O’Neal takes Lucas Oil Late Model Winternationals opener at East Bay
Photo by Mike Ruefer
TAMPA, Fla. — Hudson O’Neal won the opening round of the 48th Annual Wieland Winternationals – Presented by Lucas Oil on Tuesday night at East Bay Raceway Park.
O’Neal picked up right where he left off, ending last year’s Winternationals at East Bay winning the Thursday and Friday night programs as Saturday’s finale was rained out. O’Neal battled with Tyler Erb for the first 10 laps of the race until taking the lead for good on lap 11.
Daulton Wilson tracked down O’Neal on occasion, but never got the opportunity to pass O’Neal as O’Neal raced through traffic towards the end of the race to score his 27th career win on the tour. Wilson finished second followed by Jonathan Davenport, Ashton Winger, and the Todd Steel Buildings Hard Charger of Race, Devin Moran who came from the 18th starting spot to round out the top five drivers.
O’Neal went to Lucas Oil Victory for the fifth time ever at East Bay and for the third time this year with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. “It looked like they shoved those tires in three and four a little bit. I knew that if I could just stay patient enough eventually that top was going to go away. Tyler [Erb] went down there in front of me one time and it came down to a crucial pass coming off of two he just missed the bottom a little bit and let me sneak in. We rubbed some doors, but I knew that was probably going to be the only chance I had to get back by him. We had a little different tire on I feel like that the rest of the field, but it ended up working out.”
Wilson finished second for the ninth time in his career in Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series competition. “The racetrack was pretty bottom dominant and starting sixth I knew we had to get to the front quickly. It was a great night for us, we had good speed and moved moved forward tonight. We brought home everything in one piece. Since we went to this new car it’s really easy to drive. I feel like I can go wherever I want to. Hats off to my guys for building a great race car.”
Davenport who came into the final Winternationals at East Bay with eight career wins at the “Clay by the Bay” rounded out the Big River Steel Podium in third. “I would have bet this thing would had rubbered in no time and it never did for sure. I don’t know why it didn’t. We went a little harder on tire. I lost my grandpa today. He was probably one of the pioneers of the sport that nobody knows about. He probably owned a car for 40 or 50 years. We hate that we lost him but he lived a great life, he was 94 years old. We was hoping we could win one for him and hopefully tomorrow night we can do that.”
The winner’s Mark Richards Racing, Rocket Chassis is powered by Durham Racing Engine and sponsored by Valvoline, Seubert Calf Ranches, Performance Grading, Ace Metal Works, Stiles Marine and Maintenance, Wheeler Metals, O’Neal’s Salvage and Recycling, Professional Concrete Cutting and Drilling, Gunter’s Honey, Fox Shocks, WR1 Sim Chassis and Sunoco Race Fuels.
Completing the top ten were Tyler Erb, Chase Junghans, Brandon Sheppard, Ricky Thornton Jr., and Spencer Hughes.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
48th Annual Wieland Winternationals | Night 2
Tuesday, February 6, 2024
East Bay Raceway Park – Tampa, FL
