North Georgia Speedway
Weaver edges Madden, takes North Georgia
CHATSWORTH, Ga. (April 3) — After a string of top-five finishes, Randy Weaver of Crossville, Tenn., finally broke through. Weaver stalked two-time series champion Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C., at North Georgia Speedway, making a strong move on the 37th lap to grab a 40-lap victory on the O'Reilly Southern All Star Series.
Weaver made the most of a battle with lapped traffic to wrap up the $4,000 as he finished one length ahead of Madden for his first series victory since Aug. 24, 2007, at Mountain Raceway Park in Maryville, Tenn.
“Man, we got to Madden there and I thought, 'Man, I am going to run behind this guy again.' But he had a little trouble with the lapped car and gave me the outside so we tried it up there," Weaver said. "But we had such a run that I was able dive back to the bottom in turn one to get the lead. It was a heck of a race and it’s a pleasure to race with somebody like Chris who will run you clean.”
The polesitting Madden outjumped fellow front-row starter Jonathan Davenport at the outset, and Weaver moved past Davenport on the fourth lap to begin his pursuit of the leader. Madden led by a half-straightaway after 20 laps, but after a caution bunched the field, Weaver stuck with Madden as they negotiated lapped cars.
In the race's late stages, Madden looked low in trying to lap Davy Davis, giving Weaver room to work up top. He pulled alongside the leader on the outside, then executed a crossover move to get under Madden in turn one with just three laps remaining.
Madden settled for second followed by Blairsville, Ga.'s Davenport, Tony Knowles of Tyrone, Ga., and Ronnie Johnson of Chattanooga, Tenn.
Notes: Weaver's GRT Race Car has a Race Engine Design powerplant and sponsorship from Glenn’s Auto Parts, Byrd’s Radiator and PPM Racing Products. ... Drivers failing to make the feature lineup: Jake Knowles, Don Jenkins, J.J. Nye, Jamie Perry, Cody Barnett, Buster Goss, Scott Hall, Shon Flanary, Kayne Hickman, Brad Kennedy, George Mashburn, Phillip Anderson and Shawn Reese. ... The series continues the weekend Saturday at another Monty Morrow-promoted oval, Cleveland (Tenn.) Speedway. The main event pays $5,000 to the winner.
O'Reilly SAS @ North Georgia: (1) Randy Weaver, (2) Chris Madden, (3) Jonathan Davenport, (4) Tony Knowles, (5) Ronnie Johnson, (6) Skip Arp, (7) Anthony White, (8) Brandon Kinzer, (9) Ronny Lee Hollingsworth, (10) Billy Mayo, (11) Brian Hickman, (12) Mark Vineyard, (13) Steve Smith, (14) Derek Ellis, (15) Todd Morrow, (16) Tommy Kerr, (17) David Payne, (18) Davy Davis, (19) Anthony Hill, (20) Ethan Hunter, (21) Ricky Arms, (22) Gary McPherson, (23) Joe Armes, (24) Kevin Gibson. Fast qualifier (among 37 cars): Madden, 13.318 seconds. Consolation race winners: McPherson, Johnson, Smith. Provisional starters: Hunter, Hill.
