Without a doubt, Chris Madden is one of the best Dirt Late Model drivers in the country. His record of success speaks for itself in terms of his numbers of feature wins and championships. One of the reasons the Gray Court, South Carolina native is so good at what he does is the fact that he knows how hard to push his car throughout the full length of a race so that he can get to the closing laps with enough speed to beat the field to the checkered flag.
That skill was clearly on display this past Sunday in the 33rd annual Blue-Gray 100 at the Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, South Carolina. Madden was the only driver to finish the race on the same four tires with which he had taken the green flag, and even with other competitors behind him on fresher rubber, he still managed to keep a cushion between himself and his pursuers late in the going.
It was the ninth time over the course of the 48-year-old driver’s career that he had won the Blue-Gray 100 and it was his third consecutive triumph in that historic event. Following the race, the driver known as ‘Smokey’ described the technique of saving tires while still holding on to a lead.
“I just try to maintain the best I can,” Madden explained. “I try to get my car very balanced so that I’m neutral and able to keep my tires under me. I try to really stay away from lapped traffic. I passed a few cars then I caught a bunch and I would just let them go and get back away from me. I was trying to keep a gap there so that if I had to pick up the pace, I could. I just didn’t want to be pinched behind somebody and then let them guys run up on me and make me have to make a move. The key to it is having a good feel and knowing your car and having a good balance.”
The veteran racer found a great deal of satisfaction in the fact that his tires were still in good enough shape at the end of the feature to hold off those who had pitted earlier to bolt on a new right rear.
“I still had a lot left in the tank there,” he proclaimed. “I just didn’t want to have to use it because I knew that the harder I ran the more tire I would use. We just kept a little cushion there and made sure we had some tire left at the end of the race because I figured that we would have a few cautions there with ten-to-go like they always do. I just wanted to make sure that I had enough to keep my buffer between me and second place if I needed to. We had a good car tonight.”
During the second half of the season, the No. 44 team made a switch to Longhorn Chassis and the results have been outstanding. A $49,000 victory in a Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series race at East Alabama Motor Speedway was followed by three consecutive podium finishes against stellar fields in the World of Outlaws-sanctioned World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. The win in Gaffney put a strong exclamation point on Madden’s 2023 campaign.
Needless to say, he is pleased with how his team has acclimated to the new car and he is confident about his chances for success in 2024.
“It absolutely does, 100%,” Madden replied when asked if his recent efforts give him a positive outlook for next season. “My guys do a great job and we’ve got two really good race cars right now. We've got a good program and good people and good sponsors behind us. That’s what it takes to win. This is not a one person operation here. In my program, it takes all of us. We try to do the best we can do and it showed tonight. It ain’t all about me, I’m lucky and blessed to get to sit in the seat of that race car. I enjoy what I do.”
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