Madden Grabs A Gator At Volusia Speedway

Story By: COLBY GORNIEWICZ / DIRTCAR – BARBERVILLE, FL – On the seventh day of the 46th annual DIRTcar Nationals, 43 Late Models migrated to Volusia Speedway Park to test their luck at the ‘World’s Fastest Half-Mile’. The season opening swing through Georgia and Florida continues and drivers are hoping to leave the track with a coveted Gator trophy in the passenger seat. Chris Madden began his collection of gators tonight.

Madden steadily gained ground on pole sitter and race leader Brian Shirley who had made a significant breakaway from the rest of the field early in the race. With the help of a restart, Madden was able to make a pass on the high-side of Brian Shirley on lap 13 to claim the lead.

“We got a good restart and then we were able to get out in the clean air and we had a pretty good car tonight,” said Chris Madden. “It was too tight the first 10 or so laps but overall we had a great race car. I’m going to take this [Gator] home to my little man, Avery.”

Shirley was running a line on the bottom of the track which seemed to be working for him until Madden tested the waters in the middle of the track and started catching up.

“It’s a damned if you do, damned if you don’t deal,” said Shirley in response to his choice to run the bottom of the track. “I mean he got around us there and got away from me and I just changed my line and reeled him back in. I know we had a car capable of winning the race.”

Chub Frank was also among the front runners Monday night and was trailing closely behind Shirley and Madden until his right-rear tire exploded. Frank doesn’t have a full crew right now, so with the help of his friend and relative, Doug Eck, and a few others he had a new tire on quickly, but had to restart at the rear. He ultimately finished 21 of the 24-car Feature.

DIRTcar Racing Late Models will continue to run through Wednesday and the World of Outlaws Craftsman® Late Model Series will pick up on Thursday. Tickets for the event are available here or by calling 844-DIRT-TIX.

46th Annual DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park

DIRTcar Late Model Notebook – February 20, 2017

Feature (30-lap):1. 44- Chris Madden[4]; 2. 3s- Brian Shirley[1]; 3. 91- Tyler Erb[3]; 4. 25- Shane Clanton[10]; 5. 28E- Dennis Erb Jr[11]; 6. 22*- G.R. Smith[9]; 7. 116- Brandon Overton [8]; 8. 18- Eric Wells[6]; 9. 1- Brandon Sheppard[17]; 10. 18c-Chase Junghans[5]; 11. 7- Rick Eckert[18]; 12. 14M- Morgan Bagley[12];13. 72- Mike Norris[16]; 14. 7F-Jason Fitzgarald[7]; 15. 99B-Boom Briggs[13]; 16. 9- Devin Moran[19]; 17. 2c-Joey Coulter[23]; 18. 0v- Coleby Frye[14]; 19. 39- Tim McCreadie[21]; 20. 99jr- Frank Heckenast Jr[20]; 21. 1*- Chub Frank[2]; 22. 15- Steve Francis[22]; 23. 40B- Kyle Bronson[15]; 24. 93- Donald Bradsher[24]

B-Main Group No. 1(10 Laps – Top 2 Transfer): 1. 1- Brandon Sheppard[5]; 2. 9- Devin Moran[1];3. 39- Tim McCreadie[2]; 4. 2c- Joey Coulter[6]; 5. 7W- Ricky Weiss[4]; 6. 71- Hudson O’Neal[8]; 7. B1- Brent Larson[3]; 8. 11B- Stacy Boles[9]; 9. 17M- Dale McDowell[12]; 10. 4-D’s- Chad Hollenbeck[11]; 11. 3c- Charles LaPlant[14];12. 7m- Donald Mcintosh[7];13. 6- Blake Spencer[DNS];14. 14r- Reid Millard[DNS]

B-Main Group No. 2(10 Laps – Top 2 Transfer): 1. 7- Rick Eckert[1]; 2. 99jr-Frank Heckenast Jr[2]; 3. 15-Steve Francis[3];4. 93- Donald Bradsher[5];5. 20- Rodney Sanders[7]; 6. 15s- Donny Schatz[9]; 7. 16T- Tyler Bruening[11]; 8. 21jr- Billy Moyer Jr[6]; 9. 27- Jeff Beyers[8]; 10. 16H- Mike Hammerle[12]; 11. 2H- Nick Hoffman[4]; 12. 16- Jason Jameson[DNS]; 13. 24z- Brian Ruhlman[DNS]

