Thursday March 28th, 2024 7:34AM

Clanton, Madden score WoO LMS victories at Merritt

By Series PR

Shane Clanton and Chris Madden both claimed World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series wins over the weekend at Merritt Speedway in Lake City, Michigan.

Clanton was the winner on Saturday night, while Madden’s victory came on Sunday.

On Saturday night, Clanton, who hails from Zebulon, Georgia, waited for just the right time to make his move on race long leader Madden. The perfect time just so happened to be on the very last lap as the pair exited turn two on the 3/8-mile.

“Me and Chris have been driving up and down the road together and he’s been at my father-in-law’s (Ron Davies) the last week, so when you can race your buddies as clean as we did, and as fun as it was, it’s a good deal,” said Clanton.

Madden held a solid one-second lead over Clanton and the field for most of the 30-lap event. His steady lead was wiped clean with nine laps to go after a caution fell for Chub Frank, who was running third at the time, as he spun around in turn two.

Headed back to green in a single-file restart, Madden led the way in front of Clanton, Devin Moran, Brandon Sheppard, and Morgan Bagley. With the wave of the green flag, Madden hugged to the bottom of the racetrack and Clanton continued to run on the topside.

Madden defended his lead, but with two laps to go only 0.349 stood between the pair. Clanton was able to make the pass for the lead on lap 29 of the 30-lap feature. The pair only finished 0.182 seconds apart.
Moran finished in third, followed by Sheppard in fourth and Bagley in fifth.

On Sunday night, Madden found his way to victory lane and a $15,000 payday after dodging an almost repeat performance by Clanton from the previous night.

The race unfolded like a two-part episode staring Clanton and Madden, who took both feature events down to the wire.

With the drop of the green flag, Clanton held on to the lead until lap 11 when Brandon Sheppard appeared on the scene. Sheppard’s run was short lived as Clanton regained control on lap 18. Madden was next to make his move and on lap 51 he found his way to front of the pack.

As the race boiled down to the final five laps, Madden’s steady lead of more than one-second began to wavier as Clanton began to slice through lapped traffic. While Clanton was gaining ground, the Gray Court, South Carolina native was trying every which way to escape.

“I had got in three and four a little hot there,” said Madden. “The guy I was trying to lap, I thought he was going to the top and he decided he was going to the bottom. I had to get on the binders hard so it left the door wide open for Shane. If he would’ve been right there he would’ve been able to make the pass again.”

Luckily for Madden, Clanton was unable to capitalize on this mistake despite his best efforts.

“He would’ve been mad if I passed him on the last lap again,” said Clanton. “Overall, we had a good car and it was a good race. It was just whoever could get through lapped traffic the best.”

Sheppard settled for third, with Rick Eckert and Devin Moran rounding out the top five

The next World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series event will be at Lernerville Speedway for the Working Man 50 on September 2 followed by a shootout at Selinsgrove Speedway the following night. For more information, visit WoOLMS.com.

World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series
Merritt Speedway – Lake City, MI
Race Results – Aug. 26-27, 2017

Saturday Night
1. 25- Shane Clanton
2. 44- Chris Madden
3. 9- Devin Moran
4. 1- Brandon Sheppard
5. 14m- Morgan Bagley
6. B1- Brent Larson
7. 7- Rick Eckert
8. 27- Eric Spangler
9. 12- Chad Foster
10. 6m- Dona Marcoullier
11. 99jr- Frank Heckenast, Jr.
12. 91- Tyler Erb
13. M14- Brandon Thirlby
14. 2- Travis Stemler
15. 18- Eric Wells
16. 87- Rich Neiser
17. 79- Nick Kurtz
18. 25B- Chris Brindley
19. 1*- Chub Frank
20. 1won- Michael Luberda
21. 1r- Jeep Van Wormer
22. 21- Logan Arntz
23. 33- Bob Timmer
24. 51- Chad Finley

Sunday Night
1. 44- Chris Madden
2. 25- Shane Clanton
3. 1- Brandon Sheppard
4. 7- Rick Eckert
5. 9- Devin Moran
6. M14- Brandon Thirlby
7. B1- Brent Larson
8. 14m- Morgan Bagley
9. 6m- Dona Marcoullier
10. 1*- Chub Frank
11. 27- Eric Spangler
12. 91- Tyler Erb
13. 12- Chad Foster
14. 18- Eric Wells
15. 2- Travis Stemler
16. 99jr- Frank Heckenast, Jr.
17. 51- Chad Finley
18. 1won- Michael Luberda
19. 87- Rich Neiser
20. 31- Paul Stubber
21. 4T- Andrew Terrill
22. 16- Mike Staszak
23. 25B- Chris Brindley
24. 21H- Bob Hammar

  • Associated Categories: NASCAR News, Other Motorsports
  • Associated Tags: motorsports, Auto Racing, Dirt Track, Stock Car, Short Track, Dirt Late Model, WoO Late Model Tour
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