"I felt the tire going flat under the caution. I'm not sure if I ran over something to cause it to go flat, or if it was just worn out. I don't know, but we were lucky to hold Don O'Neal off," said Madden in victory lane, "I have to thank my crew; this Bloomquist car ran terrific all day." Madden claimed a sixth place finish in the afternoon race won by Jonathan Davenport.
"It was a little tedious there in traffic; our car was good getting into the corners, but a little tight off of them. I thought I had left the door open a little bit for whoever was behind me," continued Madden. "With all the laps on the track today, you just have to be patient."
O'Neal started third, moved into second on the opening lap and stayed there to record a runner-up finish in his second start for the team.
"Our car was good all night," he said. "I was hoping he would slide up the track enough that I could pass him. He held his line well throughout the entire race. On that last restart, I got caught napping. I was looking at his tire going flat and they restarted the race. That may have given him enough of an advantage that held up in those final few laps, congrats to him and his team."
Earl Pearson, Jr, backed up his third place finish in the afternoon race, and enjoyed another podium finish in Friday night's 50 lapper.
"It's been a fantastic day for Longhorn Chassis, we got a win with Davenport and tonight to run third with these guys, it is a confidence boost for tomorrow night's race," he said.
Completing the top ten were Vic Coffey, Steve Francis, Eddie Carrier Jr., Jimmy Owens, and Kenny Pettyjohn.
In preliminary action, Jonathan Davenport set the overall Georgia Boot Fast Time (Group B) amongst the ¬34 entrants, with a lap of 15.041 seconds. Chris Madden set the fastest time in Group A with a time of 15.072 seconds. Chris Madden, Don O'Neal, Earl Pearson Jr. and Billy Moyer Jr. won their respective heat races. Brady Smith and Jonathan Davenport won their respective B-Mains.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Golden Isles Speedway
Chris Madden (center) held on despite a deflating tire to score the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory Friday night at Golden Isles Speedway. Don O'Neal (left) finished in second, with Earl Pearson, Jr. (right) in third. / Photo: Rick Schwalli
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