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04-08-2012, 08:22 PM
Chris Madden Outlasts Steve Francis for Cleveland County ULTIMATE Victory
Lawndale, North Carolina –Grabbing the lead from his outside pole starting position, Chris Madden of Gray Court, South Carolina led every lap in collecting a $4000 ULTIMATE Super Late Model Series victory on Friday night at Cleveland County Speedway. Madden fought off challenges from Steve Francis through lap traffic and a rough racing surface to pick up his first win of 2012 and his third series victory. Madden’s previous series victory came September 2 of 2011 at Wythe (VA) Raceway. “We’ve been working real hard this year just trying to get faster. We’ve been behind a little bit, but we’ve been working our butts off the past month or two to get where we needed to be.” Madden said.
Steve Francis, aboard the Barry Wright Race Cars House Car, scored fast time among the 18 entries from 7 different states during VP Race Fuels Race for the Pole Qualifying. Francis, of Ashland, Kentucky, turned in a lap of 16.641 seconds, which was just a tick faster than the 16.701-second lap of Madden. Francis wound up as the runner-up on the night and he was somewhat satisfied with the performance after the 40-lapper. “Second ain’t bad. We made a little bit of money and got to test a little bit. So I will take it. Chris’ car just liked the rough a little better than mine. He could get his car to turn through them a little better than we could.” Francis had his best shot of the night at Madden when the leaders reached heavy lapped traffic late in the race. “I didn’t need that last caution. That lapped traffic was our only shot at getting by him.” Francis added.
Toccoa, Georgia’s Casey Roberts, the 4-time Southern All Stars East Champion, was running in the 3rd position late in the race when he suffered a broken drive shaft ending his night and relegating him to a place finish. Dennis “Rambo” Franklin was the hard charger of the night moving up from his 10th starting position to finish 3rd. Savannah, Georgia racer Casey Barrow was the event’s Rookie of the Race by virtue of his 5th place finish. The series next move to 311 Speedway in Madison, North Carolina for a $4000 to win event on April 28th. Madden’s Bloomquist Racecar is powered by a Cornett Race Engine and carries sponsor support from Baird Transport, Century Plastics, Hamrick’s of Gaffney, KC Transport, Elite Concrete, Xtreme Customs & Cycles, Swiftco, Hoosier Tire South and VP Race Fuel.
The ULTIMATE Super Late Model Series would like to thank all of its marketing partners for their great and continuing support. Those 2012 sponsors include: Hoosier Race Tires, American Racer Tires, VP Racing Fuel, City Chevrolet, Vicci Apparel, RockAuto.com and FK Rod Ends. ULTIMATE would also like to welcome Cool Shirt, Five Star Bodies, Hooker Harness, Kooks Custom Headers, R2C Filters, Sisco Fire and Safety and Tiger Rear Ends to our line-up of product sponsors. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor of the ULTIMATE Super Late Model Series please contact Stan Lester at the FASTRAK Corporate Office at (678) 935-7304 or Series Director Kelley Carlton at (864) 871-1442.
Feature Results
1. 44 Chris Madden – Gray Court, SC
2. 15 Steve Francis – Ashland, KY
3. 37c Dennis Franklin – Gaffney, SC
4. 17 Mike Gault – Gaffney, SC
5. 98 Casey Barrow – Savannah, GA
6. 07 Brian Ledbetter – Dallas, NC
7. 04 Ritchie Corley – Batesburg, SC
8. 101 Casey Roberts – Toccoa, GA
9. 9 John Pursley – Clover, SC
10. 21 Luke Roffers – Concord, NC
11. 57 Zack Mitchell – Enoree, SC
12. 1 Ricky Weeks – Rutherfordton, NC
13. 42 Doug Sanders – Springwood, NC
14. 09 Johnny Pursley – Clover, SC
15. 16 Daniel Baggerly – Rural Retreat, VA
16. 1 Brent Dixon – Elberton, GA
17. 76 Brandon Overton – Evans, GA
18. 25 Jensen Ford – Piney Flats, TN
Lawndale, North Carolina –Grabbing the lead from his outside pole starting position, Chris Madden of Gray Court, South Carolina led every lap in collecting a $4000 ULTIMATE Super Late Model Series victory on Friday night at Cleveland County Speedway. Madden fought off challenges from Steve Francis through lap traffic and a rough racing surface to pick up his first win of 2012 and his third series victory. Madden’s previous series victory came September 2 of 2011 at Wythe (VA) Raceway. “We’ve been working real hard this year just trying to get faster. We’ve been behind a little bit, but we’ve been working our butts off the past month or two to get where we needed to be.” Madden said.
