Chris Madden, seen here from an earlier victory, took the World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series win Friday night at the Dirt Oval At Route 66 Raceway. Photo by Kevin Prater/praterphoto.com
Chris Madden had a dominating performance Friday night in the inaugural Chi-Town Showdown at the Dirt Oval at Route 66 Raceway.
Madden started the evening by first setting quick time, then winning his heat, and topping it off by leading all 50-laps of the World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series feature.
Madden, who started on the pole for the main event, was never seriously challenged for the lead position. During the first 18 laps of the feature, the Gray Court, South Carolina native was able to expand his lead to more than 5-seconds over the field before a caution fell which wiped it all away. Although, two additional cautions occurred during the 50-lap event, the last occurring with only nine laps remaining, Madden was able to finish 3.151-seconds ahead of the 25-car field to claim his sixth Outlaw win of the season.
“The competition is really strong out here and we’ve had some ups and downs out here towards the end of the year with help quitting and people not being able to hang in there to get the job done. We’ve picked up Colin (Pasi), A.J. (Allen), and Wil (Crowder). Those guys are probably the hardest working guys that I’ve ever had,” said Madden. “We broke this car out last week and we had some odds and ends that needed to be fixed on it but we got it fixed this week and it was extremely awesome tonight.”
“It’s been a great [year] for us,” added Madden. “I’ve really enjoyed racing with all these guys. It’s been an experience and it has been one that I won’t forget. It’s been really fun and really professional with some of these guys.”
Rick Eckert, who started seventh in the feature, also seemed to effortlessly find his way around the 3/8-mile dirt oval. By lap 26, he had steadily marched forward five positions as he claimed the second spot from Frank Heckenast, Jr. Eckert’s second place finish totaled him with two podium finishes in the last three races.
“Once I got to second I couldn’t really hem in the bottom (of the track). I moved up to the middle and kept a little better pace but (Madden) was definitely the class of the field,” said Eckert. “I really couldn’t race with him but I could race with everyone else and that’s a plus. That’s better than we’ve been, for sure.”
Despite Eckert’s look of ease around the racetrack, the No. 7 was experiencing a little engine trouble.
“We’ve been fighting a gremlin in the motor,” added Eckert. “It missed all last week and we keep changing stuff and we’re about out of stuff to change. I’m not sure where we’ll go next. It missed all feature again but it got slippery enough that it didn’t hinder us too bad.”
Series leader, Brandon Sheppard rounded out the podium on Friday evening. In the final five laps of the feature, Sheppard battled alongside Devin Moran and Bobby Pierce. On the last lap, Sheppard stole third from Moran to secure the final position on the podium.
“I got behind Shane (Clanton) there early in the race, and then I got into someone and knocked the nose a little loose, and then a clump of dirt came and caved it the rest of the way in,” explained Sheppard. “It made it hard to keep the front end on the ground, which made it a little hard to get through the middle corner, but we hung on and didn’t give up. That track was a little bit treacherous but it was really racy. There were guys running the bottom and guys running the top. It was a heck of a racetrack so a big thanks Sherri (Heckenast) and everyone who worked on the track.”
The World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series was slated to compete again at the Dirt Oval at Route 66 on Saturday night. But heavy rains forced series and track officials to cancel the final night of the Chi-Town Showdown.
Next up will be the World of Outlaws World Finals at the Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway Nov. 2-4. For more information, visit WoOLMS.com.
World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series
Dirt Oval At Route 66 Raceway – Joliet, IL
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1. 44- Chris Madden
2. 7- Rick Eckert
3. 1- Brandon Sheppard
4. 9- Devin Moran
5. 32p- Bobby Pierce
6. 91- Tyler Erb
7. B1- Brent Larson
8. 25- Shane Clanton
9. 14m- Morgan Bagley
10. 18- Eric Wells
11. 25s- Chad Simpson
12. 1m- Mike Mataragas
13. 25F- Jason Feger
14. 18b- Shannon Babb
15. 1*- Chub Frank
16. 27- Tom Smith
17. 2- Doug Hayes
18. 99jr- Frank Heckenast, Jr.
19. 89- Mike Spatola
20. 11- Pat Doar
21. C9- Steve Casebolt
22. B5- Steve Sheppard, Jr.
23. 83- Brandon Williams
24. 28- Dennis Erb, Jr.
25. 42t- Robert Kupsik
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