Chris Madden was just a few feet from victory at Gondik Law
Chris Madden moved into second place on a lap 29 restart during the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series 40-lap feature on Tuesday night at Gondik Law Speedway in Superior, Wisconsin. From that point, the No. 44 Rocket Chassis set off in pursuit of leader Brandon Sheppard as the two top runners in the series points standings battled it out for the race win.
Madden made a move in an attempt to wrest the top spot away from Sheppard on lap 30 but the No. 1 Rocket Chassis house car was able to maintain the lead of the race at that time. As the laps continued to click away, the Gray Court, South Carolina driver kept his target in sight as he followed in the defending series champion’s tire tracks.
A lap 38 caution for the slowing car of Harry Hanson would provide Madden with one last chance to grab the winner’s trophy.
Just after the two leading machines took the white flag, Madden dove to the inside of Sheppard in turns one and two. For a brief moment it looked as if the move might just work when the No. 44 edged ahead and very nearly was able to clear and slide up in front of the No. 1 car. However, Sheppard’s outside line momentum was too much and he shot back to the lead on the backstretch.
But ‘Smokey’ wasn’t finished yet.
Through turns three and four, Madden again took to the bottom lane and again drew alongside the leader. But once more, Sheppard had the momentum and just beat Madden to the checkered flag in a near side-by-side finish.
In his victory lane interview with DirtVision.com, Sheppard thanked Madden for racing him cleanly over the closing circuits.
For his part, Madden was pleased with the runner-up result, but at the same time, lamented coming up one spot short.
“I thought I had him right there at the end,” Madden told DirtVision.com reporter Hanna Newhouse following the race. “He had his little ramp right there off of four and he hit it perfect that lap. If he don’t hit it perfect, we win, but he hit it perfect and it got him a big run back down the straightaway. We’ve got a lot of racing to do and I raced him the way I want to be raced which was very clean.”
The World of Outlaws redraw did not help Madden’s cause as he drew the worst possible starting position among those drivers who finished either first or second in their heat races.
“Great race for the fans also,” the 46-year-old former Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals champion declared. “We couldn’t ask for anything any better. It was awesome. It was a great night for my team. We drew a six so that put us behind but it was a great night for Team Drydene to battle back to second and race him for the win there so I’m proud of everybody.”
Please consider also reading “Brandon Sheppard fights off late challenge to score WoO win at Gondik Law“
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Dennis Erb Jr. led early but had to settle for third
Dennis Erb Jr. came into Tuesday night’s event at Gondik Law with momentum building for his No. 28 Rocket Chassis effort. After a sixth-place finish this past Friday night in the $10,000-to-win portion of a two-race weekend at Minnesota’s Jackson Motorplex, the Carpentersville, Illinois driver sailed to a $20,000 victory the next evening.
Erb parlayed that momentum into a heat race win on Tuesday and was then able to draw an outside front row starting spot for the 40-lap feature race that would pay $10,000 to its eventual winner.
The ‘One Man Band’ then jumped to the early lead and continued to show the way for the first 23 circuits around the 3/8 mile clay oval. However, Brandon Sheppard was able to pass by Erb with 16 laps remaining in the main event. Chris Madden also got around Erb on a lap 29 restart to take second from the 48-year-old former UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals champion.
The handle went away just enough on the Erb machine to prevent victory but not enough to take away a solid finish.
“We just needed to be a little bit tighter there at the end,” he pointed out in his post-race interview with DirtVision.com. “I couldn’t charge the corners as hard as I needed to but we had a good run, led early, and were able to get third so it was a good start for us here. We’ll just continue on with this and go on to the next one.”
The driver who has been labeled as the ‘One Man Band’ believes the momentum gained from this recent run of good finishes will help lift the small team consisting of himself and crew member Heather Lyne.
“It’s going to help a lot, I think,” Erb declared. “Things are working real good right now, the car’s working good, Heather’s doing a great job and working hard, and I’m doing my part. Hopefully we’ll just continue this run and keep it up in the front.”
The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series will continue its run through the upper Midwest this weekend with events in North Dakota, Minnesota, and then back to Wisconsin before moving on to the Prairie Dirt Classic at Illinois’ Fairbury American Legion Speedway at the end of the month.
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