Two Solid Finishes for the Mullinax Crew in Georgia

SENOIA, GA - The Mullinax Brothers exit Georgia with two top ten finishes in the 604 class and an important 11th in the Schaeffers Spring Nationals race at Senoia Raceway.

On Thursday, March 2nd, Caden Mullinax and Maddux Mullinax traveled to Swainsboro, Georgia, for a practice session and three races. Caden was driving the Super Late Model for the weekend and Maddux was in his 604 Late Model.

Thursday practice was moved to Swainsboro Raceway after rain prevented Senoia from holding a session. Both cars got plenty of practice time before rain moved in and interrupted the sessions.

On Friday the threat of rain had not subsided, and it would loom over the race track all day, making racers and track officials unsure if the races would be allowed to happen. Thankfully the rain held off allowing for the first race of 2023 Spring Nationals to be run.

Race one of the series was a $10,053 to win, 53 lap race that featured some of the biggest names in dirt racing. The field for this weekend was a tough one as a rained out Smokey Mountain race meant that the likes of Mike Marlar, Jason Welshan, Joshua Bishop, and Will Roland would push the field count to forty-two cars trying to make a twenty-two car show.

The night started off with Maddux qualifying his 604 in a hotlap qualifying session. In the five laps ran during the session his third lap was good enough to put him in fifth on his first trip to Swainsboro.

Caden was placed in group A for his qualifying effort and showed a considerable amount of speed but still ended up 14th in his group. In the second heat race Caden would have to advance into the top four while starting seventh. He did not advance and ended up 6th in the heat race, forcing him to run the B-Main race.

Caden started fourth in the B-Main where only the top two would earn a spot in the $10,053-to-win feature. Caden fought hard during the ten lap race but could not advance positions, missing the feature with a fourth place finish.

Now it was Maddux's turn in his 604 feature where he would start on the third row inside. By the time of his race the track had taken rubber and this meant that it would be a one lane race where any slip up could cost the driver many spots. After a good start, Maddux moved out of the groove in turn three and lost spots and finished eighth.

The next day the team traveled two and a half hours west to Senoia Raceway where they would run race number two in the Schaeffers Spring National series. Just like the first, this race was also a $10,053 to win 53 lap race but this time on the high banks of a hooked up Senoia.

Due to hard rains for the last two days, the racing surface at Senoia was incredibly soft. Track officials knew going in that the track would get rough and warned the drivers but no one knew just how rough the track would get.

Maddux went out first for his hot laps and qualifying laps but early signs of the track giving out started to form when ruts in turn three made Maddux's black and red #3 bottom out and slam into the race track. This would hurt his qualifying times and put Maddux near the back of the already tight field.

By the time of Caden's qualifying attempt the track had gotten worse with large ruts appearing in all four turns. On Caden's first lap at speed he hit a rut in turn three which caused his left rear tire to blow off the rim, causing him to pull in without setting a lap time.

After qualifying, many of the Super Late Model teams decided to pack up and not risk any more damage to their cars. In order to fix the issue, the track paused all running and worked hard to try to get the track smooth again.

Despite their great efforts, when it was time for Caden to pull out for the heat race the track had roughed up again. Caden and the team planned on running the heat race in order to try to guarantee themselves a spot in the feature but also not destroy their car in the process. This plan worked and Caden finished fourth in the heat, locking himself into his first Spring National Series feature event.

Again, the track officials worked hard to smooth out the racing surface before the Super Late Model feature and changed the lap distance from 53 laps to just 35 in order to spare the cars. Caden lined up thirteenth and at the drop of the green flag it did not take long before the track got as rough as before.

When the green flag dropped a war of attrition started. A few cars pulled into the infield after one or two laps but Caden raced hard and moved up the running order. After nine laps Caden found himself in ninth and looked good to have a top ten finish if everything stayed good.

On the thirteenth lap Caden lost all brakes in the car and had to pull into the infield at the same time race leader, Ashton Winger, wrecked out of the race due to track conditions. Caden wound up finishing eleventh, good enough to boost him to seventeenth in points for the Spring National Series.

After the super race was the 604 Late model race where Maddux would have to tough out the track conditions. In preparation for the ruts the team made changes to help the car survive the iron gauntlet of a track.

Maddux would start in the middle of the field and the race was shortened to just ten laps to decide the winner. When the green flag dropped every car tried its best to find the smoothest line around the racetrack.

This kind of racing was rough but Maddux quickly found a line around turns three and four that worked to his favor and moved up to third. A caution, where the leader of the race wrecked out, placed Maddux in second with a one lap shootout for the race win coming up.

When the green and white flag waved Maddux entered the first corner and hit a rut that lifted all four wheels off of the ground and caused him to lose control of the car just long enough for two cars to go by. He then ran the fast line in turns three and four and won a drag race down the front straight for the final podium position for a hard earned third.

Both Caden and Maddux suffered car damage during the race but the team was pleased with the results of both cars. The track tried its hardest but mother nature just had different plans. The Mullinax Racing team would like to thank the hard work from both Senoia Raceway and the Schaeffers Spring National Series for doing everything in their power to put on the race in the right way.

Next weekend Caden will take his black and gold #2 Super Late Model to North Georgia to run race number three of the Spring National Series. After that Caden plans to race the next day at 411 Speedway to compete for $15,053.

Updates of the weekend will be found on Mullinax Racing the social media pages where everything will be kept as current as possible. If you want to follow the Mullinax Racing team, make sure you follow the Facebook page or follow us on Instagram @MullinaxRacing.