Chris Madden thought he was on his way to victory in Saturday’s Super Bowl of Racing with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at Golden Isles Speedway when the seas parted along the bottom lane, the result of contact made between Ricky Thornton Jr. and Jonathan Davenport that washed them both up the racetrack.

But seconds later, a caution flew for a slowing Tim McCreadie off turn four, and though Madden had crossed the start-finish line before the official stoppage, he would not restart as the leader. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series rules call for the leader and the three cars behind him to cross the scoring pylon for a lap to be officially scored.

The Gray Court, S.C., veteran gets the rule despite believing he gained control in the moment (“I mean, I felt that,” he told FloRacing’s Derek Kessinger afterward). Madden didn’t come across like he was robbed either and as if he’d been wrongly stripped a would-be win. Still, that doesn’t ease his disappointment.

“Obviously, yeah, because it cost me the win,” Madden said. “We’re thankful to be up there competing for the win. We had a great race car tonight. We’d been off a little bit. We definitely made some headway today. It showed. I thought we had crossed the line. But it is what it is. We have to go by what they say, not what I say. They say we didn’t. So we didn’t.”

While Davenport and Thornton took hold of the spotlight on Saturday with their fierce battle for the lead and post-race verbal jabs — perhaps commencing Dirt Late Model racing’s newest and next greatest rivalry — Madden felt comfortable as ever in his runner-up finish.

“We was good tonight. We qualified good. Won our heat race,” Madden said. “And was able to get on up through there. I thought I was going to get a win. Then (Tim McCreadie) pulls up to the top of the racetrack to get a caution, which gave (Thornton) the lead back. We ran second after that. It was kind of one-lane there, shuffling around a little bit. After that caution, that was it.”

The caution for McCreadie came with 11 laps to go in the running. McCreadie told DirtonDirt.com that it wasn’t his intention to alter the race like that, and that he was “trying to find a good way to get off the track and not affect any other cars, so I stopped before I wrecked a car trying to get to the infield.”

To that point, the stars aligned for Madden sneak around and steal $25,000 upon Thornton and Davenport’s skirmish.

“I seen it happening, and I was like, ‘We’re going to be in the right spot right here. We’re in the catbird seat,’” Madden said. “And everything played out like I thought it was going to. We was able to take the lead. And we wound up second. But it is what it is. We’re glad to be on the podium with them.”

Madden said he was missing a little something with his race car after last weekend’s DIRTcar Sunshine Nationals with the World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series at Volusia Speedway Park despite a pair of top-10 finishes. And that on Saturday, he found what he needed moving forward.

“We’re on the right track, for sure,” Madden said. “Definitely made some headway here. I look forward to going back.”

As far as Madden’s outlook on the Davenport vs. Thornton skirmish goes, he’d like to stay out of it.

“I seen it all happen. No comment,” Madden said. “I don’t want to get involved in somebody else’s drama. For once it’s not me. I’m just going to stay out of it."

He understands both sides of the argument, doesn’t he?

“I’ve seen a lot,” Madden said in response to that very question. “I’ll leave it at that.”