World Of Outlaws Late Model SeriesAug 5, 2017 by Dan Beaver
Madden Sweeps Friday's Cedar Lake Program And Turns Attention To Saturday
Madden Sweeps Friday's Cedar Lake Program And Turns Attention To Saturday
Chris Madden swept preliminaries and a feature on Friday in preparation for an even bigger show Saturday night at Cedar Lake Speedway in the World of Outlaws Late Model Series.
A three-day feature for the Late Model Outlaws was condensed to two after a heavy downpour on Thursday night forced the World of Outlaws Late Model Series to run an entire day's program on Friday before starting the preliminary events for USA Nationals at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, WI.
Chris Madden was the big winner and swept the night by dominating the postponed events. He grabbed quick time in qualifying, beat Scott Bloomquist to win his heat race, and took advantage of his pole starting position to win the feature.
On Thursday, Madden assessed his chances for the following night.
"This is one of the biggest races we go to all year -- I mean, it's 50 grand," Madden said. "We're excited to be up here, and we're happy to be back. We really like this place. Tonight, Mother Nature gave us a mud bowl, but we're looking forward to tomorrow."
Early rain on Friday afternoon briefly threatened another postponement, but the track crew worked quickly to work in the surface and get the program under way.
The feature started with Frank Heckenast Jr. launching from sixth to second in the first two laps. Heckenast never had quite enough to catch Madden, but he cut the lead to 0.198 seconds by lap 15.
The first caution came on lap 17 as Tyler Erb slowed on the frontstretch. The restart ended Heckenast's momentum as he chose the low line, which gave the upper groove to Billy Moyer.
Moyer capitalized on this decision and stole second place on the restart.
Moyer and Heckenast battled for the next four laps, and even while they raced side-by-side, they gained on Madden. The groove widened out to allow points leader Brandon Sheppard to move in on the battle, passing Shane Clanton and Bloomquist on lap 21. Sheppard stole the third position from Heckenast on the following lap.
Comfortably in third, Sheppard went to work on Moyer next. With three laps remaining, he had Madden in his sights and briefly took the lead on lap 27. Madden grabbed it back before a final caution brought by Rick Eckert slowing on the frontstretch forced a green-white-checkered finish.
Madden took full advantage of the single-file restart and pulled away from the field. Sheppard and Moyer were left to fight over second. Sheppard lost his momentum as he slipped too high in the turn four going into the final lap. Moyer was able to secure second.
"I just had to pack my line in on the caution and let 'er eat," Sheppard said. "That's all that I could do. It was a little too treacherous up there, and then we lost our brakes there toward the end. I don't think we could've got around Chris up there… but you know from where we started and how we heat raced, I'll take the third-place finish."
Once Thursday's activities were in the books, drivers and crews quickly got to work in their pits to make adjustments to the car to prepare for the late-night hot laps, qualification and heat races for Saturday night's 100-lap feature.
After their podium finishes, Moyer and Heckenast talked about the strategy and fatigue that the teams were facing.
"It's a lot harder when you have to run all night," Moyer said. "You just have to survive the thing and then get back and tune it some more."
Heckenast said, "I had nothing to lose but with [preliminary for the] $50,000-to-win tonight, I tried to ease off a little bit there [in the feature]. We had a big night tonight leading up to tomorrow so you can't really put it all on the line like you want to."
Saturday night's USA Nationals Dash, which will decide the first eight positions in the crown jewel event, will include the top two drivers from each of Friday's four heats. The dash will feature Clanton, Jimmy Owens, Eric Wells, and Kent Robinson in the odd positions and who advanced by winning their respective heats. Heckenast, Brian Shirley, Mike Marlar, and Don O'Neal advanced by finishing second in their heats and will start in the even positions.
Top 10 Finishers
1. Chris Madden
2. Billy Moyer
3. Brandon Sheppard
4. Frank Heckenast Jr.
5. Shane Clanton
6. Scott Bloomquist
7. Devin Moran
8. Darrell Lanigan
9. Dale McDowell
10. Morgan Bagley
Chris Madden was the big winner and swept the night by dominating the postponed events. He grabbed quick time in qualifying, beat Scott Bloomquist to win his heat race, and took advantage of his pole starting position to win the feature.
On Thursday, Madden assessed his chances for the following night.
"This is one of the biggest races we go to all year -- I mean, it's 50 grand," Madden said. "We're excited to be up here, and we're happy to be back. We really like this place. Tonight, Mother Nature gave us a mud bowl, but we're looking forward to tomorrow."
Early rain on Friday afternoon briefly threatened another postponement, but the track crew worked quickly to work in the surface and get the program under way.
The feature started with Frank Heckenast Jr. launching from sixth to second in the first two laps. Heckenast never had quite enough to catch Madden, but he cut the lead to 0.198 seconds by lap 15.
The first caution came on lap 17 as Tyler Erb slowed on the frontstretch. The restart ended Heckenast's momentum as he chose the low line, which gave the upper groove to Billy Moyer.
Moyer capitalized on this decision and stole second place on the restart.
Moyer and Heckenast battled for the next four laps, and even while they raced side-by-side, they gained on Madden. The groove widened out to allow points leader Brandon Sheppard to move in on the battle, passing Shane Clanton and Bloomquist on lap 21. Sheppard stole the third position from Heckenast on the following lap.
Comfortably in third, Sheppard went to work on Moyer next. With three laps remaining, he had Madden in his sights and briefly took the lead on lap 27. Madden grabbed it back before a final caution brought by Rick Eckert slowing on the frontstretch forced a green-white-checkered finish.
Madden took full advantage of the single-file restart and pulled away from the field. Sheppard and Moyer were left to fight over second. Sheppard lost his momentum as he slipped too high in the turn four going into the final lap. Moyer was able to secure second.
"I just had to pack my line in on the caution and let 'er eat," Sheppard said. "That's all that I could do. It was a little too treacherous up there, and then we lost our brakes there toward the end. I don't think we could've got around Chris up there… but you know from where we started and how we heat raced, I'll take the third-place finish."
Once Thursday's activities were in the books, drivers and crews quickly got to work in their pits to make adjustments to the car to prepare for the late-night hot laps, qualification and heat races for Saturday night's 100-lap feature.
After their podium finishes, Moyer and Heckenast talked about the strategy and fatigue that the teams were facing.
"It's a lot harder when you have to run all night," Moyer said. "You just have to survive the thing and then get back and tune it some more."
Heckenast said, "I had nothing to lose but with [preliminary for the] $50,000-to-win tonight, I tried to ease off a little bit there [in the feature]. We had a big night tonight leading up to tomorrow so you can't really put it all on the line like you want to."
Saturday night's USA Nationals Dash, which will decide the first eight positions in the crown jewel event, will include the top two drivers from each of Friday's four heats. The dash will feature Clanton, Jimmy Owens, Eric Wells, and Kent Robinson in the odd positions and who advanced by winning their respective heats. Heckenast, Brian Shirley, Mike Marlar, and Don O'Neal advanced by finishing second in their heats and will start in the even positions.
Top 10 Finishers
1. Chris Madden
2. Billy Moyer
3. Brandon Sheppard
4. Frank Heckenast Jr.
5. Shane Clanton
6. Scott Bloomquist
7. Devin Moran
8. Darrell Lanigan
9. Dale McDowell
10. Morgan Bagley