Things turned hot during Friday night’s preliminary action at Smoky Mountain Speedway. The Tennessee Tip-Off sanctioned by the Spring Nationals saw some heated post race action that saw Chris Madden disqualified from the event.
Action started in heat race number 3 when Madden was challenging race leader Scott Bloomquist for the lead. Madden was working the outside groove in an attempt to get by Bloomquist. Coming off turn 4, Bloomquist drifted high to break Madden’s momentum. They made contact and Bloomquist pulled away for the win.
As the top 4 finishers went to the scales following the race, Bloomquist’s crew chief, Cody Mallory, came riding by Madden’s car on a small dirt bike. Mallory was making obscene gestures to Madden. Mallory buzzed the front of Madden’s car, nearly driving over the nose of his car. Madden then hit the throttle and run into Mallory, sending him sailing off the bike about 6-8 feet from where the contact was made. Mallory tried to retaliate, but track officials moved in. Security was sent to the outer pits to accompany Madden while Bloomquist and his crew were held in the infield until things settled down.
Cody Mallory rides away on his dirt bike after Chris Madden ran into him following a heat race.
After gathering the facts, Spring Nationals director Ray Cook disqualified Madden from the remainer of the event. He forfeits his 7th place starting spot for Saturday’s 75-lap, $15,000 to win race.
In addition to Bloomquist, Randy Weaver, Joey Colter, and Mike Marlar were the other heat race winners.
