Hudson O’Neal made it two in a row on Friday night
Hudson O’Neal came into this weekend at East Bay Raceway Park without a feature win for his new Rocket 1 Racing team but after Friday night’s Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series feature he has scored consecutive victories by leading 90 consecutive laps in the 47th annual Wieland Winternationals.
The Rocket Chassis driver from Martinsville, Indiana earned $12,000 for his efforts at the Gibsonton, Florida track in a race shown live by FloRacing.com.
A total of 62 cars were signed in for competition.
Qualifying Results:
Group A Results- 1. Garrett Smith(14.707), 2. Devin Moran, 3. Ryan Gustin, 4. Tyler Erb, 5. Ashton Winger, 6. Jonathan Davenport, 7. Earl Pearson Jr., 8. Dennis Erb Jr., 9. Jack Riggs, 10. Max Blair
Group B Results- 1. Hudson O’Neal(14.706), 2. Blair Nothdurft, 3. Brian Shirley, 4. Garrett Alberson, 5. Tanner English, 6. Daulton Wilson, 7. Tim McCreadie, 8. Jimmy Owens, 9. Ricky Thornton Jr., 10. Brandon Sheppard
Heat 1 Results: 1. Garrett Smith, 2. Tyler Erb, 3. Earl Pearson Jr.
Heat 2 Results: 1. Devin Moran, 2. Ashton Winger, 3. Dennis Erb Jr.
Heat 3 Results: 1. Ryan Gustin, 2. Jonathan Davenport, 3. Kyle Bronson
Heat 4 Results: 1. Hudson O’Neal, 2. Garrett Alberson, 3. Tim McCreadie
Heat 5 Results: 1. Tanner English, 2. Jimmy Owens, 3. Blair Nothdurft
Heat 6 Results: 1. Daulton Wilson, 2. Brian Shirley, 3. Brandon Overton
B-main 1 Finish: 1. Stormy Scott, 2. Ross Bailes
B-main 2 Finish: 1. Mark Whitener, 2. Brandon Sheppard
B-main 3 Finish: 1. Ricky Thornton Jr., 2. Billy Moyer Jr.
Feature Re-cap: The 50-lap feature took the green flag with O’Neal leading Smith, Moran, Gustin and Wilson. On the second lap it was Gustin who went on the move by passing Moran for third while English jumped into the top-5 a bit further back.
The top-5 ran in tight formation for the next several laps until they began to encounter slower traffic just before the tenth circuit.
A lap 12 yellow flag came out when Smith spun while racing Gustin for second. English came along with no place to go and slammed into the prone car of Smith. O’Neal was the leader at that point followed by Gustin, Moran, Wilson and Tyler Erb.
The top-5 remained the same immediately following the lap 12 restart. Caution would again be displayed to the field on lap 16 for the slowing car of Whitener. Three laps of intense racing between O’Neal, Gustin and Moran would be recorded before another yellow flag would wave for a crash involving Shirley, Owens and Bronson.
On the restart, Moran and Wilson got by Gustin leaving the former second place runner to fight with Erb for fourth. Moran quickly closed in to challenge O’Neal for the race lead but O’Neal would hold the position as the race moved into its second half.
Further back, Erb, Gustin and Alberson were going at it for positions 4-6 as Winger and Thornton also joined the fray. O’Neal and Moran continued to fight among slower cars on lap 30 but a lap 32 caution would slow the pace when Erb slowed.
Under the lap 32 caution, O’Neal led Moran, Wilson and Alberson. But Wilson would grab second away from Moran on the restart. Just behind the top-3, Winger, Alberson and Thornton disputed positions 4-6.
O’Neal began to slip away from his pursuers by lap 40 while Winger took third away from Moran. Over the closing laps, O’Neal was able to maintain his advantage over the field as he sailed under the checkered flag for the victory.
Feature Results: 1. Hudson O’Neal, 2. Daulton Wilson, 3. Ashton Winger, 4. Devin Moran, 5. Ricky Thornton Jr., 6. Garrett Alberson, 7. Jonathan Davenport, 8. Brandon Overton, 9. Wil Herrington, 10. Logan Roberson, 11. Ryan Gustin, 12. Earl Pearson Jr., 13. Brandon Sheppard, 14. Spencer Hughes, 15. Ross Robinson, 16. Tyler Erb, 17. Tanner English, 18. Max Blair, 19. Garrett Smith, 20. Ross Bailes, 21. Tyler Bruening, 22. Billy Moyer Jr., 23. Kyle Bronson, 24. Brian Shirley, 25. Jimmy Owens, 26. Blair Nothdurft, 27. Tim McCreadie, 28. Mark Whitener, 29. Dennis Erb Jr., 30. Stormy Scott
Please consider also reading:
First Lucas Oil points night at East Bay brings disaster for front runners
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