Steve Francis, aboard the Barry Wright Race Cars House Car, scored fast time among the 18 entries from 7 different states during VP Race Fuels Race for the Pole Qualifying. Francis, of Ashland, Kentucky, turned in a lap of 16.641 seconds, which was just a tick faster than the 16.701-second lap of Madden. Francis wound up as the runner-up on the night and he was somewhat satisfied with the performance after the 40-lapper. “Second ain’t bad. We made a little bit of money and got to test a little bit. So I will take it. Chris’ car just liked the rough a little better than mine. He could get his car to turn through them a little better than we could.” Francis had his best shot of the night at Madden when the leaders reached heavy lapped traffic late in the race. “I didn’t need that last caution. That lapped traffic was our only shot at getting by him.” Francis added.
Toccoa, Georgia’s Casey Roberts, the 4-time Southern All Stars East Champion, was running in the 3rd position late in the race when he suffered a broken drive shaft ending his night and relegating him to a place finish. Dennis “Rambo” Franklin was the hard charger of the night moving up from his 10th starting position to finish 3rd. Savannah, Georgia racer Casey Barrow was the event’s Rookie of the Race by virtue of his 5th place finish. The series next move to 311 Speedway in Madison, North Carolina for a $4000 to win event on April 28th. Madden’s Bloomquist Racecar is powered by a Cornett Race Engine and carries sponsor support from Baird Transport, Century Plastics, Hamrick’s of Gaffney, KC Transport, Elite Concrete, Xtreme Customs & Cycles, Swiftco, Hoosier Tire South and VP Race Fuel.
The ULTIMATE Super Late Model Series would like to thank all of its marketing partners for their great and continuing support. Those 2012 sponsors include: Hoosier Race Tires, American Racer Tires, VP Racing Fuel, City Chevrolet, Vicci Apparel, RockAuto.com and FK Rod Ends. ULTIMATE would also like to welcome Cool Shirt, Five Star Bodies, Hooker Harness, Kooks Custom Headers, R2C Filters, Sisco Fire and Safety and Tiger Rear Ends to our line-up of product sponsors. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor of the ULTIMATE Super Late Model Series please contact Stan Lester at the FASTRAK Corporate Office at (678) 935-7304 or Series Director Kelley Carlton at (864) 871-1442.
Feature Results
1. 44 Chris Madden – Gray Court, SC
2. 15 Steve Francis – Ashland, KY
3. 37c Dennis Franklin – Gaffney, SC
4. 17 Mike Gault – Gaffney, SC
5. 98 Casey Barrow – Savannah, GA
6. 07 Brian Ledbetter – Dallas, NC
7. 04 Ritchie Corley – Batesburg, SC
8. 101 Casey Roberts – Toccoa, GA
9. 9 John Pursley – Clover, SC
10. 21 Luke Roffers – Concord, NC
11. 57 Zack Mitchell – Enoree, SC
12. 1 Ricky Weeks – Rutherfordton, NC
13. 42 Doug Sanders – Springwood, NC
14. 09 Johnny Pursley – Clover, SC
15. 16 Daniel Baggerly – Rural Retreat, VA
16. 1 Brent Dixon – Elberton, GA
17. 76 Brandon Overton – Evans, GA
18. 25 Jensen Ford – Piney Flats, TN