Madden Edges Clanton At Senoia Spring Nationals

Chris Madden (Photo Credit - Francis Hauke)

Submitted by Ted Austad

(April 24, 2016 - Senoia, GA)  He gave up the lead position near the half way mark of Saturday night’s main event at Senoia Raceway, but South Carolina’s Chris ‘Smokey’ Madden fought back to overtake Zebulon’s Shane Clanton on the final lap to win the Old Man’s Garage Spring Nationals Series by Schaeffer’s Oil feature to pocket the $6,000 top prize.  Clanton was planted in his door panel out of the final turn as Madden crossed only .013 seconds ahead of his pursuer.

“It’s hard to find places where you can race like that and this (Senoia Raceway) is one of them,” said Madden in victory lane.  “That was definitely exciting for the fans, and it’s fun for us.  We don’t never get to race like that and that was fun.”

The excitement of multiple lanes of racing brought the fans to their feet throughout the fifty lap main event.  Shane Clanton preferred the low groove while Madden pushed his car to the limit on the high side of the track.

“We raced side by side for so many laps without touching each other,” explained Clanton afterwards about the two welded together at the finish line.  “I had to try something at the end.  Chris would have done the same thing.  Fans and drivers need to take notice that this is place to race.”

Madden and defending Senoia Raceway Super Late Model points champion, Clint ‘Cat Daddy’ Smith of Senoia brought the field to life for the start of the feature event with Madden leading the first 29 circuits before fifth place starter Shane Clanton grabbed the lead while darting in and around lapped traffic on lap 30. Clanton would hold the top position until the white flag when Madden began to pressure him changing to the low line on the trace track.  Madden made the last lap pass on Clanton and came to the line at a mere .013 seconds ahead of Clanton.  Kingston’s Tyler Millwood completed a strong night with a third place finish ahead of Aplin’s Brandon Overton and Dawsonville’s Donald McIntosh.

Bubba Pollard  (Photo Credit - Francis Hauke)

Senoia’s Bubba Pollard picked up his second consecutive win in the Crate Late Model competition.  Pollard pulled away from a field of young guns that dazzled the large crowd with side by side and sometimes three wide racing for positions second through fifth.  Nineteen-year-old Alabaman ‘Thrillin’ Dylan Knowles swapped spots with seventeen-year-old Trey Wood and eighteen-year-old Marty Lunsford, both from Newnan, while Kyle Cochran and twenty-year-old Newnan racer Corey Payton jostled for track position.  In the end, Pollard recorded the victory ahead of Wood, Knowles, Lunsford and Cochran.

Clint Smith (Photo Credit - Francis Hauke)

Performing double duty Saturday night, Clint Smith ran flag to flag for the win in the Limited Late Model division.  Smith shot past defending Limited Late Model points champion Joey Armistead of Senoia to grab the race’s early lead and then never looked back posting his second Limited Late Model feature win of the 2016 campaign.  Armistead was second ahead of former points title winner Jason Williams of Locust Grove, Bowden’s Shane Criswell and former two-time points champion Glenn Morris of Fayetteville.

Parrish Duncan (Photo Credit - Francis Hauke)

Last year’s points B Cadet points champion, Parrish Duncan of Newnan, returned to winner’s circle for the first time this season.  Duncan was declared the winner after Douglasville’s Dakota Weeks was found to be racing with an illegal chassis/engine combination.  Sharpsburg’s Dennis Lykins, Jr. finished a career best second place ahead of Newnan’s Bobby ‘Wild Child’ Arnold.

Randy Cornwell (Photo Credit - Francis Hauke)

Warner-Robins’ Randy Cornwell won his fourth straight Hobby Stock feature.  Cornwell battled early with Hogansville’s Gary Brand before pulling away to secure the laurels.  Brand came home second ahead of Newnan’s Lee McElwaney, Mike Jenkins of Brooks and Milner’s John Holder.

Grant Roberts (Photo Credit - Francis Hauke)

Good Hope’s Grant Roberts made his first ever trip to Senoia Raceway’s bull ring a success.  Roberts made adjustments to his driving style finally figuring out the top side of the gumbo clay surface before bolting past Locust Grove’s Jamie Nicholson, Jr. to nab the lead with six laps remaining in the Mini Stock feature.  Nicholson was second when the checkered flag flew over the field while Hampton’s Harold Leath was third.

Derrick Matthews (Photo Credit - Francis Hauke)

Whitesburg’s Derrick Matthews won the Bomber feature that only saw five cars compete.

This Saturday, April 30th, Senoia Raceway will be back in action with point’s racing in all seven divisions.  The Super Late Models, Limited Late Models, Crate Late Models, B Cadet, Bomber and Mini Stock will compete in qualifying rounds and main event while the Hobby Stock division will race for extended laps and more purse money.

