MOCOC, S.C. — Saturday night’s Drydene Xtreme DIRTcar Series event might have been the finale of the winter tour’s inaugural season, but it featured a few significant firsts.
The first visit to Modoc Raceway, the first Xtreme Series championship title awarded to Chris Madden and the very first feature win in a super late model for Rum Runner Racing’s newest pilot — Pearson Lee Williams.
Williams drove a great race, fending off heavy pressure from the hungry challengers behind him that included the likes of tour winner Zack Mitchell, Casey Roberts, regional favorite Brandon Overton and Joshua Bishop. Madden kept it straight and stayed out of trouble to clinch the inaugural Xtreme Series championship, worth $20,000, on the back of a 12th-place finish.
“It is definitely a good accomplishment, kicking off the season with a championship on a new series is pretty awesome,” Madden said. “We’d just like to thank the guys for putting up a series for us to run through the winter around home to make some decent money and keep us going.”
With two wins in series action over the five completed races, Madden was the only repeat winner. Clinching the title by nine points over Ross Bailes, Madden also took a moment to thank his crew at Scott Bloomquist Racing and sponsors at Drydene Performance Products for their contributions to his success.
“Without those guys, it’s impossible for me. It’s not just about me, it’s a team effort here. As long as everybody pulls their weight and plays their part, we’ve got a pretty dominant team here,” Madden said.
An overjoyed Williams commented on his big accomplishment after the race by saying, “It’s kind of a dream. This is my first year in a super late model, never raced it before. It’s different, but I can’t stress it enough… I feel I have the best crew, the best car owners. They give me the best. Hard work pays off.”
Zack Mitchell finished second.
“I’m proud of all that. We’re a little smaller team, don’t have quite the resources these other guys have. I’m not making excuses, but to run with those guys I’ve watched race my entire life, it means the world,” Mitchell said.
Casey Roberts, Brandon Overton and Joshua Bishop rounded out the top five.
Bailes clinched the runner-up spot in points by a single marker on the back of his eighth-place Feature finish, earning him the $10,000 points fund check.
Williams, Madden, Mitchell, Trent Ivey, Kyle Strickler and Tim Vance were all recipients of $1,000 bonuses for perfect attendance throughout the series.
The finish:
Feature (40 Laps): 1. 2W-Pearson Lee Williams [2][$7,000]; 2. 57M-Zack Mitchell [3][$3,500]; 3. 101-Casey Roberts [4][$1,700]; 4. 76-Brandon Overton [6][$1,400]; 5. J1-Joshua Bishop [5][$1,200]; 6. 24D-Michael Brown [9][$1,000]; 7. 8-Kyle Strickler [14][$800]; 8. 87-Ross Bailes [7][$700]; 9. 17M-Dale McDowell [19][$600]; 10. 10-Scott Shirey [21][$550]; 11. 23-Ahnna Parkhurst [24][$500]; 12. 0M-Chris Madden [16][$500]; 13. 11-Brandon Carpenter [22][$500]; 14. 17V-Tim Vance [23][$500]; 15. 1-Brent Dixon [12][$500]; 16. 26JR-Jimmy Sharpe [13][$500]; 17. 31-Tyler Millwood [11][$500]; 18. 77-Brian Connor [18][$500]; 19. 42K-Cla Knight [17][$500]; 20. 88-Trent Ivey [20][$500]; 21. 22-Chris Ferguson [10][$500]; 22. 2X-John Henderson [1][$500]; 23. 9-Johnny Pursley [8][$500]; 24. 49-Jonathan Davenport [15][$500]; 25. 5-Mark Whitener [25][$500] Hard Charger: 23-Ahnna Parkhurst[+13]