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Paul McMahan Holds off Kerry Madsen to Win Red Flag Delayed Prelude to the Ironman

McMahan picked up his fourth World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series win of the season in a race delayed by rain and extensive repairs to the catch fence

PEVELY, Mo. - Aug. 1, 2014 - The Monroe Shocks & Struts Prelude to the Ironman at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 proved to be a long event that saw rain delays and a two hour red flag to repair damage to a catch fence - but none of that slowed Paul McMahan as he held off Kerry Madsen and drove to his fourth World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series win of the season Friday night.

Rain fell early on in the day at I-55, but it was a bizarre wreck in the night's second heat that delayed the feature into the early morning hours of Saturday. With two to go, a wreck involving then second-place running Cale Thomas, sent the young driver into the catch fence in the middle of turns one and two. A large portion of the fence was ripped out and racing action stopped as maintenance crews worked to repair the gap.

Two hours and a rain shower later, racing returned to the track and Kerry Madsen won the heat.

Thomas was OK. He went on to win the Last Chance Showdown and compete in the A main before being knocked out in another wreck early on.

The night though belonged to McMahan, who dominated the feature and held off Daryn Pittman and Madsen to win.

"First, I've got to thank all these fans for sticking around here because I know how late it is and I tell you what, I was one of the guys hoping they would cancel it - but thank God they didn't tonight," said McMahan, driver of the CJB Motorsports car. "Hats off to all the track maintenance guys that busted their butts and got that fence back together because when it first went down, I didn't think we had a chance of racing tonight."

As the green flag fell on the feature, Pittman took a quick lead as a caution flew before one lap could be completed. When the race returned to green, McMahan took over the lead position through the first few laps.

"Daryn actually got a better run off the bottom," McMahan said. "I think he was just committed to running the bottom there on the first lap and I was able to power around the outside to get by."

"When you're out front early in the race you really don't know where you want to be. I just saw what he did there on the first two starts, what he did to me in the dash and was able to get the jump. I get to control the restart being the leader there so I took off a little early and got a good run up off the corner and was able to get to the top."

McMahan said lapped traffic around the track presented him with trouble during the feature.

"It's so fast around the top and you really got to slow down to hit the bottom and I really didn't want to slow down that much," McMahan said. "I got in there behind Cody [Darrah] and I tried to slide him one time and I couldn't get by. He was fast enough to stay up front so I just figured I would follow him around and hopefully no one would get by me."

McMahan scored his fourth win of the season. He is currently third in the championship points standings, 167 points out of the lead.

Kerry Madsen, who started the feature in the sixth position and battled his way through the field, nearly had his night ended on lap eight as got too far into the cushion and slowed dramatically.

"I was just kind of tight and got too aggressive and nearly threw it all away," said Madsen, who ended up not losing any positions with the incident. "The guys gave me a great racecar, absolutely. It was a fun track."

In the final laps, Madsen worked his way through lapped traffic in his American Racing Custom Wheels car and closed the gap on McMahan. In the final lap, in the final turn, Madsen tried sliding McMahan but was not able to clear the pass.

"Actually, I'll be honest, I thought I was going to get Paul," Madsen said. "I thought, let's be patient, wait until we get the right move and I could make that move in three and four. I wish I would have tried a little harder earlier. He drove a great race, congratulations to the CJB team and great result for us - second. We're definitely proud with that."

Points leader Donny Schatz brought his STP/Armor All car home to a third-place finish - his seventh podium finish in a row. Schatz said he and his team were hoping to have a car that would allow them to get up and challenge for the lead.

"Got a little past our bedtime, so we kind of fell off a little bit," Schatz said.

"The bottom was pretty good the first part there. Every lap it just kind of went away awful quick. And you had to be up on the top making speed. Once you got up there it was pretty hard to pass unless you had traffic. We were going around some cars so fast there really wasn't an opportunity to get one that was racing with someone.

"We had a decent car. I guess we got a top-three. That's better than the alternative… but we want to win. Tomorrow night is 55 laps and we'll be a little better."

Schatz maintains his 106 point lead over Pittman in the race for the championship.

David Gravel took home his seventh quick time of the season. Only McMahan and Joey Saldana have more quick times so far in 2014.

The World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series returns to action on Saturday at the Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo. for the Federated Auto Parts Ironman 55 presented by Walker. After that, the Outlaws head to Knoxville, Iowa to compete for one of the most coveted prizes in all of motorsports - the Knoxville Nationals.

FEDERATED AUTO PARTS RACEWAY AT I-55 NOTES: Donny Schatz picked up his seventh podium finish in a row… Paul McMahan won his fourth World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series feature of the year… Donny Schatz, Daryn Pittman and Chad Kemenah all won their heat races tonight… James McFadden received the KSE Hard Charger Award after advancing ten positions to finish ninth… The red flag to repair the catch fence lasted two hours and nine minutes.

SEASON WINNERS: Donny Schatz - 12 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 15, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas on March 6, Devil's Bowl Speedway on April 19, Lawrenceburg Speedway on May 27, I-96 Speedway on May 31, River Cities Speedway on June 20, 34 Raceway on June 27, Cedar Lake Speedway on June 29, Lernerville Speedway on July 15, Autodrome Drummond on July 26, Cornwall Motor Speedway on July 27 and Ohsweken Speedway on July 29); Daryn Pittman - 11 (Thunderbowl Raceway on March 14, Calistoga Speedway on April 6, Devil's Bowl Speedway on April 19, Williams Grove Speedway on May 16 and May 17, Orange County Fair Speedway, May 18, New Egypt Speedway, May 20, Dodge City Raceway Park on July 4 and 5, Lincoln Speedway on July 17 and Fulton Speedway on July 23); Joey Saldana - 5 (Perris Auto Speedway on April 12, Salina Highbanks on April 25, The Dirt Track at Charlotte on May 23, I-80 Speedway on June 6 and Jackson Speedway on June 13); Brad Sweet - 5 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 14, Tucson International Raceway on March 8, Calistoga Speedway on April 5, Knoxville Raceway on June 14 and Beaver Dam Raceway on June 28); David Gravel - 4 (Merced Speedway on March 28, Eldora Speedway on May 3, Wilmot Raceway on May 9 and Lebanon Valley Speedway on July 20); Kerry Madsen - 4 (Stockton Dirt track on March 22, El Paso Speedway Park on April 15, Lakeside Speedway on June 7 and Eldora Speedway on July 12); Paul McMahan - 4 (The Dirt Track at Las Vegas on March 5, Tri-State Speedway on May 10, Limaland Motorsports Park on July 9 and Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 on Aug. 1); Cody Darrah - 2 (Kings Speedway on April 11 and Lernerville Speedway on July 15); Rico Abreu - 1 (Thunderbowl Raceway on March 15); Sammy Swindell - 2 (Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 on April 26 and Eldora Speedway on July 11);Dale Blaney - 1 (Attica Raceway Park on May 30); Christopher Bell - 1 (Jacksonville Speedway on May 7); Lance Dewease - 1 (July 20 at Williams Grove Speedway); Greg Hodnett - 1 (July 18 at Williams Grove Speedway); Roger Crockett - 1 (I-94 Speedway on June 21); Mark Dobmeier - 1 (Huset's Speedway on July 2); Steve Kinser - 1 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 16); Stevie Smith - 1 (Lincoln Speedway on May 14); Shane Stewart - 1 (Eldora Speedway on May 2).

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