Madison Payne Takes on a Tough Field in Dallas

Dallas - Madison Payne took on a tough field that included a mix of the nation's best blown alcohol and A/Fuel dragsters at the Texas NHRA Fall Nationals. The annual event, which includes a week full of racing, concerts, and other activities called the "Stampede of Speed" is held at the famous Texas Motorplex in Ennis. Madison qualified 7th with a 5.23 @ 277 MPH in the very competitive field.

Due to the Jegs AllStar race also being held at the Texas event, qualifying was wrapped up on Friday and the first round of eliminations was uncharacteristically held on a chilly Saturday morning. While some of the cars in the field adapted to the cool windy weather, others did not and fought traction problems.

In round one, Madison faced Aaron Cooper, of Wichita, Kansas. At the hit, Madison was off the starting line first with a .049 to Cooper's .066. Suddenly Madison's Muscle Milk dragster lost traction and moved towards the retaining wall. Madison had to lift and abandon the run. Cooper went on to win the round. "As you can imagine, none of us expected that and are very disappointed. Vegas is our next race where we are the defending champions, so we hope to repeat and get another win before the end of the year" Madison said.

Madison and team owner Duane Shields would like to thank Muscle Milk, NGK Spark Plugs, GRP Connecting Rods, Brad Anderson Enterprises, and Clean Boost for their continued support.