Hudson O’Neal came from well back to win
After a Friday night rainout at Volusia Speedway Park, the 52nd annual Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals concluded on Saturday evening with Hudson O’Neal charging form his 12th row starting spot and taking the win in the finale for the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Late Model Series portion of Georgia-Florida SpeedWeeks.
The Rocket Chassis driver from Martinsville, Indiana earned $20,000 on the track located in Barberville, Florida in a race shown live by DirtVision.com.
Tim McCreadie earned the Big Gator Trophy for his achievements over the course of the week at Volusia.
A total of 53 cars were signed in for competition.
Qualifying Results:
Group A Results- 1. Brandon Overton(15.886), 2. Bobby Pierce, 3. Kyle Strickler, 4. Jonathan Davenport, 5. Kyle Bronson, 6. Shane Clanton, 7. Brent Larson, 8. Ashton Winger, 9. Daulton Wilson, 10. Ryan Gustin
Group B Results- 1. Chris Madden(16.119), 2. Blair Nothdurft, 3. Chase Junghans, 4. Devin Moran, 5. Mason Zeigler, 6. Tim McCreadie, 7. Ricky Thornton Jr., 8. Mark Whitener, 9. Brandon Sheppard, 10. Tanner English
Heat 1 Results: 1. Jonathan Davenport, 2. Brandon Overton, 3. Ryan Gustin
Heat 2 Results: 1. Bobby Pierce, 2. Max Blair, 3. Kyle Bronson
Heat 3 Results: 1. Shane Clanton, 2. Daulton Wilson, 3. Jimmy Owens
Heat 4 Results: 1. Chris Madden, 2. Devin Moran, 3. Tanner English
Heat 5 Results: 1. Brian Shirley, 2. Mason Zeigler, 3. Blair Nothdurft
Heat 6 Results: 1. Tim McCreadie, 2. Chase Junghans, 3. Brandon Sheppard
Last Chance Showdown 1 Finish: 1. Dale McDowell, 2. Brent Larson
Last Chance Showdown 2 Finish: 1. Ricky Thornton Jr., 2. Hudson O’Neal
Last Chance Showdown 3 Finish: 1. Mike Spatola, 2. Frank Heckenast Jr.
WoO Late Models Redraw Results: 1. McCreadie, 2. Madden, 3. Shirley, 4. Davenport, 5. Pierce, 6. Clanton
Feature Re-cap: When the 50-lap feature took the green flag McCreadie led the way ahead of Shirley, Pierce, Clanton and Madden. On the second circuit it was Madden on the rise as he passed Clanton for fourth. On elap later, Overton moved around Clanton to enter the top-5.
A lap 3 caution for a spin by English re-set the field. Overton and Moran jumped to third and fourth respectively as Pierce fell back to sixth. By lap 8, McCreadie appeared poised to run away after building a lead of over two seconds ahead of Shirley and Overton.
Shirley, Overton and Moran cut into McCreadie’s lead by lap 14 as slower traffic came into play. Madden also joined the fray by passing Moran for fourth on lap 16. One lap later, both Madden and Moran got by Overton to take third and fourth.
Shirley issued a challenge on McCreadie for the lead on lap 20 but McCreadie would hold the position while Madden also closed in. Just before the halfway point, Madden took the runner-up spot from Shirley while 23rd starting O’Neal entered the top-5.
O’Neal continued to rise on lap 27 when he got by Moran for fourth. A lap 29 yellow flag for Spatola provided a break for the front runners as McCreadie led Madden, Shirley, O’Neal and Moran at the time of the yellow flag.
Shirley regained second on the restart while Moran took fourth from O’Neal. However, Madden would take second back on lap 31. Both Shirley and Moran got by Madden for second and third on lap 33. Shirley briefly took the lesd away from McCreadie but T-Mac quickly returned to the top spot and then pulled away.
Sheppard rose to the top-5 by passing Madden on lap 38. Moran gained second by getting by Shirley with ten laps remaining in the event. And the driver of the No. 99 wasn’t finished yet as he got by McCreadie on lap 43 then O’Neal also got by McCreadie on lap 44.
O’Neal’s charge got him to the lead on lap 45 as he and Moran fought in traffic. Thornton entered the fight as he began to challenge McCreadie for third.
O’Neal maintained the lead to complete an incredible charge from well back in the field to the front.
Feature Results: 1. Hudson O’Neal, 2. Devin Moran, 3. Ricky Thornton Jr., 4. Tim McCreadie, 5. Brandon Overton, 6. Brandon Sheppard, 7. Chris Madden, 8. Bobby Pierce, 9. Brian Shirley, 10. Max Blair, 11. Daulton Wilson, 12. Kyle Bronson, 13. Ryan Gustin, 14. Ashton Winger, 15. Dennis Erb Jr., 16. Brent Larson, 17. Nick Hoffman, 18. Chase Junghans, 19. Gordy Gundaker, 20. Shane Clanton, 21. Boom Briggs, 22. Payton Freeman, 23. Tanner English, 24. Jimmy Owens, 25. Dale McDowell, 26. Frank Heckenast Jr.
Please consider also reading:
Last lap pass nets Bobby Pierce a WoO Late Models win at Volusia
Respond to this post on Twitter by following @RichardAllenIDR and @MichaelRMoats or by liking the InsideDirtRacing.com Facebook page.
Also, NASCAR and pavement racing fans can check out InsideCircleTrack.
