August 5, 2023 | By Mike Warren, WOO Late Model Series

Chris Madden nets third WOO Late Models win of 2023 at Cedar Lake

New Richmond, WI —  After fireworks entertained a packed Cedar Lake Speedway crowd, Chris Madden put on his own “Smokey” show.

Night two of the USA Nationals saw Madden return to his winning ways at Cedar Lake, thundering around Hudson O’Neal for the lead on the first lap and never looking back, claiming his third World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series win of the season.

Madden, who started second, wasted no time getting to the front as the field took the green. In one swift move, “Smokey” drove around the outside of O’Neal, the pole sitter, in Turns 1 and 2. Not even a caution with four laps to go could stop him from there as he cruised to the $6,000 win.

The triumph is Madden’s first since Memorial Day weekend at Sharon Speedway—a track similar in size to Cedar Lake. He said he’s thankful for the supporters who stuck by him as he fought to return to Victory Lane.

“We had a real good racecar all night,” Madden said. “We were just a tick free in Qualifying, and I wasn’t able to get off of (Turn) 4 to get a better lap. We had a great car in the Heat Race in traffic, and then we had a great race car in the race tonight.

“We’ve been down a little bit. But my guys have been working extremely hard. I want to thank my whole team and all my sponsors for sticking behind us, and we appreciate all of them.”

While he’s happy with the win, he’s also looking ahead to Saturday’s 100-lap finale—a race the Gray Court, SC driver won in 2019.

“I know this place pretty well,” Madden said. “A hundred laps here; it takes some driving. So, we’ll see.”

Madden also cut the deficit in the chase for the World of Outlaws Late Models championship. He’s currently second in points, 92 points behind Bobby Pierce.

O’Neal crossed the line second—his fourth straight World of Outlaws top five. He lost the spot to English in traffic, before gaining it back on the restart following the race’s only caution for Jonathan Davenport on Lap 21. Despite missing out on the win, O’Neal said he felt Rocket1 Racing is gaining momentum toward Saturday’s finale.

“We’re building, man,” O’Neal said. “We’re getting a little bit better. It’s been long couple of months, and it’s been a long road trip. As much as I feel like we’re getting better, we’re starting to find our way back to where we were a couple of months ago.

“Tonight, we were just one spot short. But I feel like we have a really good race car. If we just keep building, then maybe we’ll have something for them tomorrow night.”

English finished third, earning his sixth podium finish of 2023. While he was in second, the Benton, KY driver closed in on Madden with 10 laps to go, but never had a chance to wrestle the lead away from the #44.

“We would’ve liked to have been a little better,” English said. “If our line hadn’t went away, we would’ve been alright. I had like a traction strip right in the middle of the racetrack and it kind of faded at the end, and it bit me. When it was gone, my car was gone. So, I have to figure out a little bit better deal to run through when it’s black.”

Ricky Thornton Jr. finished fourth, and Brian Shirley rounded out the top five.

After Friday’s Feature, the top 16 drivers in USA Nationals points are locked into Saturday’s $50,000-to-win finale. Thornton and O’Neal will start on the front row for the 100-lap race after earning the most points over two nights.

Here are the 16 drivers locked into Saturday’s USA Nationals Feature:

1 Ricky Thornton Jr.
2 Hudson O’Neal
3 Tanner English
4 Brandon Sheppard
5 Bobby Pierce
6 Brian Shirley
7 Shannon Babb
8 Dennis Erb Jr.
9 Chris Madden
10 Cade Dillard
11 Daulton Wilson
12 Jonathan Davenport
13 Johnny Scott
14 Tyler Erb
15 Shane Clanton
16 Nick Hoffman

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws CASE Late Models return to Cedar Lake Speedway on Saturday, Aug. 5, for the final night of the 36th USA Nationals. Last Chance Showdowns and a Last Chance Qualifier will kick off the night before one driver earns $50,000 in the night’s 100-lap finale.

If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch every World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model race live on DIRTVision.?????

