Holds Off Tim McCreadie to Take Season-Ending Victory
Story By: KAYLA MAY / WoO LM SERIES MEDIA Photos By: DAVE DALESANDRO / RACERSGUIDE.COM
CONCORD, NC- October 30, 2016- After a hard fought weekend from Chris Madden it all paid off on the final night of the season finale when his No. 44 machine found its way into Victory Lane. Throughout the past three days at the Bad Boy Off Road World of Outlaws World Finals, Madden proved he was a strong contender as he remained in the front of the pack every time he took the track.
“When you’re fast the whole time there’s a little more pressure because you can’t slow it up. It’s not like being slow and trying to get better,” said Madden.
30-drivers from 15 different states across the country took to The Dirt Track at Charlotte for Saturday night’s 50-lap Craftsman Club Feature and it was anything but a Sunday afternoon drive to the grocery store as each driver battled it out from green-to-checkered. Many drivers found their way into the top-10 spots throughout the night and more than a handful danced in the top-5.
Picking number one in the redraw, Madden would start at the pole position. Tim McCreadie grabbed a number two to start him in the second position. The battle for the lead between Madden and McCreadie was from first lap where they went door-to-door until lap 7 where Madden was able to gain two car lengths between them.
With the help of a caution on lap 10, the field tightened and gave everyone the opportunity to move up the ladder. From lap 16 to lap 30 Madden, McCreadie and Josh Richards were doing all they could to maneuver around each other and lap traffic they encountered. All three swapping podium-positions along the way.
A caution fell on lap 30 and Richards headed to the hot pits but rejoined the field to finish out the race. Richards was able to make a hard charge forward from the back, ultimately finishing twelfth.
The battle between Madden and McCreadie held out until the lap 48 where Madden was able to squeeze between lap traffic and make a break away all the way to the checkered flag.
“[Madden] led a lot of laps last night and you just don’t know where to be. He got better and I thought there was a chance but he pulled a hell of a move [between two lap cars in Turn 2] and I just got hung for a second and that was the race. [Madden] has helped me out a lot this week so it’s fun to race like that – we had a blast” said McCreadie.
After learning some adjustments from the previous night, madden said, “we tightened up from the situation we got into last night and just tried to have a better car and we got it too tight tonight and couldn’t cut around the bottom like [Tim McCreadie] could. I found something there in the middle and started to run those guys back down by working that middle and finally got me a groove that we could carry a lot of momentum. I knew we weren’t going to have a problem if we ran into lap traffic but we did and broke my momentum but we put ourselves into position to win the race.”
There were several hard-chargers in the season finale for the World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Models. Brandon Overton gave viewers deja vu as he mimicked the previous day’s racing where he started joined the feature through winning the Last Chance Showdown which started him in the twentieth position of the 30-car 50-lap feature. On Friday night Overton finished one spot shy from the podium.
On Saturday, Overton followed suit and won his Last Chance Showdown which transferred him into the Feature and started him again in the twentieth position. Although he gave the 50-lap feature all he could, Overton ran out of laps to jump up the chain and finished fifth.
The World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series will wrap up their season at the end-of-the-year banquet where season-ending awards will be given out and honoring the Series Champion, Josh Richards. The Outlaw Late Models will resume action at DIRTcar Nationals Florida in February, 2017.
Craftsman Club Feature (50 – Laps): 1. 44 – Chris Madden; 2. 39 – Tim McCreadie; 3. 5- Don O’Neal; 4. 18 – Eric Wells; 5. 76 – Brandon Overton; 6. 25 – Shane Clanton; 7. 6 – Jonathan Davenport; 8. 17M – Dale McDowell; 9. 15L- Darrell Lanigan; 10. 18c- Chase Junghans; 11. C9- Steve Casebolt; 12. 1- Josh Richards; 13. 28E-Dennis Erb Jr.; 14. 40- Kyle Bronson; 15. 15s- Donny Schatz; 16. 41*- Chub Frank; 17. 0 – Dale Hollidge; 18. 7- Rick Eckart; 19. 21JR- Billy Moyer Jr.; 20. 14M – Morgan Bagley; 21. 77 – Jordan Yaggy; 22. 3s – Brian Shirley; 23. 91 – Tyler Erb; 24. 22* – G.R. Smith; 25. 2c – Joey Coulter; 26. 93- Donald Bradsher; 27. 99jr. – Frank Heckenast Jr. – 28. 111- Steven Roberts; 29. 22 – Chris Ferguson; 30. 41B – Boom Briggs; 31. 111B – Max Blair.