Qualifying No. 1: 1. 18c- Chase Junghans, 16.138; 2. 1*- Chub Frank, 16.14;3. 9B- Boom Briggs, 16.273;4. 1- Brandon Sheppard, 16.332;5. B1- Brent Larson, 16.348;6. 22*- G.R. Smith, 16.573;7. 7m- Donald Mcintosh, 16.574; 8. 4-D’s- Chad Hollenbeck, 16.62; 9. 9- Devin Moran, 16.757; 10. 11B- Stacy Boles, 16.982; 11. 14r- Reid Millard, 17.998

Qualifying No. 2: 1. 18- Eric Wells, 15.802; 2. 44- Chris Madden, 15.809; 3. 25- Shane Clanton, 15.81; 4. 39- Tim McCreadie, 16.209; 5. 6- Blake Spencer, 16.261; 6. 0v- Coleby Frye, 16.375; 7. 71- Hudson O’Neal, 16.421; 8. 7W- Ricky Weiss, 16.863; 9. 3c- Charles LaPlant, 17.424; 10. 2c-Joey Coulter, 17.45; 11. 17M-Dale McDowell ,17.557

Qualifying No. 3: 1. 7F- Jason Fitzgarald, 15.946; 2. 91-Tyler Erb, 16.063; 3. 28E- Dennis Erb Jr, 16.064; 4. 15- Steve Francis, 16.09; 5. 7- Rick Eckert, 16.18; 6. 16T- Tyler Bruening, 16.293; 7. 40B- Kyle Bronson, 16.31; 8. 93-Donald Bradsher, 16.437; 9. 20-Rodney Sanders, 16.443; 10. 24z- Brian Ruhlman,16.835; 11. 15s-Donny Schatz, 17.217

Qualifying No. 4: 1. 3s- Brian Shirley, 15.824; 2. 72- Mike Norris, 15.852; 3. 116- Brandon Overton, 16.336; 4. 2H- Nick Hoffman, 16.487; 5. 14M- Morgan Bagley, 16.53; 6. 99jr- Frank Heckenast Jr, 16.575; 7. 16- Jason Jameson, 16.615; 8. 27- Jeff Beyers, 16.847; 9. 21jr- Billy Moyer Jr, 17.408; 10. 16H-Mike Hammerle, 18.759

Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): 1. 1*- Chub Frank; 2. 18c-Chase Junghans; 3. 22*-G.R. Smith; 4. 99B-Boom Briggs; 5. 9- Devin Moran; 6. B1- Brent Larson; 7. 1- Brandon Sheppard; 8. 7m- Donald Mcintosh; 9. 11B-Stacy Boles; 10. 4-D’s- Chad Hollenbeck; 11. 14r- Reid Millard

Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): 1. 44- Chris Madden; 2. 18- Eric Wells; 3. 25- Shane Clanton; 4. 0v- Coleby Frye; 5. 39- Tim McCreadie; 6. 7W- Ricky Weiss; 7. 2c- Joey Coulter; 8. 71- Hudson O’Neal; 9. 6- Blake Spencer; 10. 17M- Dale McDowell; 11. 3c- Charles LaPlant

Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): 1. 91-Tyler Erb; 2. 7F-Jason Fitzgarald; 3. 28E-Dennis Erb Jr; 4. 40B-Kyle Bronson; 5. 7- Rick Eckert; 6. 15-Steve Francis; 7. 93-Donald Bradsher; 8. 20-Rodney Sanders; 9. 15s- Donny Schatz; 10.16T-Tyler Bruening; 11. 24z-Brian Ruhlman

Heat No. 4 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): 1. 3s- Brian Shirley; 2. 116- Brandon Overton;3. 14M- Morgan Bagley; 4. 72- Mike Norris; 5. 99jr- Frank Heckenast Jr; 6. 2H- Nick Hoffman; 7. 21jr- Billy Moyer Jr; 8. 27- Jeff Beyers; 9. 16- Jason Jameson; 10. 16H-Mike Hammerle