FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 6, 2014
_______________________________________
Chris Madden Captures Fifth Southern Nationals Series Championship by SNS/Chris Tilley
BRASSTOWN, NC (August 6) - After signing into Saturday Night's tour finale at Tazewell Speedway, Chris Madden earned enough points to officially pick up his fifth-career Schaeffer's Oil Southern Nationals Series presented by Old Man's Garage.
The Gray Court, SC driver took his fifth championship by just thirty-one markers over Eric Jacobsen of Rio Del Mar, CA. This was Madden's fifth championship in just eight seasons as he racked up his first championship with the series back in 2007.
Madden picked up only one win during the ten races which came on August 1st at Smoky Mountain (TN) Speedway. But Madden's five top-five finishes and ten-straight top-ten finishes consistently propelled him to the series championship.
Lurking in the distance for his first-career championship was California native Eric Jacobsen. Three top-five finishes and nine top-ten finishes kept him on the heels of Madden during the entire tour and while Jacobsen's win came in the final event, he still secured enough points to hold down the runner-up spot in the final standings.
Madden collected $15,365 in prize money throughout the ten races as well as $5,053 for the championship. Jacobsen picked up $2,553 for second-place in the final points. Billy Ogle Jr. collected $2.053 for his third place finish in the final point standings while Vic Hill of Mosheim, TN took home $1,553 for fourth place in the final tallies. Donald McIntosh of Dawsonville, GA picked up $1,053 for fifth place in the points and Austin Smith took home $753 for his sixth place finish. Australian Craig Vosbergen finished seventh in the points and took home $653 while Stacy Boles of Clinton, TN and Anthony Burroughs of Minden, LA took home $553 for eighth and ninth respectively.
Ogle of Knoxville, TN, the Old Man's Garage Spring Nationals Series presented by Schaeffer's Oil Champion finished third in this season's Southern Nationals point chase. By virtue of his third place finish, Ogle captured the overall Championship points fund between the two tours and took home $5,053. Donald McIntosh was second in the overall points fund battle and took home and additional $2,553. Third in the overall points was Stacy Boles who took home the $2,053 check and Austin Smith took $1,553 back to Georgia in additional monies.
Austin Smith of Cedartown, GA was the 2014 AR Bodies Rookie of the Year. Austin attended all ten Southern Nationals events and finished an ultra-close two markers over Craig Vosbergen of Perth, Australia. The two drivers were neck-and-neck coming into the final event at Tazewell Speedway as both were tied meaning if one finished ahead of the other in the main event, they would be the top Rookie competitor.
There were a total of 136 different drivers that competed in at least one series points event while nine drivers brought home perfect attendance for all ten races. The average car count for the ten races was 30 cars.
During FK Rod Ends Qualifying each night, Randy Weaver set fast time in all four events he competed in while Dennis Franklin, Brandon Overton, Casey Roberts, Brent Dixon, Austin Smith and Brad Neat set fast time in the other remaining events.
Chris Madden claimed two Dash for Cash race wins, more than any other driver while Jonathan Davenport, Ryan King, Dennis Franklin, Casey Roberts, Brent Dixon, Billy Ogle Jr., Randy Weaver and Dane Dacus claimed the remaining Dash events.
Eleven different drivers led laps during main events this season with Chris Madden leading the most at 120 laps during feature A-Mains even though he only picked up one victory. Casey Roberts led 85 laps during the season while Randy Weaver led 79 laps. A total of 712 laps were ran during the two-week series that competed in four different states.
Further information on the Southern Nationals Series, please log on to
www.SouthernNationalsSeries.com .
Final Southern Nationals Series Points:
1. Chris Madden-1,913
2. Eric Jacobsen-1,882
3. Billy Ogle Jr.-1,834
4. Vic Hill-1,824
5. Donald McIntosh-1,812
6. Austin Smith-1,760
7. Craig Vosbergen-1,758
8. Stacy Boles-1,741
9. Anthony Burroughs-1,603
10. Tony Knowles-1,038
Final Rookie of the Year Points:
1. Austin Smith-1,760
2. Craig Vosbergen-1,758