O'Neal completes a sweep of 12th annual Spring Nationals at Lucas Oil Speedway
Photo by Mike Ruefer
WHEATLAND, Mo. — Hudson O'Neal came to south-central Missouri in a self-proclaimed slump, winless and often non-competitive for more than two months. O'Neal left Lucas Oil Speedway with a momentum-turning sweep of the 12th annual Spring Nationals Presented by Iconic Apparel.
The Martinsville, Ind., driver chased down race-long leader Brandon Overton on lap 43 and turned Night Two of the Spring Nationals into a rout from there, claiming the $20,000 prize in the unsanctioned feature for Open Late Models.
After working to make the pass on Overton for several laps, O'Neal finally took over the top spot and went on to win by 3.5 seconds. The triumph, in his SSI Motorsports Longhorn chassis, was worth nearly triple his prize for Friday’s $7,000 feature win.
"I had a good race car again tonight," said O'Neal, the 2021 Show-Me 100 winner. "We didn't start on the front row, which was scary for a little bit at the beginning of the race. We shuffled back pretty good there, but thanks to all my guys.
"Hopefully this is a good sign for the months to come. I've loved coming to this place since I was little."
Overton used the outside line to earn the early lead with Tony Jackson Jr., following him from the outside of row two and Jonathan Davenport settling for third after one lap. That’s when Jace Parmley rolled to a stop in turn one to bring out a quick caution.
As action resumed, Davenport cruised around Jackson and began pursuit of Overton who opened a 1.3-second lead by lap five. Overton caught lapped cars by lap 13 as the race settled into a long green-flag run.
Davenport took advantage to whittle the lead to under one second with O’Neal about another second back in third. Billy Moyer slowed on the front stretch of lap 22, bringing out the event’s second caution and wiping out Overton’s rebuilt-lead, which had expanded to 1.8 seconds.
The restart saw Overton break away and open a 1.3-second lead by lap 26 when the race’s third caution came out after Eli Ross spun in turn four. O’Neal took advantage of a good start from the inside on the restart to edge past Davenport for second with Marlar in fourth.
"I was just lucky, I got to going through some lapped cars there and one of them got a really good run off the bottom," O'Neal said. "I thought, 'Man, if lapped cars are getting around off the bottom, then I think I can."
O’Neal continued to dive low into the turns and started to cut into Overton’s lead and was on his backside by lap 32. He pulled alongside several laps in a row, but was unable to make the pass out of turn four as the duo separated from Davenport and Marlar by two seconds.
O’Neal finally made the inside pass for the lead out of turn four on lap 43, supplanting the race-long pacesetter. He worked through lapped traffic, was able to separate himself by one second by lap 48.
As action remained caution-free the rest of the way, the 2021 Show-Me 100 winner poured it on and beat Overton, of Evans, Ga., by 3.56 seconds.
"It's a hell of a lot better than we've been," Overton said of his finish, one spot better than Friday. "Just hats off to my crew. Everybody's been working really hard. We're making gains at it.
"Good job by Hudson, he did a hell of a job. We're right there. I feel good about it."
Marlar won the battle with Davenport in the final laps for third with Cade Dillard capturing fifth.
"Jonathan and I was having a really good race there," Marlar said. "He kept stepping out trying to make some passes and I kind of slipped under him. It was a good race and I had a lot of fun out there. I'm glad to be on the podium."
Forty entries were on hand for Night Two of the event, the only Lucas Oil Speedway action for Open Late Models prior to the 33rd annual Show-Me 100 Presented by Missouri Division of Tourism, May 22-24.
"I've loved coming to this place since I was little," the 24-year-old O'Neal, whose father Don also was a Show-Me 100 winner, said when asked about returning for the $75,000-to-win Show-Me in just six weeks. "We're so, so excited to come back here. The tire rule is going to be a little bit different, but hopefully the stuff we learned this week will help us then."
Davenport had the night's fastest qualifying lap with a time of 15.560 out of Group 1. Brandon Overton paced Group 2 at 16.118.
Super Stocks win goes to Miller: Donnie Miller of West Plains won a thriller in the Hickamo Super Stocks feature, taking home the $1,000 prize.
Miller took the lead on lap two from fellow front-row starter Tim Brown, lost it back to Brown on lap seven and regained it the next time around. Those two were separated by a quarter second when the first caution slow things on lap 10.
