Golden Isles Speedway
Jan. 23 prelims: Madden earns pole position
By Todd Turner
DirtonDirt.com chief writer
Jimmy Owens races to a $10,000 payday. (rickschwalliephotos.com)
BRUNSWICK, Ga. (Jan. 23) — Chris Madden, one of four heat race winners, drew the pole position for Wednesday's Super Bowl of Racing IV opener at Golden Isles Speedway. Also winning heats on opening night were Earl Pearson Jr., Jimmy Owens and Scott Bloomquist. Consolation and heat race capsules:
Second consolation
Fourth-starting Ricky Elliott zipped into the lead on the first lap and won the 10-lapper over polesitter Terry Casey. Clint Smith, who started outside the front row, challenged Casey over the final two laps but ended up third. Josh Richards, who finished fifth, was among other drivers failing to make the night's 50-lap feature. A lap-two caution appeared for Mike Marlar, who started fifth.
Finish: (1) Ricky Elliott, (2) Terry Casey, (3) Clint Smith, (4) Billy Decker, (5) Josh Richards, (6) Ed Basey, (7) Tyler Ivey, (8) Jason McBride, (9) Dennis Erb Jr., (10) Danny Johnson, (11) Johny Collins, (12) Mike Marlar.
First consolation
Starting outside the front row, Tim McCreadie led all 10 laps in his Sweeteners Plus-sponsored No. 39. Dan Schlieper fought off Damon Eller to get the second and final transfer spot. Mike Collins and Chuck Hummer got together on the second lap exiting turn four to bring out a caution.
Finish: (1) Tim McCreadie, (2) Dan Schlieper, (3) Damon Eller, (4) Wes Steidinger, (5) Vic Coffey, (6) Mark Andersen, (7) Mike Collins, (8) Michael Mason, (9) Chuck Hummer.
Fourth heat
Polesitter Earl Pearson Jr. led the whole way, keeping Steve Shaver at Bay in securing the victory. Ivedent Lloyd Jr. finished further back in third and Jason Fitzgerald gave Florida three of the top four finishers. Steve Francis, who started on the tail after failing to report to the scales after time trials, picked his way through the field and took the fifth and final transfer spot from eighth-starting Clint Smith on the final lap. Tyler Ivey spun in turn two halfway through the race, getting into an infield tire barrier.
Finish: (1) Earl Pearson Jr., (2) Steve Shaver, (3) Ivedent Lloyd Jr., (4), Jason Fitzgerald, (5) Steve Francis, (6) Clint Smith, (7) Ricky Elliott, (8) Josh Richards, (9) Danny Johnson, (10) Jason McBride, (11) Tyler Ivey, (12) Johnny Collins.
Third heat
Polesitter Jimmy Owens became the third Bloomquist Race Car driver in a row to win a heat race. Billy Moyer made up ground in the final laps but settled for second while Tim Fuller, Donnie Moran and Darrell Lanigan got the other transfer positions. Dennis Erb Jr. nearly spun on the first lap and nearly got lapped on the final lap.
Finish: (1) Jimmy Owens, (2) Billy Moyer, (3) Tim Fuller, (4) Donnie Moran, (5) Darrell Lanigan, (6) Terry Casey, (7) Billy Decker, (8) Mike Marlar, (9) Randle Chupp, (10) Ed Basey, (11) Dennis Erb Jr., (12) Chuck Chitty.
Second heat
Polesitter Scott Bloomquist, whose only problem was being warned twice for jumping restarts, led all 10 laps for an easy victory. Bloomquist finished nearly a straightaway ahead of Shane Clanton, who finished well ahead of third-finishing Michael England. Chub Frank and Rick Eckert took the fourth and fifth transfer spots. Shanon Buckingham was running fourth on the fifth lap when he spun by himself exiting turn two and dropped from contention. Mike Collins spun by himself in turn one on the second lap.
Finish: (1) Scott Bloomquist, (2) Shane Clanton, (3) Michael England, (4) Chub Frank, (5) Rick Eckert, (6) Tim McCreadie, (7) Dan Schlieper, (8) Wes Steidinger, (9) Mike Collins, (10) Mark Andersen, (11) Michael Mason, (12) Shanon Buckingham.
First heat
Third-starting Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C., banged past Kelly Boen in turn one on the last of 10 laps for a victory in the opening heat race. The frontrunners took the white flag side by side. The polesitting Boen nearly dropped to third in turn three, but Brady Smith clipped a turn-three tire barrier and dropped back to third with heavy damage to his nosepiece. The top three were far ahead of James Ward and Chesley Dixon, the other two drivers transferring to the feature. Madden actually overtook Boen on the third lap, but a caution for Brian Nuttall negated the moved. Matt Miller, who started outside the front row, spun in turn one on the opening lap and collected Joe Isabel.
Finish: (1) Chris Madden, (2) Kelly Boen, (3) Brady Smith, (4) James Ward, (5) Chesley Dixon, (6) Damon Eller, (7) Vic Coffey, (8) Brian Nuttall, (9) Chuck Hummer, (10) Joe Isabel, (11) Matt Miller.
Time trials
Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., got the Super Bowl of Racing IV off to a good start Wednesday night as the fastest among 47 qualifiers for the UMP-sanctioned $10,000-to-win event.
With qualifiers split into four sections for group qualifying, Bloomquist (16.006 seconds) will start on the pole for the second heat race. The other fastest qualifiers in their respective groups, also earning poles for heat races, were Kelly Boen of Henderson, Colo. (16.697), Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn. (16.197) and Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla. (16.287).
The top five finishers in each heat race will transfer to the main event. The four heat race winners will draw for the top four starting spots in the feature lineup and transferrees from two consolations will fill the remainder of the field.
Notebook
Patrick Sheltra of Indiantown, Fla., had his No. 23 on hand, but he was practicing his ARCA car at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and won't be at Golden Isles until Thursday. Michael England hot-lapped Sheltra's car just to make sure it was OK before the team loaded up. ... World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., making his debut in the Beitler Enterprises No. 19, failed to report to the scales after qualifying and lost his time. ... Brian Nuttall jumped the turn-four cushion during his qualifying lap. ... Drivers got a single lap for time trials. ... A sparse crowd was on hand. ... National Late Model Series competitors are on the undercard.
Time trials
Steve Francis (19), Ashland, Ky., no time; didn’t weigh
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported Earl Pearson Jr. would start on the pole. Chris Madden starts on the pole.
