Madison Finishes in the Quarterfinals at Rainy Winternationals

The NHRA Winternationals lived up to its name despite the race being scheduled in early spring. Even with the sometimes wild and wet weather in the later half of the weekend, the Top Alcohol teams got in two qualifying runs on a mostly sunny day on Friday. Madison Payne qualified the Muscle Milk A/Fuel Dragster in the no. 7 position with a 5.37 at 274 MPH.

In round one, Madison raced first-time opponent Trever Larkin in the Redline-sponsored entry. At the hit, the Muscle Milk machine was out first with a .087 to Larkin's .108. As the cars charged to the finish line, it was all Madison taking the win with a 5.34 at 274 MPH over Larkin's 5.57 at 257 MPH. "Trever Larkin had a couple of holes out so I never saw him" Madison said.

In round two, Madison raced Garrett Bateman. At the hit, Bateman got the starting line advantage with a .048 over Madison's .070. Bateman kept the lead and rang up a 5.24 at 276 MPH to Madison's 5.30 at 277 MPH which was her best run of the weekend. After the event, Madison summed up the race. "We certainly improved from the season-opening race in Phoenix, but we now need to get some momentum going. The weather made it a tough event for everyone. I was still in the race with my Super Comp Dragster waiting for the rain to stop when that crazy hail storm passed over. But I won't miss the remaining eliminations when the race resumes at a later date" she said.

Next, the team returns to their home track in Las Vegas for the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, April 12-14. Madison and team owner Duane Shields would like to encourage their fans to support their fine sponsors including Muscle Milk, GRP Connecting Rods, NGK Spark Plugs, Brad Anderson Enterprises, and Clean Boost for the 2024 season.