Allstar Performance Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Hudson O’Neal | 14.666 seconds (overall)
Fast Time Group B: Tyler Erb | 15.004 seconds
Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 1-Hudson O'Neal[1]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[4]; 3. 19M-Spencer Hughes[2]; 4. 111-Max Blair[3]; 5. 2*-Logan Hitt[10]; 6. 11C-Trevor Collins[7]; 7. 82B-Jason Milam[11]; 8. 7T-Drake Troutman[5]; 9. 9-Levi Yetter[6]; 10. 42-Terry Casey[8]; 11. 6H-Ross Bailes[9]; 12. 45D-Dan Battaglia[13]; 13. (DNS) 214-Haiden Cowan
Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (8Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 12-Ashton Winger[3]; 2. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[1]; 3. 99B-Boom Briggs[2]; 4. 25-Tony Jackson Jr[9]; 5. 76N-Blair Nothdurft[4]; 6. 128-Kylan Garner[6]; 7. 17SS-Brenden Smith[7]; 8. 71C-RJ Conley[8]; 9. 4G-Bob Gardner[10]; 10. 29-Larry Grube[11]; 11. 21M-Tre Martin[12]; 12. 81J-Jack Riggs[5]; 13. (DNS) K&B-Kerry King
Earnhardt Technologies Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 10-Garrett Smith[1]; 2. B5-Brandon Sheppard[6]; 3. 58-Garrett Alberson[3]; 4. 14X-Wil Herrington[2]; 5. 4-Amanda Robinson[7]; 6. 81F-Jadon Frame[4]; 7. 6T-Tim Dohm[5]; 8. 187-David McCoy[11]; 9. 51-Dean Carpenter[8]; 10. 22M-Sean Mattingly[12]; 11. 12R-Ryan Payne[9]; 12. (DNS) 21-Kenny Howell
Simpson Race Products Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 1T-Tyler Erb[1]; 2. 18-Chase Junghans[4]; 3. 20-Jimmy Owens[3]; 4. 6-Clay Harris[2]; 5. 40B-Kyle Bronson[5]; 6. 7-Ross Robinson[8]; 7. 3-Brennon Willard[9]; 8. 69-Brandon Thirlby[6]; 9. 20B-Todd Brennan[7]; 10. 27-Michael Lake[11]; 11. 71R-Rod Conley[10]; 12. 07-Brian Ledbetter[13]; 13. 32-Jason Jack[12]
Lucas Oil Heat Race #5 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 66C-Matt Cosner[2]; 3. 1Z-Logan Zarin[3]; 4. 75-Daniel Adam[6]; 5. 81-Jason Riggs[4]; 6. 47W-Brandon Weigle[7]; 7. 8-Dillon McCowan[9]; 8. S21-Seth Daniels[10]; 9. 48-Tim Lance[8]; 10. USA1-Chris Hawkins[12]; 11. 15K-Jensen Ford[5]; 12. (DNS) 33-Jeff Mathews
Lucas Oil Heat Race #6 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 18D-Daulton Wilson[1]; 2. 3S-Brian Shirley[2]; 3. 99-Devin Moran[9]; 4. 39-Tim McCreadie[4]; 5. 96V-Tanner English[3]; 6. 31-Tyler Millwood[7]; 7. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[8]; 8. 93-Cory Lawler[6]; 9. 4S-Danny Snyder[12]; 10. 25B-Mike Benedum[10]; 11. 174-Ethan Dotson[5]; 12. 15-Blake McClain[11]
Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 111-Max Blair[1]; 2. 25-Tony Jackson Jr[2]; 3. 11C-Trevor Collins[5]; 4. 76N-Blair Nothdurft[4]; 5. 82B-Jason Milam[7]; 6. 7T-Drake Troutman[9]; 7. 17SS-Brenden Smith[8]; 8. 128-Kylan Garner[6]; 9. 2*-Logan Hitt[3]; 10. 9-Levi Yetter[11]; 11. 71C-RJ Conley[10]; 12. 4G-Bob Gardner[12]; 13. 214-Haiden Cowan[19]; 14. 21M-Tre Martin[16]; 15. 29-Larry Grube[14]; 16. 42-Terry Casey[13]; 17. (DNS) 6H-Ross Bailes; 18. (DNS) 45D-Dan Battaglia; 19. (DNS) 81J-Jack Riggs
UNOH B-Main Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 14X-Wil Herrington[1]; 2. 40B-Kyle Bronson[4]; 3. 6-Clay Harris[2]; 4. 81F-Jadon Frame[5]; 5. 7-Ross Robinson[6]; 6. 4-Amanda Robinson[3]; 7. 187-David McCoy[9]; 8. 6T-Tim Dohm[7]; 9. 51-Dean Carpenter[11]; 10. 71R-Rod Conley[16]; 11. 27-Michael Lake[14]; 12. 3-Brennon Willard[8]; 13. 21-Kenny Howell[17]; 14. 07-Brian Ledbetter[18]; 15. 22M-Sean Mattingly[13]; 16. 20B-Todd Brennan[12]; 17. 69-Brandon Thirlby[10]; 18. (DNS) 12R-Ryan Payne; 19. (DNS) 32-Jason Jack
