DirtonDirt Dispatches
Dispatches: Madden shines in Infinity debut
Chris Madden on his way to victory. (Josh James)
Among the latest notes and quotes from the World of Outlaws Late Model Series’s season-opening Sunshine Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla.:
What a start
Chris Madden turned the fastest lap in Wednesday’s practice at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla. But that was just … practice, right? Would he still be the cream of the crop when the World of Outlaws Late Model Series-sanctioned Sunshine Nationals began Thursday?
The 50-year-old standout from Gray Court, S.C., sure did maintain his speed when it counted. Making a spectacular debut behind the wheel of the Infinity Chassis house car, Madden was absolutely perfect in setting fast time, winning his heat and scoring a flag-to-flag victory in the 35-lap feature that opened the 2026 WoO campaign.
“It’s awesome,” Madden said after claiming the $12,000 top prize in the first of three race nights at Volusia. “You couldn’t ask for a better day today. Everything went really smooth.
“David and Eric (Wells) and his family and everybody at Infinity Chassis — what an awesome race car they sent me down here with. I couldn’t ask for anything any better.”
Madden made a loud statement on the ’26 intentions of Infinity Chassis, the fledgling manufacturer based in Hazard, Ky. Owned by David Wells and overseen by his son Eric, Infinity didn’t field a true house car program last season — WoO regular Ryan Gustin of Marshalltown, Iowa, was essentially the company’s flagship driver with Todd Cooney Racing — but hired Madden a couple months ago to carry the torch on a high-profile level this year.
There was no stopping Madden in his first Infinity start — a fact that Nick Hoffman of Mooresvile, N.C., acknowledged after settling for a runner-up finish. The polesitting Hoffman, who shared the front row with Madden, managed to slide ahead of Madden through turns one and two with three laps remaining but couldn’t clinch a pass as Madden pulled a crossover move down the backstretch to stay ahead and then controlled a green-white-checkered restart to secure the victory.
“I was able to slide him, but as soon as I showed him a nose and slid him, it was like he got back up on the horse and rode and he was able to get away from me,” Hoffman said after climbing out of his Tye Twarog-owned Longhorn Chassis. “And you know, when you get a restart (with two laps remaining) it gives you maybe a chance to hustle the top of one and two and spook him, but his car … the old man here was a little bit better than we were tonight.
“So, yeah, his stuff was good. We just got to go back and work on it. He could square up and leave the corner a little better than I could.”
Madden conceded that his car wasn’t quite as strong in the closing laps, but he made sure the race didn’t slip from his grasp.
“He got by me there … I got extremely way too tight,” Madden said. “I couldn’t enter where I needed to be entering, and Nick caught me there and got by me. Then I just got up on the wheel, let ‘er rip, and I was able to get back by him and just to try to do my thing out there.”
Madden recorded his fifth career victory at Volusia, a blazing-fast half-mile oval that has long been one of his favorites. He was especially enthused about the place because its surface — new since last year’s Speedweeks action — was very much to his liking.
“Hats off to (World Racing Group’s) Brian Carter and his crew here,” said Madden, whose list of Volusia triumphs includes four during Speedweeks plus the 2006 Gator 100 contested in October. “They give us a phenomenal racetrack today, and it showed tonight. We was able to move around and race on it, and we appreciate them for putting in the hard work.” — Staff reports
Points tweak
Winning heat races is a bit more important for drivers chasing the World of Outlaws Late Model Series in 2026.
The national tour made a slight change to its points computation for the ’26 campaign, offering one bonus point for a heat victory at all events. All feature points remained status-quo with wins worth 150 points, second place 146 and each position through 26th place going down by two points.
While the heat-win bonus is modest, the extra points could certainly add up. For instance, Bobby Pierce piled up 26 heat wins last year en route to capturing the championship. — Staff reports
