Chris Madden on his way to a $20,000 payday at Magnolia Motor Speedway. (Chris McDill photo)
Columbus, Mississippi (09/24/16) – Chris Madden added his name to an elite group on Saturday night by taking the $20,000 top prize in the 2016 running of the Magnolia State Cotton Pickin’ 100 presented by Country Pleasin’ Sausage at Magnolia Motor Speedway.
“I knew we had a really good hot rod tonight, and I just had to bide my time early,” said Madden. “Once we got to the lead our car just kept getting better, and we were able to get the win.”
Moments after picking the ceremonious cotton in victory lane Madden concluded by saying, “It means a lot to win this race in only our second time to come here. We’ll take this $20,000 tonight and hopefully win one at East Alabama Motor Speedway on the way home tomorrow. There’s so many sponsors that help make this possible, and I want to thank them all for getting me to victory lane tonight.”
Shane Clanton and Garrett Alberson brought the field to the green flag for the 100-lap affair. Clanton shot to the lead as the race went green with Kyle Bronson, Alberson, and Jack Sullivan in tow.
By lap 2 Sullivan moved up to the runner-up position as he set his sights on Clanton.
The first of five cautions in the finale fell on lap 7 for Brandon Overton, who slowed with mechanical issues. He would duck into the pits before rejoining the tail of the field.
The restart found the front runners dicing things up as Clanton continued to set the pace.
Lapped traffic became a factor on lap 20 as Jack Sullivan kept Clanton within striking distance for the lead. Lap 25 found Sullivan and Clanton going door-to-door for the top spot. Sullivan would pull alongside of Clanton on multiple occasions but was unable to complete the pass.
A lap 28 restart saw 12th-starting Chris Madden on the move as he raced into the 3rd position behind Clanton and Sullivan. Action got exciting at the front of the pack over the next several laps with Sullivan initially challenging Clanton for the lead before Madden overtook Sullivan on lap 34.
Following a lap 35 caution Kyle Bronson catapulted into the 2nd position and four laps later he executed a crossover move on Shane Clanton to take the lead entering turn 1.
Bronson held the lead until lap 52, when Chris Madden took control at the front of the pack. Madden would become the third and final leader of the event.
Madden quickly extended his advantage at the front of the field, and not even a caution with just fourteen laps remaining could keep him out of victory lane at the 3/8-mile oval. He crossed the finish line 1.434 seconds ahead of his nearest challenger.
10th-starting Dale McDowell moved into the 2nd spot late in the race with Mississippi’s David Breazeale scoring a career-best 3rd place finish in the crown jewel. Billy Moyer and Morgan Bagley completed the Top 5 finishers.
Heath Beard only led one lap but it was the most important one in the Factory Stock feature. Logan Lux led from the drop of the green flag, but a late-race caution set up a two-lap dash to the checkers. Heading down the backstretch on the final lap Heath Beard shot past for the lead with Jason Byrd in tow. Beard led the final lap to take the victory over Byrd, Lux, Lewis and Carl Kilgore.
The NeSmith Chevrolet Crate Late Model feature featured fast and furious action in the opening laps. Scott Dedwylder jumped to the lead from the pole position and led the first two laps before Kyle Bronson took control on lap 2, when Dedwylder slipped high exiting turn 4.
Bronson, Justin McRee, and Dedwylder battled for the top spot over the next several laps. McCree Led lap 13 with a slider but Bronson took over entering turn 1. Bad luck bit McRee on lap 14, when contact with an infield tire ripped part of the nose off his car and allowed Dedwylder to retake the runner-up spot. McRee would continue with noticeable front-end damage.
Dedwylder took the lead from Bronson just past the halfway mark before Bronson reclaimed the lead on lap 35. Hunter Carroll moved up to 2nd in the closing laps but couldn’t catch Bronson as the Brandon, Florida driver took the $3,000 top prize. Carroll, Jeremy Shaw, Scott Dedwylder, and Josh Banes completed the Top 5 finishers.