MyRacePass B-Main Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 39-Tim McCreadie[2]; 2. 31-Tyler Millwood[6]; 3. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[8]; 4. S21-Seth Daniels[9]; 5. 81-Jason Riggs[3]; 6. 96V-Tanner English[4]; 7. 174-Ethan Dotson[16]; 8. 48-Tim Lance[11]; 9. 8-Dillon McCowan[7]; 10. 25B-Mike Benedum[14]; 11. 4S-Danny Snyder[12]; 12. 47W-Brandon Weigle[5]; 13. 15K-Jensen Ford[15]; 14. USA1-Chris Hawkins[13]; 15. 93-Cory Lawler[10]; 16. 75-Daniel Adam[1]; 17. (DNS) 15-Blake McClain; 18. (DNS) 33-Jeff Mathews
Tues A-Main (30 Laps): 1. 1-Hudson O'Neal[1]; 2. 18D-Daulton Wilson[6]; 3. 49-Jonathan Davenport[4]; 4. 12-Ashton Winger[3]; 5. 99-Devin Moran[18]; 6. 1T-Tyler Erb[2]; 7. 18-Chase Junghans[8]; 8. B5-Brandon Sheppard[11]; 9. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[7]; 10. 19M-Spencer Hughes[13]; 11. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[9]; 12. 3S-Brian Shirley[12]; 13. 111-Max Blair[19]; 14. 58-Garrett Alberson[17]; 15. 39-Tim McCreadie[21]; 16. 99B-Boom Briggs[15]; 17. 14X-Wil Herrington[20]; 18. 10-Garrett Smith[5]; 19. 25-Tony Jackson Jr[22]; 20. 66C-Matt Cosner[10]; 21. 31-Tyler Millwood[24]; 22. 1Z-Logan Zarin[16]; 23. 40B-Kyle Bronson[23]; 24. 20-Jimmy Owens[14]
Race Statistics
Entrants: 75
Victory Fuel Pole Sitter: Hudson O’Neal
Lap Leaders: Hudson O’Neal (Laps 1-3); Tyler Erb (Laps 4-10); Hudson O’Neal (Laps 11-30)
Wieland Feature Winner: Hudson O’Neal
Arizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup Feature Winner: n/a
Brandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: n/a
Margin of Victory: 0.654 seconds
Dave Warren Powersports Cautions: n/a
Series Provisionals: n/a
Fast Time Provisional: n/a
Series Emergency Provisionals: n/a
Track Provisional: n/a
Big River Steel Podium Top 3: Hudson O’Neal, Daulton Wilson, Jonathan Davenport
Penske Shocks Top 5: Hudson O’Neal, Daulton Wilson, Jonathan Davenport, Ashton Winger, Devin Moran
Todd Steel Buildings Hard Charger of the Race: Devin Moran (Advanced 13 Positions)
Wilwood Brakes Lucky 7th Place Feature: Chase Junghans
Deatherage Opticians Lucky 13th Place Feature: Max Blair
MD3 Most Laps Led: Hudson O’Neal (23 Laps)
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Hudson O’Neal
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Ricky Thornton, Jr.
O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: n/a
Coltman Farms Fastest Lap of the Race: Hudson O’Neal (Lap 2 – 16.417 seconds)
Slicker Graphics Slickest Move of the Race: Hudson O’Neal
Miller Welders Hard Luck Award: Daniel Adam
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Danny White (Hudson O’Neal)
ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Durham Racing Engines
Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Rocket Chassis
Dirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Jonathan Davenport (14.765 seconds)
Time of Race: 8 minutes 48 seconds
LUCAS OIL LATE MODEL DIRT SERIES AS OF 2/6/2024
Pos Competitor Points
1 Ricky Thornton Jr 1315
2 Hudson O'Neal 1305
3 Devin Moran 1225
4 Jonathan Davenport 1160
5 Brandon Sheppard 1100
6 Tim McCreadie 1065
7 Daulton Wilson 1065
8 Kyle Bronson 1060
9 Clay Harris 1000
10 Tyler Erb 985
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