For the first time in his career, Hudson O’Neal is atop the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Championship Point Standings.
The 20-year-old won the Buckeye Spring 50 on Sunday Night at Atomic Speedway in Chillicothe, Ohio, for his second series win of 2021. O’Neal, a third-generation racer, is a native of Martinsville and now resides in Hope.
O’Neal was the third and final leader of the race, taking the lead on Lap 9 from Devin Moran, and then he held to hold off Tim McCreadie the last several laps of the 50-lapper to win by .563-second over the veteran racer.
Moran came home in third, followed by Jonathan Davenport and Kyle Bronson.
Kyle Strickler, who drives for PCC Motorsports based in Hope, started from the pole AND took the lead at the start of the race when drivers were running two- and three-wide around the 3/8-mile high-banked track.
Strickler led until Moran took over the point on Lap 5. The top three of Moran, Strickler and O’Neal, who started third, were putting on a spectacular race for the race lead when Strickler suffered a right-rear flat tire which forced a caution flag with 19 laps complete. Strickler would exit to the pits, which meant that no driver on the series tour this year has won from the pole starting spot.
A caution at the halfway mark would then later set up a long green-flag stretch of racing for 22 laps until a caution with 47 laps scored would set up a race to the finish. O’Neal had held a consistent margin between himself an McCreadie for most of the last half of the race, which resulted in O’Neal going to Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the ninth time in his career.
O’Neal, who joined Tyler Erb as the only two-time winner this year in the LOLMDS, went to victory for the first time since winning the opening night at East Bay back in January.
“I can’t these guys enough for their work on this race car,” O’Neal said. “We had oner of the UNOH students on board with us this weekend. Thanks to family and everybody involved with the race team. This car was awesome from the start. What an awesome feeling to take the lead early. I know McCreadie was all over me there a couple of times. I probably sweated the whole race. I knew all it was going to take was one mistake and he (McCreadie) would get by me.”
McCreadie, who stayed with O’Neal and was ready to pounce if O’Neal made a mistake, settled for the second spot.
“I didn’t need the yellow there,” McCreadie said. “It looked like (O’Neal) got lost on the track a little bit, which happens sometimes when you are leading. I moved around and found something there that was really good. His guys told him that under the caution. We passed a lot of good cars. I wish I could have been a tick better, but it’s no shame finishing second to Hudson.”
Moran, who was in the hunt for his first series win of the season for most of the race, rounded out the podium in third.
“That was a heck of a race,” Moran said. “Congrats to Huddy. He capitalized when I messed up. I feel like we gave that one away. Good job to those guys for winning and to Timmy for second. I feel like we need to keep our heads up and we can get a lot of wins this year.”
The winner’s Roger Sellers Double Down Motorsports Rocket Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and sponsored by Lazydays RV, O’Neal’s Salvage and Recycling, Lucas Oil Products, 210 Enterprises and Wr1 Sim Chassis.
Completing the top 10 were Jimmy Owens, Tyler Erb, Josh Richards, Shane Clanton and Mike Marlar.
The next Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series events will be on April 17 at Hagerstown Speedway in Hagerstown, Maryland, and April 18 at Port Royal Speedway in Port Royal, Pennsylvania.
Brownstown hosting sprints tonight
Brownstown Speedway will be in action tonight with the “No Way Out 40” for 410 non-wing sprint cars. The main event will pay $7,500 to win. Also competing will be the pro late models and open wheel modifieds. For more information, visit brownstownspeedway.com.
Florence Speedway running tonight
Florence Speedway in Union, Kentucky, will be hosting a special $5,000-to-win race for late models tonight. Also running will be open wheel modifieds and sport mods. The pit gate will open at 1 p.m., with the main grandstand opening at 3:30 p.m. Hot laps will begin at 4 p.m. For more info, visit florencespeedway.com.
Twin Cities to hold practice
The Twin Cities Raceway Park in Vernon will hold practice sessions today and April 3. The practice times are from noon to 5 p.m. each day. For more the latest info, visit twincitiestrack.com.
Lawrenceburg opener set for April 3
Lawrenceburg Speedway will open its 2021 racing season on April 3 with the USAC National Sprint Car Series along with open wheel modifieds and hornets. For further information, visit lawrenceburgspeedway.com.
Bloomington opener set for April 9
Bloomington Speedway has announced that its season opener will be on April 9 with sprints, modifieds and 305 winged sprints.
This week in racing history
From 20 years ago in 2001, Dick Phillips captured his first Brownstown Speedway feature win of his career. The Columbus native, who was the 1979 Brownstown Rookie of the Year, outran Kevin Claycomb, Rick Aukland, Jim Curry, and Tim Prince for the victory. Brad Cummings won the super stock feature over Rick Hines, Gregg O’Neill, Jay Deckard, and Tim Clark. Matt Bex took the bomber feature win over Ray Godsey Jr., Bubba Woods, Greg Benton, and Robert Walters.
James Essex writes a motorsports notebook for The Republic. Send comments to sports@therepublic.com
