Submitted by Ted Austad
Photo credits: Francis Hauke
(Senoia, GA – May 6, 2018) Chris ‘Smokey’ Madden ran flag to flag to claim the victory during the 4th Annual Billy Clanton Classic on Saturday night at Senoia Raceway. The Gray Court, South Carolina hot shoe saw a late race charge by Winston’s Michael Page fall short as won the event by just over a second ahead of Page and Chickamauga’s Dale McDowell. The race was sanctioned by the World of Outlaws Craftsman Dirt Late Model Series.
“Man what an awesome place,” Madden said after earning the $10,000 pay day. “And what an awesome race to come here and win. Shane’s like best friends out here on this tour, and he’s been so kind to me, him and his family. I just want to thank them from the bottom of our hearts for this race. It means a lot to me (to win it).”
Madden joined Zebulon’s Shane Clanton (2015 and 2016) and Illinois champion Brandon Sheppard (2017) as winner’s of this special race honoring the late Georgia Auto Racing Hall of Famer Billy Clanton, Shane’s father.
Michael Page had climbed through traffic to nab second behind Madden just before the halfway mark of the 50-lap main event. But, Madden kept lapped cars between he and Page causing the aggressor to slow a few too many times to catch the high side hustler. McDowell charged from his seventeenth starting spot to gain third place before the checkered flag fell.
“I should’ve qualified better,” said McDowell afterwards. “Hats off to the Masseys and everyone who gets the track ready…I was able to race up through there. It was a lot of fun. I just wish I would have had more laps and then I maybe could’ve gotten up there and raced with those guys.”
Tennessee’s Mike Marlar dropped to fourth after a strong opening to the night starting on the outside pole. Evans’ Brandon Overton claimed his best finish of the season on the World of Outlaws Tour claiming the fifth place spot. Ohio’s Devin Moran was sixth followed by former race winner Shane Clanton in seventh.
Familiar faces returned to victory lane after races on the event undercard. Senoia’s Clint ‘Cat Daddy’ Smith won his fourth Crate Late Model feature of the season while Alabama’s Dylan Knowles notched his sixth victory in the Late Model Sportsman division main. Brooks’ Christopher Clanton won an exciting Legends Car race as the grandson of Billy Clanton gave the family a trip to victory lane on this special night.
Racing action returns to Senoia Raceway on Saturday night, May 19th, when the Southern All-Stars Tour makes it’s first stop of the season at the ‘South’s Baddest Bull Ring’. The event will include racing in all weekly divisions including Super Late Models, Limited Late Models, Crate Late Models, Late Model Sportsman, Griffin Hose & Hydraulic Chargers, Hobby, Bomber, Mini and Hot Shots.
The pits will open at 4pm this weekend with the grandstands opening at 5pm. Hot laps and qualifying will begin at 6:15pm with racing at 7:30pm.
For additional information, event schedule, ticket prices and more, visit the track website at www.senoiaraceway.com or call the speedway at 770.599.6161.
Official Results – Saturday, May 5, 2018
Craftsman World of Outlaws (Feature): 1-Chris Madden, Gray Court, SC 2-Michael Page, Winston 3-Dale McDowell, Chickamauga 4-Mike Marlar, Winfield, TN 5-Brandon Overton, Evans 6-Devin Moran, Dresden, OH 7-Shane Clanton, Zebulon 8-Chase Junghans, Manhatten, KS 9-Rick Eckert, York, PA 10-Brent Larson, Lake Elmo, MN 11-Brandon Sheppard, New Berlin, IL 12-Chris Ferguson, Mt. Holly, NC 13-Morgan Bagley, Longview, TX 14-Jason Croft, Woodstock 15-David Breazeale, Starkville, MS 16-Ray Cook, Brasstown, NC 17-Mason Massey, Douglasville 18-Timothy Culp, West Monroe, LA 19-Zach Leonhardi, Cartersville 20-Austin Smith, Rome 21-Blake Spencer, St. Augustine, FL 22-Donald McIntosh, Dawsonville 23-Will Roland, Jasper 24-Tyler Erb, New Waverly, TX Total Entries: 32
Crate Late Models (Feature): 1-Clint Smith, Senoia 2-Monte Skinner, Saraland, AL 3-Will Herrington, Cochran 4-Dennis Lykins, Jr., Sharpsburg 5-Woodrow Mullis, Pearson 6-Jamie Maurice, McDonough 7-Marty Massey, Winston 8-Mark Page, Winston 9-Wayne Harbin, Sharpsburg 10-Dow Kirkland, Lake Spivey 11-Ahnna Parkhurst, Evans 12-Josh Copeland, McDonough 13-Chase Baker, LaGrange 14-Tina Johnson, Senoia 15-Michael Queen, Cartersville 16-John Holcomb, Griffin 17-Cody Martin, Cochran
Late Model Sportsman (Feature): 1-Dylan Knowles, Lanett, AL 2-Wiley McDaniel, Byron 3-Cory Compton, Macon 4-Keith Fields, Griffin 5-McKenna Nelms, Newnan 6-Billy Stevenson, Locust Grove 7-Richard Dale, Winston 8-Morgan Alexander, Locust Grove 9-Johnny Stinchcomb, Newnan 10-Kayla Boswell, Winston 11-Ryan King, Anniston, AL 12-Randy Cornwell, Fayetteville 13-Dave McWilliams, Brooks 14-Bobby Mills, Griffin 15-Shane Payton, Newnan 16-Ted Minnix, McDonough 17-Levin Campbell, Jackson
Legends Cars (Feature): 1-Christopher Clanton, Brooks 2-Chris Wilson 3-LJ Klemons, Meansville 4-Jake Owens, TN 5-Adam Roberson 6-Adam Cochran 7-Miranda Meredith, Locust Grove 8-Hunter Burns