The Mississippi Street Stock Series feature went caution, and 15-year-old Spencer Hughes wired the field in the caution-free event to claim the $2,000 victory. Rodney Wing, Johnny Stokes, Lee Ray, and Michael Blade completed the Top 5 finishers.
Magnolia Motor Speedway will return to action on October 6-8 with the annual Fall 40, which will be highlighted by a $5,000-to-win affair. For more information, please visit www.MagnoliaDirt.com .
September 24, 2016 Results
Magnolia State Cotton Pickin’ 100
Super Late Model Feature (62 Entries)
1)Chris Madden 2)Dale McDowell 3)David Breazeale 4)Billy Moyer 5)Morgan Bagley 6)Timothy Culp 7)Shane Clanton 8)Eric Wells 9)Jack Sullivan 10)Eric Cooley 11)Kyle Bronson 12)Jimmy Cliburn 13)Dylan Ames 14)Garrett Alberson 15)Kyle Beard 16)Wendell Wallace 17)Tanner Kellick 18)Tyler Millwood 19)Austin Smith 20)Jesse Stovall 22)Brandon Overton 23)Jamie Tollison 24)Chandler Petty
Super Late Model B-Main #1 (Top 2 Transfer)
1)Eric Cooley 2)Tyler Millwood 3)Howard Means 4)Ray Cook 5)Chad Thrash 6)Tom Maddox 7)Josh Adkins 8)Spencer Hughes 9)Rick Rickman 10)Herbert McClendon 11)Josh Putnam 12)Jake Davis
Super Late Model B-Main #2 (Top 2 Transfer)
1)Tanner Kellick 2)Jimmy Cliburn 3)Hunter Rasdon 4)Eric Hickerson 5)Jason Croft 6)Clay Fisher 7)Leon Henderson 8)Phillips Gibson 9)Zachary McMillan
Super Late Model B-Main #3 (Top 2 Transfer)
1)Kyle Beard 2)Jamie Tollison 3)B.J. Robinson 4)Blake Spencer 5)Billy Franklin 6)Ray McElhiney 7)Brian Ligon 8)Patrick Michel 9)Keith House 10)Michael Arnold 11)Shay Knight 12)Brett White
Crate Late Model Feature (48 Entries)
1)Kyle Bronson 2)Hunter Carroll 3)Jeremy Shaw 4)Scott Dedwylder 5)Josh Banes 6)Neil Baggett 7)Tyler Burgess 8)Cliff Ross 9)Jamey Boland 10)Mark Dodson 11)Chad McCool 12)Nick Thrash 13)Tim Dees 14)Evan Ellis 15)Randall Beckwith 16)Doug Sanchangrin 17)Steve Russell 18)Marcus Minga 19)Blake Spencer 20)Kyle Shaw 21)Grant Pearl 22)Justin McRee 23)Troy English 24)Monte Skinner
Mississippi State Street Stock Series (32 Entries)
1)Spencer Hughes 2)Rodney Wing 3)Johnny Stokes 4)Lee Ray 5)Michael Blade 6)TK King 7)Ronald Dunn 8)Justin McRee 9)Michael Williams 10)Rick Rickman 11)Dewayne Estes 12)Terry Taylor 13)Matt Byram 14)John Smart 15)Brian Rickman 16)Kevin Whittington 17)Ben Keith 18)Brad Ware 19)E.J. Carter 20)Brandon Hardin 21)Chase Pennington 22)Doug Dodd 23)Brent Mitchell 24)Gary Cooper
Factory Stock Feature (22 Entries)
1)Heath Beard 2)Jason Byrd 3)Logan Lux 4)Jeff Lewis 5)Carl Kilgore 6)John Beard 7)John Johnson 8)Brian Jones 9)Scooter Ware 10)Jamie Rochell 11)Brandon Whitley 12)Josh Jennings 13)Tyler Castle 14)Nick Stoop 15)James Stewart 16)James Smith 17)Colby Taylor 18)Zack Shelton