Cedar Lake Speedway
Drivers anxious to add another Eagle Trophy
By Kyle McFadden
DirtonDirt staff reporter
Chris Madden (left) with Scott Bloomquist after 2019's USA Nationals win. (photosbyboyd.smugmug.com)
NEW RICHMOND, Wis. (July 30) — Every multitime winner of the USA Nationals at Cedar Lake Speedway is either in the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame or destined for enshrinement among the sport's royalty.
Billy Moyer, Scott Bloomquist and Jonathan Davenport are the only drivers to win the event at least three times. The list of two-time winners is Bobby Pierce, Josh Richards, Jimmy Mars, Dale McDowell, Brian Birkhofer, Jack Boggs and Rick Aukland.
That raises the stakes a bit for single-time winners Ryan Gustin, Chris Madden, Tim McCreadie and Brandon Sheppard, each with a chance to capture a second Bald Eagle trophy and further strengthen their legacies alongside some of the sport's all-time greats.
“It’s definitely important for us to win this race again,” said Sheppard, who captured his one and only USA Nationals in 2018 with his current team, Rocket1 Racing, in a commanding victory where he led the final 77 laps.
The lone USA Nationals victories for Gustin, Madden, McCreadie and Sheppard, however, remain meaningful in their own right. They’re joined on the list of one-time winners by Brandon Overton, Jimmy Owens, Darrell Lanigan, Rick Eckert and Davey Johnson — a group that still represents an exclusive club of crown jewel winners.
Gustin, of Marshalltown, Iowa, will forever cherish that honor, even if another USA Nationals victory never materializes.
“Any time you can win one of these marquee events, it definitely makes you feel like you belong and can do it,” the 35-year-old Gustin said after Thursday’s 11th-place prelim finish. “Running whatever we ran, I don’t feel too bad about it. Last year we ran about 15th on Thursday.”
The 51-year-old Madden, meanwhile, perhaps holds the most sentimental attachment to his lone USA Nationals victory. Earlier this week, his iPhone resurfaced a photo of him standing alongside Scott Bloomquist in USA Nationals victory lane after the pair won the 2019 event with Bloomquist's Team Zero Race Cars.
“The pictures, they pop up every year on your phone. You know, this time of year, when your phone gives you memories when you hit certain times of the year. That was a very special moment,” Madden said, his voice tinged with emotion. “To have that in our belt, it’s special. Our sport misses (Bloomquist). I have a lot of memories with that guy.”
Madden, also a winner of the prestigious Sunoco North-South 100 at Kentucky's Florence Speedway, has claimed his share of marquee victories despite still chasing an elusive major triumph at Eldora Speedway. His 2019 USA Nationals victory might just be the biggest of his career to date.
“It definitely goes to the top,” Madden said. “That eagle (hardware), it hangs right there at the shop.”
“I don’t know how many more times I’ll be here, so it’d mean a lot of we could get another one,” added Madden before Thursday’s program when he eventually scratched for the night following the second-quickest lap in Group A time trials. “I feel like we have as good a shot as anybody. … Right now, we’ve been better earlier in the night, but you have to think these 100-lappers play into our hands.
“Yeah, I mean, I would love to repeat, that’s for sure. This is one of my favorite places, too. One of my few favorite places. When this place is right, it’s one of the funnest there is.”
Sheppard, too, lauds Cedar Lake’s 3/8-mile configuration as one of the best on the circuit.
“It gets a big ring about the bottom, a big curb against the wall, you can run that. You can run through the middle. That’s really all it matters — as long as it has multiple grooves and it’s a racy place, then people enjoy going to it,” Sheppard said. “The thing is, a lot of places you can go, you can run multiple grooves but can’t pass anybody. This is one of those places, you can pass. It’s a place you can come from the back if your car is good enough.”
McCreadie has no shortage of memories at Cedar Lake, either. In fact, he believes he easily could've already been a multitime USA Nationals winner.
While leading the 2008 event, his right-rear wheel ripped off on lap 71, costing him a golden opportunity at his first USA Nationals victory.
“We were one of the true classes of the field. I feel like we should’ve had more than one here already. But that’s how life goes,” McCreadie said.
Five years later, he conquered the event with his Sweeteners Plus No. 39 team, earning a $50,150 payday in what was then the biggest victory of his Dirt Late Model career. McCreadie was as emotional as ever in victory lane that night, a triumph made even sweeter because it came aboard a Tennessee-built Warrior Race Car.
“When we won here, we were in a Warrior car, which was amazing for (Warrior founder) Sanford (Goddard) because he didn’t even have cars in this area,” McCreadie said.
McCreadie has been hit-or-miss at Cedar Lake over the years. When his car is right, he's capable of contending. Between 2017-23, however, he made just one USA Nationals start — a runner-up finish to Chris Madden in 2019.
This weekend marks McCreadie's first stretch of three consecutive USA Nationals appearances since he raced the event every year from 2007-16. His schedule simply didn't bring him back to Cedar Lake as often after leaving the World of Outlaws for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series in 2016 until ’24.
His recent trips have shown flashes of promise. In 2024, he finished second in his prelim before placing ninth in the 56-lap, rain-shortened finale aboard the Rocket Chassis house car. Last year, he won Thursday's preliminary feature with Briggs Transport Racing before ending the 100-lap finale in 12th.
After charging from 14th to eighth in Thursday's opener, McCreadie hopes to find enough speed to contend Saturday. That could require venturing well outside his usual notebook.
“I will hot lap something that’s nowhere near what I’ve been doing. If it’s super fast we’ll roll with it. If not, we’ll make a decision based on all the notes,” McCreadie said. “Like, I wasn’t where I was when we won last year, but the car ain’t feeling the same. … Right now, this year’s a little different with where your hands are on the steering wheel. They’re more back-steered this year, for me. Usually, if I’m back steering, my right-rear ride height is in a spot I’m not real good at.”
The Show-Me 100 and Dirt Track World Championship are among the holes on McCreadie's résumé. A second USA Nationals victory would mean a lot to him.
“It would be cool to win one more, if not, it was cool we did it at least once,” McCreadie said. “I haven’t had a lot of double wins in these majors.”
