East Alabama Motor Speedway
Madden tops Davenport, captures EAMS opener
By Jonathan Joiner
DirtonDirt.com correspondent
Chris Madden (44) turns back Jonathan Davenport (49) at EAMS. (Heath Lawson)
PHENIX CITY, Ala. (Sept. 28) — Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C., dominated Saturday night’s Super Late Model portion of the 35 annual Alabama State Championships at East Alabama Motor Speedway, earning $4,000 in the first of two weekend events sanctioned by the Southern All Star Racing Series. | Slideshow
Starting from the pole, Madden jumped to the lead over second-starting Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., and held Davenport in check throughout the 40-lapper en route to his third Southern All Stars victory of the season. The win places Madden in prime position to earn his first title in the 3/8-mile oval’s annual event.
“We had a real good car tonight,” said Madden, a two-time Southern All Stars champion. “We come last night and made some laps. We were real good last night in similar conditions around the bottom of the racetrack, and we picked up where we left off.”
The victory did not come without a challenge as Madden survived a close call when lapped traffic spun in front of him early in the event. After stretching his lead during the race’s early stages, Madden had to scramble when Bret Holmes and Joe Armistead made contact on lap seven and both spun entering turn three. Running only a few car lengths behind the two, Madden had to check up quickly but survived the incident without damage.
Madden resumed control of the race once the field resumed racing, but heavy lapped traffic allowed Davenport to close in on the race-long leader as the event approached the halfway mark. Davenport looked under Madden exiting turn four on lap 18, but Madden’s outside momentum allowed him to pull ahead down the front straightaway. Once he cleared traffic, Madden reestablished a comfortable lead.
A lap-35 caution for another spin from Holmes slowed the event once more and afforded Davenport another shot at Madden. Following the restart, Madden pulled several car lengths ahead of Davenport who closed the gap to only two car lengths by the final lap. But that was as close as Davenport could get as he settled for a runner-up finish.
Ivedent Lloyd Jr. of Ocala, Fla., advanced one position from his fourth starting spot to finish third while last year’s race winner Randy Weaver of Crossville, Tenn., finished fourth. Ray Cook of Brasstown, N.C., rounded out the top five.
This year’s edition of the popular late-season event is the first time the event ran as a doubleheader and the first time it’s ever been sanctioned by the Southern All Stars. The second leg of the event will get underway Sunday afternoon with the winner earning another $4,000. The driver with the best average finish between Saturday and Sunday’s races will be crowned the 2013 Alabama State Champion along with earning a $2,000 bonus from event sponsor Alexanders Industrial Services.
After a victory in night one, Madden has his sights set on the crown but knows that he will likely face another challenge from Davenport.
“I need to get that done,” Madden replied when asked about what it would mean to add an Alabama State Championship to his resume. “Tomorrow is going to be tough. That guy in that 49, he’s not done yet; he’s hard to beat down here. We’ve been working hard, and I think we’re on top of our program right now, so I feel good racing tomorrow.”
Davenport is also looking forward to round two and knows that he has a good chance to claim the title as well.
“It was a good night,” said Davenport, the 2011 Alabama State Champion. “It sucks to run second, but we got another night and we can do one spot better tomorrow. “This is pretty neat, pretty different, so we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”
Notes: Madden’s Bloomquist Race Car is powered by a Clements Racing Engine with sponsorship from Century Plastics, Hamricks of Gaffney, Cushman Paint and Body, Henderson Amusement, Hoosier and Ohlins Shocks. ... Madden’s ninth overall victory of the season was the 43rd of his career on the SAS tour; he’s second to only Ronnie Johnson of Chattanooga, Tenn., who has 62 series victories. ... Southern All Stars points leader Riley Hickman of Ooltewah, Tenn., finished 14th, extending his advantage over Bret Holmes, who ended up 22nd. ... The SAS tour returned to EAMS for the first time since 1984 in March when Jonathan Davenport topped Clint Smith.
Alabama State Championship: (1) Chris Madden, (2) Jonathan Davenport, (3) Ivedent Lloyd Jr., (4) Randy Weaver, (5) Ray Cook, (6) Shane Clanton, (7) Casey Roberts, (8) William Thomas, (9) Jason Hiett, (10) Clint Smith, (11) Brent Dixon, (12) Jake Knowles, (13) Brian Reese, (14) Riley Hickman, (15) Aaron Ridley, (16) Jody Knowles, (17) Kenny Collins, (18) Chris Jones, (19) Joseph Joiner, (20) Chase Edge, (21) Tom Maddox, (22) Bret Holmes, (23) Joe Armistead, (24) Russell Brown. Fast qualifier (among 40 cars): Madden, 14.386 seconds. Consolation winners: Maddox, Smith, Jones.
