PHOTOGRAPH BY J . DENISE SPINK

Chassis builder Kip Maddox pulls off Big Bucks Bracket Race win By Van Abernethy

fortunate guy as he references the opportunity to labor alongside his dad , Dale , working on race cars inside the shop of the family business , Maddox Race Cars , which Dale launched in 1985 . Kip also jumps at the chance to race almost weekly at area tracks around his home in Piedmont , South Carolina , mainly Greer Dragway , where he ’ s a points contender in Top Eliminator and even won the championship in 2015 .

Rarely does Maddox mix it up in the big-money bracket racing scene , although he made the exception in mid-November when he traveled to Carolina Dragway for the 16th Annual Big Bucks Bracket Race . It was there Maddox struck gold during Saturday ’ s main event , an eliminator paying $ 20,000 to win . It took 9 grueling rounds

before Maddox emerged as the winner , getting past veteran racer Ken Batchelor in the final round and collecting his biggest payday ever .

“ I definitely had my lucky runs on Saturday , but the finals was one of my better runs , being . 005 on the tree . Ken ’ s a great racer , he just missed the tree in the finals , but then he came right back and won the shootout later ,” says Maddox , as he celebrated his own win , while extending congratulations to his final-round foe .

Maddox scored the win while driving his trusty 1986 Ford Mustang , a car he ’ s raced since high school . In fact , his sporadic history of racing at Carolina Dragway can be traced back to his high school days in the early 2000s .

“ Carolina Dragway had a bracket program on Friday nights and my dad would bring me here , along with my brother , Shane ,” Maddox recalls . “ I would drive the big car and Shane , who ’ s younger than me , was still racing in Jr . Dragster at that time . We didn ’ t come down here often on Friday nights , because it would put us getting home pretty late , since we lived several hours from here .”

After high school , Maddox came to Carolina Dragway probably a dozen times over the years ,

and the one thing he remembers about those early experiences of racing at the “ House of Hook ” was how he always managed to go some rounds at the Aiken , South Carolina , facility , but never scored a victory . That is , until his most recent Big Bucks payday .

No surprise , his win has prompted some daydreaming about the possibilities .

“ Oh sure , I want to chase those big-money bracket races , but we ’ re busy with work . I ’ ve got a family and I race weekly at Greer , so I generally stay pretty close to home . There ’ s a lot of races going on , so yeah , you could stay on the road quite a bit !” he laughs .

At the end of the day , though , his attention is squarely focused on growing the family business and keeping close to those who support him .

“ My wife , Leeann , and our kids are a huge support , along with Mom and Dad and my brother , who also helps us part-time in the shop ,” Maddox says . “ The goal is to have Shane join us full-time at the race car shop at some point . Then there ’ s our customers – if not for them we couldn ’ t come out here and do this . We ’ ve really got some great customers at Maddox Race Cars and we appreciate them all !” DI

January 2021

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