Wythe Raceway
Madden grabs $5,000 in first SAS visit to Wythe
Chris Madden earned $5,000. (dt52photos.com)
RURAL RETREAT, Va. (July 2) — Fast qualifier and polesitter Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C., dominated the first-ever Southern All Star Dirt Racing Series event at Wythe Raceway on Friday, earning $5,000 for his victory in the Firecracker 50.
Madden built comfortable leads throughout at the half-mile oval en route to his 39th career series victory. Third-starting Chris Wall of Holden, La., was the runner-up followed by Brandon Kinzer of Allen, Ky., who survived a lap-32 tangle with outside front-row starter Austin Dillon of Welcome, N.C., who looped his car after peeling a right-rear tire off his car. | Video | Slideshow
Shanon Buckingham of Morristown, Tenn., who started 10th, was fourth and fellow fifth-row starter Kenny Compton Jr. of Bland, Va., rounded out the top five.
Chris Ferguson of Mount Holly, N.C., started fourth and was running second when a oil-line fire forced him out of the race on lap 46; he wasn’t injured.
Notes: Madden’s Bloomquist Race Car is sponsored by Century Plastics and Hamrick’s of Gaffney. ... Madden’s previous series victory came in the 2009 finale at Cleveland (Tenn.) Speedway. ... Jensen Ford won the Fastrak Crate Late Model feature, a race red-flagged for a frontstretch pileup. ... Next up for the Southern All Stars is a July 16-17 weekend at Boyd’s Speedway in Ringgold, Ga., and Cleveland.
Firecracker 50: (1) Chris Madden, (2) Chris Wall, (3) Brandon Kinzer, (4) Shanon Buckingham, (5) Kenny Compton Jr., (6) Jeff Smith, (7) Freddy Smith, (8) Randy Weaver, (9) Kerry Jones, (10) Mike Gault, (11) Scott Creel, (12) Daniel Baggerly, (13) Chris Ferguson, (14) Doug Smith, (15) Austin Dillon, (16) Mike Collins, (17) Mike Hill, (18) Brandon Umberger, (19) Dan Breuer, (20) Travis Greer. Fast qualifier (among 20 cars): Madden, 17.442 seconds. Consolation winner: F. Smith.