Last-Chance Showdown Group No. 1(10 Laps – Top 2 Transfer): 1. 77 – Jordan Yaggy; 2. 99jr – Frank Heckenast Jr.; 3. 89 – Dustin Mitchell; 4. 4Ds – Chad Hollenbeck 5. 41B – Boom Briggs; 6. Robbie Scott; 7. 93- Donald Bradsher; 8. 6s – Blake Spencer; 9. 16 – Steve Francis; 10. 09- Johnny Pursley; 11. 2H – Nick Hoffman; 12. 14H- Tyler Horst; 13. 72- Dan Stone; 14. 82 – Andy Fries; DNS: 15-Dean Bowen; 89w-Justin Williams.
Last-Chance Showdown Group No. 2(10 Laps – Top 2 Transfer): 1. 76 – Brandon Overton; 2. 6 – Jonathan Davenport; 3. 21JR- Billy Moyer Jr.; 4. 41* – Chub Frank; 5. 49R – Brain Ruhlman; 6. R1 – Riley Hickman 7. 25z – Mason Zeigler; 8. 25F- Jason Feger; 9. 71 – Hudson O’Neal; 10. 7r- Ross Robinson; 11. 24 – Kenny Moreland; 12. 8- Willie Milliken; 13. 31 – Bob Gordon; 14. 92 – Nick Davis; 15. 23- Michael Rouse; 16. 22E – Russell Erwin; DNS: P3 – Jeff Robertson.
Last-Chance Showdown Group No. 3(10 Laps – Top 2 Transfer): 1. 18c – Chase Junghans; 2. 111B – Max Blair; 3. 72c – Jason Covert; 4. ’00 – Jesse Stovall; 5. 2c – Joey Coulter; 6. 32 – Daulton Wilson; 7. 42 – Doug Sanders; 8. 93 – Pancho Lawler; 9. 2M – Allen Murray; 10. ’07- Brian Ledbetter; 11. 28- Tyler Carpenter; 12. 1G- Ryan King; 13. 11- Austin Smith; DNS: 91-Tyler Erb; C8-Timothy Culp; 3S – Brian Shirley.
Saturday Qualifying: Group 1: 1. 1- Josh Richards, 14.876; 2. 22 – Chris Madden, 15.031; 3. C9 – Steve Casebolt, 15.237; 4. 5- Don O’Neal, 15.239; 5. 22- Chris Ferguson, 15.285; 6. 1*- Chub Frank, 15.352; 7. 93-Donald Bradsher, 15.355; 8. 22*- G.R. Smith, 15.373; 9. 18 – Eric Wells, 15.378; 10. 111- Steven Roberts, 15.450; 11. 82- Andy Fries, 15.470; 12. 1M- Willie Milliken, 15.475; 13. 18s- Robbie Scott, 15.493; 14. 14H- Tyler Horst, 15.534; 15. 40-Kyle Bronson, 15.585; 16. 15- Dean Bowen, 15.600; 17. 77- Jordan Yaggy, 15.613; 18. 87- Ross Bailes, 15.650; 19. 49R- Brian Ruhlman, 15.663; 20. 99jr – Frank Heckenast Jr., 15.674; 21. 4-D’s- Chad Hollenbeck, 15.687; 22. 76- Brandon Overton, 15.696; 23. ’09-Johnny Pursley, 15.732; 24. 72-Dan Stone, 15.881; 25. 23- Michael Rouse, 15.904; 26. 16- Steve Francis, 15.920; 27. 99B- Boom Briggs, 16.104; 28. 31- Bob Gordon, 16.132; 29. 6s- Blake Spencer, 16.321; 30. 2H- Nick Hoffman, 16.847; 31. P3- Jeff Robertson, 17.608; DNS: D8-Dustin Mitchell; 89W- Justin Williams; 1V- Jeremy Miller; 22E- Russell Erwin.
Saturday Qualifying Group 2: 1. 39- Tim McCreadie, 15.052; 2. 17M-Dale McDowell, 15.134; 3. 25-Shane Clanton, 15.159; 4. 0- Dale Hollidge, 15.202; 5. 15s- Donny Schatz, 15.256; 6. 28E – Dennis Erb Jr., 15.324; 7. 7- Rick Eckert, 15.351; 8. 72c – Jason Covert, 15.363; 9. 15L – Darrel Lanigan, 15.390; 10. 21JR- Billy Moyer Jr., 15.394; 11. 18c- Chase Junghans, 15.404; 12. 111B- Max Blair, 15.434; 13. 71- Hudson O’Neal, 15.442; 14. 14M- Morgan Bagley, 15.569; 15. 11- Austin Smith, 15.652; 16. R1 – Riley Hickman, 15.697; 17. C8- Timothy Culp, 15.702; 18. 91- Tyler Erb, 15.714; 19. 6 – Jonathan Davenport, 15.715; 20. 28- Tyler Carpenter, 15.727; 21. 32- Daulton Wilson, 15.748; 22. 24- Kenny Moreland, 15.748; 23. 2c- Joey Coulter, 15.754; 24. 1G-Ryan King, 15.793; 25. 25z-Mason Zeigler, 15.805l 26. 42- Doug Sanders, 15.848; 27. 93L- Pancho Lawler, 15.861; 28. 92- Nick Davis, 15.955; 29. ’00-Jesse Stovall, 15.992; 30. ’07- Brian Ledbetter, 16.158; 31. 7r- Ross Robinson, 16.224; 32. 2M- Allen Murray, 16.443; 33. 3s- Brian Shirley, 16.758; 34. 25F-Jason Feger , NT.
