Donald McIntosh and Chad Ogle before Madden topped Shanon Buckingham, Mark Douglas and Mark Vineyard in the final heat race of the evening.
Billy Ogle, Jr. won the lone consolation race over Tod Darda, Alex Bowman and Steve Smith.
McDowell jumped to the early lead from his outside front row starting position with Eckert, Madden, Marlar and Payne trailing. And it would be Madden who would go to work early on as he immediately began to apply pressure to Eckert for the runner-up spot.
In a race that ultimately ran caution free, traffic would be a factor for much of the night as McDowell caught the tail of the field on the eighth lap of the race. That allowed the pursuing cars of Eckert, Madden and Marlar to close ground on the early leader.
On lap 14, Madden edged a step closer to the lead of the race as he darted past Eckert to nab the third spot while Marlar then went to work on the former World of Outlaws Late Models champion in an attempt to gain third. At the same time, the top-4 cars were tightening up as McDowell continued to fight with slower cars.
Eckert(7) and McDowell go side-by-side
Marlar looked as he might be a threat to make it two wins in two nights as he moved by Eckert to take third on lap 30 and then began to immediately apply pressure on McDowell for second.
Behind the front runners, Gilpin, McIntosh, Satterlee and Payne were involved in a hotly contested conflict of their own for the final spot in the top-5 on the leader board.
Payne(8) and Satterlee fight for position on Volunteer’s high banks
Over the final half of the event, Madden was able to maintain the lead but his closest pursuers kept in close contact as the lead cars continued to battle with slower traffic. Eventually, Madden was indeed able to maintain his advantage and drive on to the victory.
Feature Finish: 1. Chris Madden, 2. Mike Marlar, 3. Dale McDowell, 4. Rick Eckert, 5. Donald McIntosh, 6. Devin Gilpin, 7. Gregg Satterlee, 8. Shanon Buckingham, 9. David Payne, 10. Jason Covert, 11. Mark Douglas, 12. Chad Ogle, 13. Mark Vineyard, 14. Steve Smith, 15. Eric Wells, 16. Stacy Boles, 17. Josh Putnam, 18. Vic Hill, 19. Billy Ogle, Jr., 20. John Tweed, 21. Robby Moses, 22. Alex Bowman, 23. Tod Darda
Madden accepting the accolades of victory
