Hudson O’Neal held off Brandon Sheppard and others for the win
Hudson O’Neal had to work hard to earn a monster payday on Monday night at Kokomo Speedway as numerous challengers emerged throughout the night but the home state driver held off all comers to take the checkered flag ahead of the pack. The bullring most known for open wheel racing staged a great show under the sanction of the XR Super Series in that tour’s first race since April when Dale McDowell won at Tennessee’s Volunteer Speedway.
The Rocket Chassis driver from Martinsville, Indiana earned $100,000 for his efforts at the Kokomo, Indiana in a race aired live by xrevents.plus.
A total of 42 cars were signed in for competition
Qualifying Results:
Group A Results- 1. Hudson O’Neal(13.880), 2. Bobby Pierce, 3. Devin Moran, 4. Kyle Bronson, 5. Tyler Erb, 6. Ryan Gustin, 7. Brandon Sheppard, 8. Mike Marlar, 9. Shannon Babb, 10. Tanner English
Group B Results- 1. Ricky Thornton Jr.(14.140), 2. Jason Feger, 3. Billy Moyer Sr., 4. Jimmy Owens, 5. Jonathan Davenport, 6. Ryan Unzicker, 7. Joseph Joiner, 8. Kent Robinson, 9. Shane Clanton, 10. Ricky Weiss
Heat 1 Results: 1. Hudson O’Neal, 2. Devin Moran, 3. Brandon Sheppard, 4. Tyler Erb
Heat 2 Results: 1. Bobby Pierce, 2. Kyle Bronson, 3. Mike Marlar, 4. Ryan Gustin
Heat 3 Results: 1. Ricky Thornton Jr., 2. Jonathan Davenport, 3. Billy Moyer Sr., 4. Joseph Joiner
Heat 4 Results: 1. Jason Feger, 2. Ryan Unzicker, 3. Jimmy Owens, 4. Spencer Hughes
B-main 1 Finish: 1. Shannon Babb, 2. Tanner English, 3. Brian Shirley
B-main 2 Finish: 1. Shane Clanton, 2. Ethan Dotson, 3. Daulton Wilson
Feature Re-cap: The 100-lap main event began with O’Neal leading the first lap ahead of Thornton, Pierce, Feger and Moran. The battle at the front of the pack was furious in the early going with Thornton grabbing the lead on the second lap then O’Neal taking back one circuit later.
The top-3 of O’Neal, Thornton and Pierce ran around in tight formation for several laps. Further back, Davenport broke into the top-5 by passing Moran just before Moran slowed with a flat tire to bring out a caution on lap 9.
On the ensuing restart, Davenport moved up to fourth just behind the battle that continued to rage between O’Neal, Thornton and Pierce. Pierce got by Thornton for second on lap 15 just as Feger reclaimed fourth from Davenport.
Pierce moved in to challenge O’Neal for the lead but that action was interrupted when Moyer slowed with a flat on lap 17. O’Neal led at that time over Pierce, Thornton, Feger and Davenport. However, Thornton would relinquish third under the yellow when he came to the pit area to retire his car with mechanical trouble.
Davenport took third away from Feger on lap 19 just behind O’Neal and Pierce. Both Marlar and Sheppard punted Feger outside the top-5 as they moved into the top-5 on lap 22.
Marlar continued to rise when he passed Davenport for third on lap 24.
The yellow flag waved on lap 29 when James Walters spun. O’Neal continued to show the way ahead of Pierce, Marlar, Davenport and Sheppard.
Marlar jumped to second on the restart behind O’Neal while Sheppard passed Davenport for fourth. Tyler Erb took advantage of that move and also got around Davenport to assume the fifth position. However, another caution would slow the action on lap 34 when Bronson slowed.
Marlar began to harass O’Neal for the race lead on lap 38 as he worked both the high side and the low side trying to find his way around. O’Neal would hold the lead and even begin to slip away a bit by lap 45 as slower traffic came into play.
O’Neal led at the halfway point with Marlar, Pierce, Sheppard and Tyler Erb trailing. Through the middle stretches of the race, Marlar and Pierce continued to keep O’Neal in their sights.
The top-3 ran under a blanket as the 60 lap mark came and went with O’Neal holding the slightest of edges. Pierce moved by Marlar for second on lap 65 as they fought through very heavy traffic. Clanton slowed to bring out a yellow on lap 68 with O’Neal still leading despite the challenges from Pierce and Marlar.
Sheppard jumped all the way up to second on the lap 68 restart behind his old ride as O’Neal continued to lead. Further back Unzicker moved to fourth ahead of Marlar.
With the race only having 20 laps to go. Pierce began to use the high side of the track in hopes of getting a jump on O’Neal and Sheppard. Unzicker also kept watch in hopes of earning a podium finish.
With less than 10 circuits remaining, Sheppard closed in as O’Neal found himself trapped behind a slower car. Pierce and Unzicker also closed in. Sheppard pulled alongside of O’Neal on lap 97 with the car of Daulton Wilson ahead of the leaders. Pierce went high with O’Neal and Sheppard staying low.
In the end, O’Neal was able to hold the challengers off to earn the big payday.
Feature Results: 1. Hudson O’Neal, 2. Brandon Sheppard, 3. Bobby Pierce, 4. Ryan Unzicker, 5. Tanner English, 6. Mike Marlar, 7. Tyler Erb, 8. Brian Shirley, 9. Jonathan Davenport, 10. Dale McDowell, 11. Shannon Babb, 12. Ryan Gustin, 13. Devin Moran, 14. Ricky Weiss, 15. Jason Feger, 16. Ethan Dotson, 17. Daulton Wilson, 18. Shane Clanton, 19. Joseph Joiner, 20. Spencer Hughes, 21. Kyle Bronson, 22. James Walters, 23. Jimmy Owens, 24. Ricky Thornton Jr., 25. Billy Moyer Sr.
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