Heat 1 (10 Laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. 1- Josh Richards; 2. 5- Don O’Neal 3. 111- Steven Roberts; 4.’09 – Johnny Pursley; 5. 18s – Robbie Scott; 6. 89 – Dustin Mitchell; 7. 16- Steve Francis; 8. 6s -Blake Spencer; 9. 93- Donald Bradsher; 10. 15- Dean Bowen; 11. 99jr- Frank Heckenast Jr.
Heat 2 (10 Laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. 44 – Chris Madden; 2. 22 – Chris Ferguson; 3. 22* – G.R. Smith; 4. 77 – Jordan Yaggy; 5. 82 – Andy Fries; 6. 14H – Tyler Horst; 7. 72 – Dan Stone; 8. 2H – Nick Hoffman; 9. 41B – Boom Briggs; 10. 89w – Justin Williams; 11. 4Ds – Chad Hollenbeck.
Heat 3 (10 Laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. C9- Steve Casebolt; 2. 18- Eric Wells; 3. 40 – Kyle Bronson; 4. 76- Brandon Overton; 5. 41* – Chub Frank; 6. 49R – Brian Ruhlman; 7. 22E – Russell Erwin; 8. 23 – Michael Rouse; 9. 31 – Bob Gordon; 10. 8 – Willie Miliken; 11. P3 – Jeff Robertson.
Heat 4 (10 Laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. 39 – Tim McCreadie; 2. 0 – Dale Hollidge; 3. 7 – Rick Eckert; 4. 21JR – Billy Moyer Jr. 5. 6 – Jonathan Davenport; 6. 24 – Kenny Moreland; 7. 25z – Mason Zeigler 8. R1 – Riley Hickman 9. 7r – Ross Robinson 10. 92- Nick Davis; 11. 25F – Jason Feger 12. 71 – Hudson O’Neal.
Heat 5 (10 Laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. 17M – Dale McDowell; 2. 15s – Donny Schatz; 3. 14M – Morgan Bagley; 4. 18c – Chase Junghans; 5. 00 – Jesse Stovall; 6. 72c – Jason Covert; 7. 42 – Doug Sanders; 8. 2c – Joey Coulter; 9. 2M – Allen Murray; 10. 28 – Tyler Carpenter; 11. C8 – Timothy Culp.
Heat 6 (10 Laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. 25 – Shane Clanton; 2. 28E – Dennis Erb Jr.; 3. 15L – Darrell Lanigan; 4. 111B- Max Blair; 5. 11 – Austin Smith; 6. 93L – Pancho Lawler; 7. 32 – Daulton Wilson; 8. 07- Brian Ledbetter; 9. 1G – Ryan King; 10. 91 – Tyler Erb; 11. 3s – Brian Shirley.
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Founded in 1978, the World of Outlaws®, based in Concord, N.C., is the premier national touring series for dirt track racing in North America, featuring the most powerful cars on dirt, the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series. Annually, the two series race nearly 140 times at tracks across the United States and Canada. CBS Sports Network is the official broadcast partner of the World of Outlaws. DIRTVision® also broadcasts all World of Outlaws events over the Internet to fans around the world. Learn more about the World of Outlaws.
The Super DIRTcar Series and DIRTcar Racing in the Northeast is brought to fans by many important sponsors and partners, including: Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel), Chevy Performance Parts and NAPA Auto Parts; in addition to contingency sponsors, including: ASI Race Wear, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, Cometic Gasket, Comp Cams, Edelbrock, Fox Shocks, Henry’s Exhaust Systems, Intercomp, JE Pistons, JRI Shocks, KSE Racing Products, Mike’s Racing Heads, Motorsports Safety Systems, MSD, Pole Position Raceway, Superflow Dynos and Wrisco Aluminum; along with manufacturer sponsors, including: Beyea Headers, Racing Electronics and TNT Rescue.