RESULTS

CASE Late Mode Feature (25 Laps): 1. 44-Chris Madden[2]; 2. 1-Hudson O'Neal[1]; 3. 96V-Tanner English[3]; 4. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[6]; 5. 3S-Brian Shirley[8]; 6. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[7]; 7. B5-Brandon Sheppard[11]; 8. 9-Nick Hoffman[12]; 9. 18D-Daulton Wilson[5]; 10. 32-Bobby Pierce[10]; 11. B1-Brent Larson[22]; 12. 18-Shannon Babb[4]; 13. 19R-Ryan Gustin[20]; 14. 97-Cade Dillard[13]; 15. 1ST-Johnny Scott[16]; 16. 1T-Tyler Erb[15]; 17. 7-Drake Troutman[17]; 18. 25-Shane Clanton[26]; 19. 40B-Kyle Bronson[25]; 20. 28S-Dustin Sorensen[19]; 21. 174-Ethan Dotson[9]; 22. 8-Kyle Strickler[18]; 23. 49-Jonathan Davenport[14]; 24. 12-Ashton Winger[23]; 25. 15-Nick Anvelink[24]; 26. 11-Gordy Gundaker[27]; 27. 30-Todd Cooney[28]; 28. 8M-Dillon McCowan[21]

Last Chance Showdown 1 (10 Laps): 1. 28S-Dustin Sorensen[1]; 2. B1-Brent Larson[2]; 3. 14G-Trevor Gundaker[3]; 4. 11-Gordy Gundaker[6]; 5. 55C-Chad Mahder[7]; 6. 7W-Ricky Weiss[4]; 7. 99-Sawyer Specht[10]; 8. 25F-Jason Feger[5]; 9. 14W-Dustin Walker[8]; 10. (DNS) 42S-Don Shaw

Last Chance Showdown 2 (10 Laps): 1. 19R-Ryan Gustin[1]; 2. 12-Ashton Winger[2]; 3. 40B-Kyle Bronson[4]; 4. 49T-Jake Timm[3]; 5. 7X-Jesse Glenz[7]; 6. 30-Todd Cooney[9]; 7. 11G-James Giossi[5]; 8. 25-Shane Clanton[8]; 9. 10-Paul Parker[10]; 10. 7H-Harry Hanson[6]

Last Chance Showdown 3 (10 Laps): 1. 8M-Dillon McCowan[2]; 2. 15-Nick Anvelink[5]; 3. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[4]; 4. 58-AJ Diemel[3]; 5. 90-Lance Matthees[7]; 6. 31-Kye Blight[6]; 7. 47-Danny Vang[8]; 8. 38-Thomas Hunziker[10]; 9. 42-Terry Casey[1]; 10. 6M-Jeff Massingill[9]

Case No.1 Engine Oil Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Hudson O'Neal[2]; 2. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[1]; 3. 97-Cade Dillard[3]; 4. 28S-Dustin Sorensen[4]; 5. 14G-Trevor Gundaker[6]; 6. 25F-Jason Feger[5]; 7. 55C-Chad Mahder[7]; 8. 42S-Don Shaw[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 96V-Tanner English[1]; 2. 174-Ethan Dotson[2]; 3. 1T-Tyler Erb[4]; 4. B1-Brent Larson[3]; 5. 7W-Ricky Weiss[7]; 6. 11-Gordy Gundaker[5]; 7. 14W-Dustin Walker[8]; 8. 99-Sawyer Specht[6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 18D-Daulton Wilson[2]; 2. B5-Brandon Sheppard[3]; 3. 7-Drake Troutman[1]; 4. 19R-Ryan Gustin[5]; 5. 49T-Jake Timm[6]; 6. 11G-James Giossi[7]; 7. 7X-Jesse Glenz[8]; 8. 30-Todd Cooney[4]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 18-Shannon Babb[1]; 2. 3S-Brian Shirley[4]; 3. 49-Jonathan Davenport[3]; 4. 12-Ashton Winger[2]; 5. 40B-Kyle Bronson[5]; 6. 7H-Harry Hanson[7]; 7. 25-Shane Clanton[6]; 8. 10-Paul Parker[8]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce[3]; 3. 1ST-Johnny Scott[2]; 4. 42-Terry Casey[5]; 5. 58-AJ Diemel[6]; 6. 15-Nick Anvelink[4]; 7. 90-Lance Matthees[7]; 8. 6M-Jeff Massingill[8]

Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 44-Chris Madden[3]; 2. 9-Nick Hoffman[4]; 3. 8-Kyle Strickler[1]; 4. 8M-Dillon McCowan[7]; 5. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[5]; 6. 31-Kye Blight[2]; 7. 47-Danny Vang[8]; 8. 38-Thomas Hunziker[6]

Qualifying Group A (2 Laps): 1. 28-Dennis Erb Jr, 00:13.692[4]; 2. 96V-Tanner English, 00:13.757[3]; 3. 7-Drake Troutman, 00:13.820[1]; 4. 1-Hudson O'Neal, 00:13.908[11]; 5. 174-Ethan Dotson, 00:13.949[18]; 6. 18D-Daulton Wilson, 00:13.981[20]; 7. 97-Cade Dillard, 00:14.010[23]; 8. B1-Brent Larson, 00:14.062[14]; 9. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 00:14.075[24]; 10. 28S-Dustin Sorensen, 00:14.110[5]; 11. 1T-Tyler Erb, 00:14.139[6]; 12. 30-Todd Cooney, 00:14.237[10]; 13. 25F-Jason Feger, 00:14.259[2]; 14. 11-Gordy Gundaker, 00:14.262[13]; 15. 19R-Ryan Gustin, 00:14.262[15]; 16. 14G-Trevor Gundaker, 00:14.289[7]; 17. 99-Sawyer Specht, 00:14.330[21]; 18. 49T-Jake Timm, 00:14.339[22]; 19. 55C-Chad Mahder, 00:14.342[17]; 20. 7W-Ricky Weiss, 00:14.369[19]; 21. 11G-James Giossi, 00:14.376[8]; 22. 42S-Don Shaw, 00:14.445[16]; 23. 14W-Dustin Walker, 00:14.467[9]; 24. 7X-Jesse Glenz, 00:14.689[12]

Qualifying Group B (2 Laps): 1. 18-Shannon Babb, 00:13.784[16]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr, 00:13.814[15]; 3. 8-Kyle Strickler, 00:13.880[1]; 4. 12-Ashton Winger, 00:13.882[11]; 5. 1ST-Johnny Scott, 00:13.900[19]; 6. 31-Kye Blight, 00:13.910[13]; 7. 49-Jonathan Davenport, 00:13.917[8]; 8. 32-Bobby Pierce, 00:13.954[23]; 9. 44-Chris Madden, 00:13.962[10]; 10. 3S-Brian Shirley, 00:14.081[6]; 11. 15-Nick Anvelink, 00:14.090[7]; 12. 9-Nick Hoffman, 00:14.107[18]; 13. 40B-Kyle Bronson, 00:14.111[2]; 14. 42-Terry Casey, 00:14.180[21]; 15. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck, 00:14.265[5]; 16. 25-Shane Clanton, 00:14.332[20]; 17. 58-AJ Diemel, 00:14.387[3]; 18. 38-Thomas Hunziker, 00:14.450[17]; 19. 7H-Harry Hanson, 00:14.607[14]; 20. 90-Lance Matthees, 00:14.632[4]; 21. 8M-Dillon McCowan, 00:14.688[12]; 22. 10-Paul Parker, 00:14.721[9]; 23. 6M-Jeff Massingill, 00:14.823[24]; 24. 47-Danny Vang, 00:15.059[22]

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LATE MODELS

A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 5E-Shane Edginton[1]; 2. 28S-Dustin Sorensen[5]; 3. 29F-Dave Flynn[7]; 4. 44-Darrell Nelson[11]; 5. 10S-Cole Searing[6]; 6. 70-Justin Ritchie[2]; 7. 28-Sam Mars[13]; 8. 85-John Kaanta[4]; 9. 10-Daniel Bargender[22]; 10. 10K-Shawn Kirwin[9]; 11. 7C-Jim Carlson[10]; 12. 22E-Kevin Eder[16]; 13. 22N-Nick Panitzke[12]; 14. 11-Pat Doar[15]; 15. 10CO-Charlie Olsen[14]; 16. 32*-Jon Tollakson[17]; 17. 71JR-Buddy Hanestad[21]; 18. 3-Brett Swedberg[23]; 19. 11H-Lance Hofer[18]; 20. 42S-Don Shaw[19]; 21. 34-Jordan Langer[3]; 22. (DNF) 51X-Nate Beyenhof[24]; 23. (DNF) 6M-Jeff Massingill[20]; 24. (DNF) 10C-Chad Olsen[8]

