Perhaps Chris Madden’s dominant Schaeffer’s Southern Nationals victory Saturday at Wythe Raceway kicked off the rest of his racing life.

His first win since turning 50 on May 23. His first win since splitting with G.R. Smith’s Team 22 Inc. His first win since completing an auction of virtually all his own racing equipment.

Driving a car fielded by fellow racer Kale Green of Pelion, S.C., Madden glided — well, zoomed would be a more appropriate term considering the lightning-fast nature of the sprawling half-mile oval following a two-hour rain delay for a shower just before qualifying began — into his new era in the sport. He proved to himself, and the rest of the racing world, that he will continue to be a force.

Madden is just over one year removed from a bout with diverticulitis that ended his bid for the 2024 World of Outlaws Real American Late Model Series championship and his announcement that he was scaling back to part-time racing, so moments like Saturday certainly carry more significance than ever to him. He’s aware that every checkered flag has the potential to be his last.

“That’s exactly right. That’s for sure,” Madden said in Wythe’s pit area after changing into street clothes following his $10,053 triumph over runner-up Chris Ferguson along with third-finishing Garrett Smith, fourth-finishing Jimmy Owens, Dale McDowell and more. “I definitely cherish every one of them now.

“And, you know, it’s hard to win anymore. There’s no such thing as an easy race to win. I mean, right here tonight, there’s Dale McDowell, he’s no slouch, he runs real good here. Garrett Smith’s been running really good. Ferguson. Jimmy.”

Madden arrived at Wythe just one day after the gavel was struck for the last time in the auction of his racing operation, putting him in an admittedly sentimental mood. The vast amount of equipment he accumulated over three decades in the sport is now largely gone, sold off to the highest bidders and leaving his shop eerily empty.

“It’s definitely a life change for me for sure,” Madden said. “I’ve done this for 30 years, and to make a change like I’ve had to do here in the last little bit, it’s different.

“There was a lot of stuff — you don’t realize how much stuff you have until you start moving it around (to itemize it for auction). I was like, ‘Wow!’ seeing the stuff we had. It’s unbelievable.”

Madden’s deal racing Longhorn Chassis for Cornelius, N.C.’s Smith also ended only recently. Last month’s Dream XXXI at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, was Madden’s last action with Smith, who had stepped up to provide Madden a ride last year after Madden decided to shut down his own Dirt Late Model program.

Starting with last September’s World 100 weekend at Eldora, Madden made 10 late-2024 starts with Smith and another 17 this year. He won twice — last November’s $25,000 WoO World Finals finale at The Dirt Track at Charlotte in Concord, N.C., and Feb. 28’s $7,553 Schaeffer’s Spring Nationals feature at Swainsboro (Ga.) Raceway — but only tallied one other top-five and six other top-10 finishes.

According to Madden, there’s no hard feelings between him and Smith since they’re gone their separate ways. Smith’s full focus is now on fielding the equipment that 20-year-old Drake Troutman of Hyndman, Pa., is campaigning on the WoO tour and in many other events.

“We’re perfectly fine,” Madden said. “Actually, I just talked to him today on the way up the road (to Wythe). I was going by his car lot so I called him.

“G.R. is busy getting his business going again, his car lot business, and the big thing in this sport is people, the help. We just couldn’t find people we needed to get it done. I don’t know, this sport, it’s getting thin” in finding help.

“I appreciate G.R. and his family, Stacey and them,” he added. “They done a great job for me, giving me a great opportunity, and I wish we could have won some more races and done well for them there. We just couldn’t get it all put together, but he gave it 110 percent and I gave it 110 percent, and there’s just no problems whatsoever.”

Madden’s departure from Team 22 Inc. was followed by him landing with Green, the 41-year-old operator of Trans-Tel Inc. who has competed in both Super and Crate Late Model action for over a decade. Madden said he has a long-standing friendship with Green (“My son goes down there and hunts with them,” he noted), and earlier this year Green purchased the last new Longhorn Chassis machine that Madden had in his personal stable before he conducted his auction.

That car, which Madden never raced, saw a racetrack for the first time last month when Green drove it with a No. 4 on its doors in the Dream XXXI activities. It was Green’s Eldora debut and he cracked the starting lineup for a preliminary feature, finishing 18th in the rain-postponed 50-lapper won by Josh Rice of Crittenden, Ky.

With the car changed to Madden’s familiar No. 44, the veteran climbed behind the wheel for his first appearance with Green in June 21’s Southern Thunder Super Dirt Series-sanctioned Grassy Smith Memorial at Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, S.C. He immediately clicked off the fastest qualifying lap in the 30-car field but his night ended early with mechanical trouble as he led the first heat.

Wythe became Madden’s next target with Green. He made the two-hour trip to Green’s shop a couple times in the days leading up to Saturday’s event to help Green’s crew ready the car for a track that holds in high regard.

“It’s always been one at the top of my list of racetracks,” Madden said of Wythe. “Fred (Brown), the owner, he’s just always worked really hard here to give us a good place to race.” 

Madden quickly made himself comfortable on the Wythe clay. After a brief but soaking shower struck to delay the start of competition until just after 10 p.m., the juiced track surface allowed Madden to rip off a new track record of 15.556 seconds in the second qualifying group. He then started from the outside pole in the 40-lap feature, outgunned front-row mate Garrett Smith of Madison, Ga., at the initial green flag.

It was a total annihilation of the field by Madden, who was never threatened en route to beating Ferguson to the finish line by a hefty 5.309 seconds. He won Wythe’s Southern Nationals event for the second year in a row and fifth time overall.

Not surprisingly, the winning performance fired Madden up for more racing. Just don’t expect him to go full-bore back into the Dirt Late Model fray, though he did sound like a driver who shouldn’t be considered “retired” from regular competition like he announced last summer.

While Madden asserted that he’ll never again “be out on the road full time” with a national tour (“No, no, no,” he repeated), he’s looking to be active with Green for the remainder of the 2025 season.

“We got a little plan laid out here and we’re gonna stick to it,” said Madden, whose car was powered by a Vic Hill engine and ran on Penske Shocks (he actually resumed using Penskes at the Dream after a stretch away from the company). “We’re gonna run (the Southern Nationals) through Senoia (on Thursday) this week (after Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn., on Monday and I-75 Raceway in Sweetwater, Tenn., on Tuesday), then we’re going to go home and kind of regroup and we’re going to get our program together.

“I haven’t decided yet where we’re going to hit up, but I’d like to hit a couple of big races here in the next few weeks.”

Madden isn’t back to making his living as a driver — he’s pursuing opportunities in gaming and amusement through longtime sponsor Henderson Amusements — but racing can supplement his income.

“We’re just gonna do this as much as we can, as much as our health and stuff allows us to be able to do,” Madden said of his racing.

Madden is as confident as ever in his ability, but he also realizes that running a limited schedule isn’t optimal for high-level success. In fact, he wondered if he could have been even faster at Wythe if he had been more active this season.

“There's enough big races out there to keep you busy,” Madden said. “And I think that, you know, we can be competitive. Hopefully, not racing every week won’t hurt us too much, but it kind of did tonight on the tire situation. You know, we hadn’t raced in so long, tire choice tonight was a little up in the air. I still don't think we had the right combination but it was good enough to get it done.

“I’m out there, and I kind of know I could have been better. But yeah, it was good enough to get it done, so we’re happy.”