“Each of our support division’s will race special events this season,” said promoter Mayes Massey.  “Each class will race for some extra money, extra laps and have autograph sessions to meet the fans.  The drivers in all of our weekly classes deserve some of the spotlight.  This week it is the Hobby Stock’s turn to shine.”

The pit gate will open this Saturday at 4pm while the grandstands open at 5pm.  Hot laps will begin at 6:30pm with racing at 7pm.  Grandstand tickets are $12; ages 5-12 are $5 with four & under admitted for free.  Pit passes and trackside parking tickets are $25; ages 5-12 are $20 and four & under are admitted for free.

For additional information, schedules, rules and more, visit the Senoia Raceway website at www.senoiaraceway.com.  The track also offers an e-mail newsletter (sign-up on the website), Facebook page, twitter feed, instagram and snapchat for social media access to news and information. You can also contact the track directly at 770.599.6161.

Official results from Saturday,  April 23, 2016
Super Late Models (Feature):  1-Chris Madden, Gray Court, SC  2-Shane Clanton, Zebulon  3-Tyler Millwood, Kingston  4-Brandon Overton, Appleton  5-Donald McIntosh, Dawsonville  6-Clint Smith, Senoia  7-David Payne, Murphy, NC  8-Jason Hiett, Oxford, AL  9-Cody King, McDonough  10-Austin Smith, Cedartown  11-Joe Armistead, Jr., Senoia  12-Zach Leonardhi, Cartersville  13-Tod Darda, LaGrange  14-Austin Horton, Whitesburg  15-Matt Dooley, Brooks  16-Mason Massey, Douglasville  17-Jason Williams, Locust Grove  18-Kenny Collins, Colbert  19-Laddie Fulcher, Thomaston  20-Ivedent Lloyd, Jr., Ocala, FL  21-Craig Scott, Newnan  22-Brian Reese, Shaprsburg  DNQ: Shane Fulcher, Thomaston; Scott Groves, Canton; Brian Ligon, Augusta; Ricky Williams, Fayetteville  Fast Qualifier: Madden (15.269/88.4 mph)
Limited Late Models (Feature):  1-Clint Smith, Senoia  2-Joey Armistead, Senoia  3-Jason Williams, Locust Grove  4-Shane Criswell, Bowden  5-Glenn Morris, Fayetteville  6-Bailey Williams, Fayetteville  7-Joseph Darda, Greenville  8-Scott Howard, Locust Grove  9-Brandon Bright, Newnan  10-Sam Moore, Columbus  Fast Qualifier: Armistead (16.534 seconds/81.7 mph)
Crate Late Models (Feature): 1-Bubba Pollard, Senoia  2-Trey Wood, Newnan  3-Dylan Knowles, Lannett, AL  4-Marty Lunsford, Newnan  5-Kyle Cochran  6-Dorough Bright, Newnan  7-Corey Payton, Newnan  8-Jamie Maurice, McDonough  9-Jamie Brown, Temple  10-Jonathan Harrell, Newnan  11-Michael Coggins, Tallapoosa  12-Dow Kirkland, Lake Spivey  13-Chris Carr, Newnan  14-Rodney Peters, Social Circle  Heat Race Winners: Knowles & Cochran
B Cadet (Feature):  1-Parrish Duncan, Newnan  2-Dennis Lykins, Jr., Sharpsburg  3-Bobby Arnold, Newnan  4-Billy Stevenson, Locust Grove  5-Roger Arnett, Lannett, AL  6-Luke Pilson, Kennesaw  7-Benny Croy, McDonough  8-Johnny Stinchcomb, Newnan  9-Ted Minnix, McDonough  DQ: Dakota Weeks (illegal chassis/engine combination)
Hobby Stock (Feature):  1-Randy Cornwell, Warner-Robins  2-Gary Brand, Hogasnville  3-Lee McElwaney, Newnan  4-Mike Jenkins, Brooks  5-John Holder, Milner  6-Ben Wells, Franklin  7-Chad Foster, Griffin  DQ: Russell, Baker, Winder (clutch)  DNS: Steven Parker, Temple
Mini Stock (Feature):  1-Grant Roberts, Good Hope  2-Jamie Nicholson, Jr., Locust Grove  3-Harold Leath, Hampton  4-Wesley Patterson, Williamson  5-Bo Chambers, Griffin  6-John Caldwell, Senoia  7-Cassie Dingler-Still, Newnan  8-Denver Stepp, Powder Springs  9-Jamie Nicholson, Sr., Locust Grove
Bomber (Feature):  1-Derrick Matthews, Whitesburg  2-Ricky Neill, Whitesburg  3-Jim Jackson, Zebulon  4-Ted Willingham, McDonough  5-Darrin Parrott, Sharpsburg