Hudson O’Neal fought off a number of determined challengers
Hudson O’Neal entered Wednesday night at Marshalltown Speedway without a feature win in 2022 but that would change at the end of the evening. The driver of the No. 71 Double Down Motorsports team took the lead just after halfway then fought off numerous challenges on his way to the FloRacing Night in America triumph.
The Rocket Chassis driver from Martinsville, Indiana earned $22,022 for his efforts in a race held on the quarter-mile clay oval located in Marshalltown, Iowa and shown live on FloRacing.com.
A total of 29 cars were signed in for competition.
Qualifying Results: 1. Mike Marlar(13.758, New Track Record), 2. Billy Moyer Jr., 3. Hudson O’Neal, 4. Brandon Sheppard, 5. Ryan Gustin, 6. Garrett Alberson, 7. Tim McCreadie, 8. Earl Pearson Jr., 9. Chris Simpson, 10. Bobby Pierce
Heat 1 Results: 1, Mike Marlar, 2. Tim McCreadie, 3. Brandon Sheppard, 4, Ashton Winger, 5. Bobby Pierce, 6. Tyler Erb
Heat 2 Results: 1. Ryan Gustin, 2. Earl Pearson Jr., 3. Billy Moyer Jr., 4. Ross Robinson, 5. Jake Timm, 6. Charlie McKenna
Heat 3 Results: 1, Hudson O’Neal, 2. Ricky Thornton Jr., 3. Garrett Alberson, 4. Chris Simpson, 5. Chad Simpson, 6. Spencer Hughes
B-main Finish: 1. Devin Moran, 2. Logan Martin, 3. Tyler Bruening, 4. Spencer Diercks
Feature Re-cap: At the start of the 50-lap feature it was Gustin who grabbed the early lead with Marlar, O’Neal, McCreadie and Pearson trailing. A yellow flag waved just after the completion of the first circuit due to an incident involving Chad Simpson and Diercks.
O’Neal moved to second behind Gustin on the lap 1 restart while further back Thornton jumped into the top-5. Sheppard also began to move forward as he took sixth on lap 4.
Thornton found trouble on lap 8 when his car slipped over the top of the track in turns one and two and did a rollover to bring out another caution. Gustin was the leader at that point ahead of Marlar, McCreadie and Sheppard.
Sheppard began to move forward just after the restart as he immediately went to fourth then began working on Marlar for third. Marlar then stepped up to challenge O’Neal for second as Gustin looked to slip away from his pursuers.
By lap 17, O’Neal and Marlar had closed in on Gustin as they looked to catch the early race leader. Traffic became a factor for the front runners 20 laps into the feature further allowing O’Neal and Marlar to close. Sheppard took third away from Marlar just past the halfway mark as O’Neal continued to harass Gustin.
O’Neal’s efforts finally paid off on lap 30 as he passed by Gustin for the lead but Gustin fought back with Sheppard closing in to join the fight. The top-5 of O’Neal, Gustin, Sheppard, Marlar and McCreadie were engaged in a furious battle for position with just 15 laps remaining.
Sheppard made it to the runner-up position on lap 40 with Marlar also passing by Gustin. As the laps clicked away, O’Neal began to build some distance between himself and Sheppard with Marlar, Gustin and McCreadie continued to fight for the remaining top-5 positions.
Ultimately, O’Neal was able to hold back all challengers as he sailed under the checkered flag for his first feature win of 2022 and the first FloRacing victory of his career. He was the fifth winner in five series races so far this season.
“I was having a hard time hitting it down here, it was so thin around that top,” O’Neal said of the tracks cushion in turns one and two during his victory lane interview. “I spent most of the time through the middle then Gustin moved down and I knew I had to get up there to pass him. Man, this car was just awesome all night long, being able to qualify good from a deep position like we did then capitalize on starting up front. I knew just running around there pacing those first 20 laps, I knew I had a good race car. I was just trying to keep the tires underneath me for a while and it just worked out.”
Feature Results: 1. Hudson O’Neal, 2. Brandon Sheppard, 3. Mike Marlar, 4. Ryan Gustin, 5. Tyler Erb, 6. Tim McCreadie, 7. Garrett Alberson, 8. Chris Simpson, 9. Bobby Pierce, 10. Billy Moyer Jr., 11. Earl Pearson Jr., 12. Tyler Bruening,, 13. Jake Timm, 14. Ross Robinson, 15. Spencer Hughes, 16. Ashton Winger, 17. Devin Moran, 18. Charlie McKenna, 19. Logan Martin, 20. Ricky Thornton Jr., 21. Chad Simpson, 22. Spencer Diercks
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