Hudson O’Neal made a bold move on a lap 12 restart to take the lead
The Iron-Man Late Model Series rolled into the Smoky Mountain Speedway on Saturday night for its seventh race of the 2021 season. At the end of the evening it was Hudson O’Neal who claimed victory after a high speed night of racing. The Martinsville, Ind. driver earned $5,000 for his triumph.
O’Neal had originally been scheduled to race with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series in the ‘Clash at the Mag’ at Mississippi’s Magnolia Motor Speedway but that race was cancelled due to weather.
A total of 25 cars were signed in for competition.
Ross Bailes was fastest in Group A qualifying with a lap of 15.560 seconds around the 4/10 clay oval to top Hudson O’Neal, Zack Mitchell, Michael Chilton, David Crabtree, Skip Arp, Dusty Carver, and Vic Hill.
Spencer Hughes was quickest in Group B time-trials with an effort of 15.613 seconds to beat out Mike Marlar, Dakotah Knuckles, Randy Weaver, Cory Hedgecock, David Payne, Tommy Kerr, and Robby Moses.
The top-8 from each qualifying group were locked into the main event.
Matthew Nance topped Ray Cook, Joey Coulter, and Brett Wyatt in the lone B-main race used to set the remainder of the starting grid.
At the start of the 40-lap feature it was Hughes who went to the early lead with marlar, Bailes, Knuckles, and O’Neal trailing. O’Neal moved by Knuckles on the second lap for fourth but a lap 3 caution for the spinning car of Chilton would slow the action.
After the restart, Hughes continued to lead as the field roared around the top lane of the track until McIntosh brought out a yellow flag on lap 7. Weaver climbed to fourth on the restart as Hughes continued to lead until a caution came out one lap later for the slowing car of Brett Wyatt.
Hedgecock scrambled up to fourth on the lap 8 restart behind Hughes, Marlar, and O’Neal. But it would be a lap 12 caution for a blown tire on the car of Vic Hill that would determine the final outcome.
O’Neal made a big move on the lap 12 restart that culminated with a slide job on Hughes for the lead in turn one. Five laps later the top-3 of O’Neal, Hughes and Marlar found themselves ripping around the top side of the race track in very tight formation.
The laps clicked off as the front runners held station as the race approached and then passed by the halfway mark. Top-5 runners Weaver(lap 18) and Marlar(lap 27) pulled off the track and out of contention with mechanical issues allowing the likes of Hedgecock, Mitchell, and Knuckles to rise in the running order.
His pursuers got one last chance at O’Neal on a lap 28 restart but the No. 71 car proved worthy of the challenge and eventually drove on to win by a relatively comfortable margin.
Feature Finish: 1. Hudson O’Neal, 2. Spencer Hughes, 3. Dakotah Knuckles, 4. Zack Mitchell, 5. Cory Hedgecock, 6. Tommy Kerr, 7. Jensen Ford, 8. Skip Arp, 9. Robby Moses, 10. Matthew Nance, 11. Mike Marlar, 12. Michael Chilton, 13. Dusty Carver, 14. Randy Weaver, 15. David Payne, 16. Vic Hill, 17. Brett Wyatt, 18. Ross Bailes, 19. Donald McIntosh, 20. Ray Cook, 21. David Crabtree, 22. Joey Coulter
Hudson O’Neal and crew in victory lane
