Southern Nationals held at Wythe Raceway

By JUSTIN GREER/Correspondent

The O’Reilly Southern National Series rolled into town Monday night for its first race of a 10-race schedule spanning 13 nights.
Twenty-nine drivers were on hand from nine different states. Super Street, Pro Mini, Hornets, and Ucars were also in action.
Chris Madden of Gaffney, S.C. was the fastest qualifier, which locked him in to the 35 lap feature along with the others top 10 qualifiers. The remaining 12 spots were set by to last chance races and provisionals from last year. Michael Smith, Rogersville Tenn. won the first consolation. Chris Meadows of Crab Orchard W.Va., picked up the win in the second consi.
Madden led all 35 laps en route to his seventh Southern Nation victory. Madden was challenged on a couple of restarts.  Dennis Franklin also of Gaffney was Madden’s biggest threat to the lead. 
Several times throughout the race drivers went three wide. Racing happened from front to back all night. Franklin raced his way to a second place finish after starting seventh. Brandon Kinzer of Allen Kentucky ran a strong race, but did not have enough laps to challenge for the lead. Shon Flanary of Church Hill, Tenn., was the fourth place finisher. Maryville, Tenn. driver Tommy Kerr rounded out the top five.
The Super Streets, sponsored by Cook’s Clean Center, win went to Eddie Bentley of Sugar Grove. Rural Retreat’s Mike Keith was right there the whole race, though. Keith, who won Saturday night, was looking to repeat the victory. Keith is currently nine points out of the lead. R.K. Dix of Rural Retreat posted a third place finish with Chad Hale, Wytheville, and Keith Griffitts, Sugar Grove, rounding out the top five.
Brandon Farris, Marion, picked up his second win in the Pro Mini race. Farris moved into the lead on lap three and from there did not look back. He looked untouchable. R.K. Dix tried to track him down, but could not mount a run on him. Doug Monday, Max Meadows, and J.R. Davis, Crockett, came across the start finish line side by side with Monday edging out Davis by about a foot. Jason Powers, Marion, added another top five to his season with a fifth place finish.
Duke Bare, Meadowview, won the 20 lap Ucar race. Jake Eaton, Bland, pulled out a second place finish, adding to his points lead over Abingdon’s Pie Short who finished fourth. Chris Martin, Troutdale, finished third for the second race in a row.
The Pepsi Hornets saw a first time winner as Rural Retreat’s Clark Cooper picked up career victory number one. Cody Umberger, also of Rural Retreat, tried to take it away but just could not complete a pass. Both cars were very equally match and both drivers drove a very clean race. Cole Dutton, Chilhowie, rallied back to a third place finish after experiencing some mechanical problems last race.
Complete results are available online at WytheRaceWay.com