Shakeup on the national dirt late model tour with Scott Bloomquist and Chris Madden
In June 2019, Chris Madden left Skyline Motorsports. By July 2019, he joined Scott Bloomquist Racing as a second entry for the team.
Madden signed on in a two-year deal. New sponsors were signed and a powerhouse was formed.
Soon after, Madden moved to the front of the field. He won five of seven races, collecting $155,000 in earnings. The new pairing was unstoppable.
Related: Chris Madden discusses Scott Bloomquist Racing
Just ahead of the 2019 Dirt Million, Madden injured his eye socket in a golf cart accident at Mansfield Motor Speedway. He was forced to sit out for several weeks.
For 2020, the team left the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. Their new scheduled included running both cars full-time on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series tour.
After 18 races so far in 2020, Madden sits 4th in World of Outlaws points. He has one win and five top-5’s.
Madden’s won early in the season at Vado Speedway Park on January 3rd.
Related: World of Outlaws announce droop rule
Days after the win at Vado, the World of Outlaws announced the new droop rule. He and the team have since gone winless.
Scott Bloomquist sits 8th in the standings. He’s gone winless for SBR but has collected 6 top-5’s.
Scott Bloomquist Racing confirms the departure
Most recently, Madden finished 12th, 10th and 7th during the Firecracker 100 weekens at Lernerville Speedway. Now, it’s been announced the pairing will go separate ways.
“Chris and SBR are parting ways,” team co-owner Cody Sommer told Dirt on Dirt.
“It’s unfortunate, not exactly what the plan was, I think we all know that.”
Sommer added, “But, we also know that this year has been a crazy year and all kinds of different things go into the equation when you look at how we got to where we are right now with Chris — Many, many factors, not just one.”
Ahead of 2020, Scott Bloomquist brought on Drydene as a new primary sponsor for Chris Madden. The company is also displayed on the Scott Bloomquist machine, for select events.
The #0 of Bloomquist will be the focus for the team going forward. It remains unclear what the team plans to do with their second entry.
“Maintaining a full-time two car operation is just too much given the sports current state of costs, scheduling, income, and overall obligations while being committed to a national tour” said Cody Sommer, President of Scott Bloomquist Racing said in a team release.
“Expanding to a two-car operation is tough enough by itself, let alone during a tough time in the sport and when you maybe are not getting the results you had hoped for.”
“I believe a lot of those results are simply just due to being spread too thin in certain areas and the economics of our sport,” said Sommer.
The team debuted a new car for Bloomquist earlier in the year. It was crashed in two races.
For Bulls Gap, a new car made it’s debut for Chris Madden. It was injured in it’s first outing, adding stress to the operation.
Chris Madden comments
Chris Madden posted a tweet with his family soon after the news broke. He confirms he plans to spend more time with family, with no immediate plans to get behind the wheel.
“I’m not sure what/if I plan to do anything in the future racing wise, but I know I plan to spend a lot of time with family now and watch my son play a lot of baseball,” Chris Madden stated in a team release.
Related: Kyle Larson had plans to test a Scott Bloomquist dirt late model
Links
Chris Madden | Scott Bloomquist Racing | World of Outlaws | Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