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 32*-Jon Tollakson[1]; 2. 42S-Don Shaw[2]; 3. 71JR-Buddy Hanestad[7]; 4. 3-Brett Swedberg[4]; 5. 21X-Joel Collins[3]; 6. C4-Ryan Corbett[6]; 7. 32T-Jordan Tollakson[8]; 8. 73-Larry Fitzsimmons[11]; 9. 1K-Lukas Koski[10]; 10. 50-Gavin Tarras[9]; 11. 8R-Virgil Randall[13]; 12. (DNF) 24M-Cody Martin[12]; 13. (DNF) 71W-Zach Wohlers[14]; 14. (DNF) 4-Justin Boomsma[5]; 15. (DNS) 32-Dustin Bluhm; 16. (DNS) 51-Randy Gullixson

B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 11H-Lance Hofer[5]; 2. 6M-Jeff Massingill[1]; 3. 10-Daniel Bargender[7]; 4. 51X-Nate Beyenhof[3]; 5. 1-Cory Mahder[6]; 6. 22-Brett Shafer[10]; 7. 31-Travis Budisalovich[8]; 8. 71X-Cory Tammen[12]; 9. 19J-Justin Green[4]; 10. 9-Steve Anderson[13]; 11. (DNF) 2-Dave Mass[11]; 12. (DNF) 65-Jake Miller[2]; 13. (DNF) 14-Robbie Johnson[14]; 14. (DNS) 24-Chuck Metzger; 15. (DNS) 42-Paul Niznik

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 34-Jordan Langer[1]; 2. 10K-Shawn Kirwin[3]; 3. 22E-Kevin Eder[2]; 4. 11-Pat Doar[7]; 5. 42S-Don Shaw[8]; 6. C4-Ryan Corbett[4]; 7. 32T-Jordan Tollakson[9]; 8. 22-Brett Shafer[10]; 9. 71X-Cory Tammen[5]; 10. 14-Robbie Johnson[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 70-Justin Ritchie[1]; 2. 7C-Jim Carlson[3]; 3. 10C-Chad Olsen[7]; 4. 10CO-Charlie Olsen[8]; 5. 19J-Justin Green[2]; 6. 1-Cory Mahder[6]; 7. 24-Chuck Metzger[5]; 8. (DNF) 32-Dustin Bluhm[4]; 9. (DNF) 42-Paul Niznik[9]; 10. (DNF) 51-Randy Gullixson[10]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 5E-Shane Edginton[1]; 2. 10S-Cole Searing[8]; 3. 44-Darrell Nelson[6]; 4. 21X-Joel Collins[2]; 5. 4-Justin Boomsma[3]; 6. 71JR-Buddy Hanestad[4]; 7. 31-Travis Budisalovich[9]; 8. 73-Larry Fitzsimmons[7]; 9. 8R-Virgil Randall[5]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 28S-Dustin Sorensen[3]; 2. 28-Sam Mars[2]; 3. 32*-Jon Tollakson[1]; 4. 6M-Jeff Massingill[5]; 5. 3-Brett Swedberg[6]; 6. 11H-Lance Hofer[7]; 7. 50-Gavin Tarras[9]; 8. 2-Dave Mass[4]; 9. 9-Steve Anderson[8]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 85-John Kaanta[2]; 2. 29F-Dave Flynn[4]; 3. 22N-Nick Panitzke[6]; 4. 51X-Nate Beyenhof[1]; 5. 65-Jake Miller[8]; 6. 10-Daniel Bargender[3]; 7. 1K-Lukas Koski[7]; 8. 24M-Cody Martin[5]; 9. 71W-Zach Wohlers[9]