Brown worked the inside after the restart to pull alongside Miller with Kyle Davis lurking right behind. Brown finally edged his way back into the lead coming to the start-finish line on lap 15 - but Miller took it back the next time around.
A lap-17 caution set up a shootout for the win between the top three, which were separated by less than a quarter second.
Miller won the sprint to the end, beating Davis by .492 seconds with Brown right behind. Blaine Ewing captured fourth with Derek Brown fifth. Throw in sixth-place Tony Anglin and the top half-dozen were separated by just under two seconds.
"It was an awesome run. It seems like something always bites us here, but it didn't tonight," Miller said. "Any time I've been lucky enough to win $1,000 in a race car, I always get down on my knees on the front stretch and praise the Lord."
Eickleberry picks up SMVR win: Chad Eickleberry of Warrensburg rallied from a 10th-starting position to win the Show-Me Vintage Racers feature, beating Owen Evinger by just under one second.
While he has more than 100 career wins, Eickleberry said this one was special.
"I always feel like the bridesmaid here. Every time I'm here, this is the only track I've raced at that I haven't won," Eickleberry said.
Third-starting Dan Schmidt rolled into the lead on lap two, overtaking lap-one leader Beth Martin. By lap five, David Isaacs had moved from 11th to second and was closing in on Schmidt when the event’s fourth caution flew on lap seven.
A couple of laps after the restart, Eickleberry took over second from Isaacs with Damon Clevenger advancing into fourth. Eickleberry took the lead on lap 12 on another restart and held on over the final three laps to beat Evinger, who started 19th, by .827 seconds.
Clevenger, Friday’s feature winner, placed third with Isaacs finishing fourth and Schmidt fifth.
LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY UNOFFICIAL RESULTS (April 12, 2025)
12th Annual Spring Nationals
Open Late Models
A Feature - 1. 71-Hudson O'Neal[3]; 2. 76-Brandon Overton[2]; 3. 157-Mike Marlar[6]; 4. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 5. 97-Cade Dillard[5]; 6. 93F-Carson Ferguson[17]; 7. 22D-Daniel Hilsabeck[21]; 8. 98-Justin Wells[8]; 9. 15S-Clay Stuckey[16]; 10. 8-Dillon McCowan[10]; 11. 11GG-Gordy Gundaker[19]; 12. 5-Logan Martin[9]; 13. 11H-Jeff Herzog[7]; 14. 93-Mason Oberkramer[13]; 15. 74-Mitch McGrath[15]; 16. 3-Brennon Willard[23]; 17. (DNF) 11T-Trevor Gundaker[20]; 18. (DNF) 8K-Tyler Kuykendall[22]; 19. (DNF) 32-Chris Simpson[12]; 20. (DNF) 56-Tony Jackson Jr[4]; 21. (DNF) 66-Eli Ross[18]; 22. (DNF) 21-Billy Moyer Sr[14]; 23. (DNF) 1X-Aaron Marrant[11]; 24. (DNF) 82J-Jace Parmley[24]
B Feature 1 - 1. 93F-Carson Ferguson[3]; 2. 11GG-Gordy Gundaker[2]; 3. 22D-Daniel Hilsabeck[4]; 4. 3-Brennon Willard[6]; 5. 50-Kayden Clatt[5]; 6. 11-Jon Kirby[1]; 7. 12-Scott Crigler[8]; 8. 1/4J-Jaxon Ertel[9]; 9. 128-Kylan Garner[7]; 10. 7J-Ryan Johnson[10]; 11. 18-Shannon Parker[12]; 12. (DNF) 31C-Cole Henson[11]
B Feature 2 - 1. 66-Eli Ross[1]; 2. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[4]; 3. 8K-Tyler Kuykendall[3]; 4. 82J-Jace Parmley[5]; 5. 77-Jeremy Petty[7]; 6. 15-Shane Stephens[2]; 7. 7W-JC Waller[6]; 8. 14-Reid Millard[10]; 9. 805-Rob Hough[9]; 10. 96-Dalton Imhoff[8]; 11. 1K-Richard Kimberling[11]; 12. 26P-Glen Powell[12]
Heat 1 - 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 97-Cade Dillard[3]; 3. 5-Logan Martin[2]; 4. 93-Mason Oberkramer[5]; 5. 11-Jon Kirby[6]; 6. 93F-Carson Ferguson[8]; 7. 50-Kayden Clatt[4]; 8. 128-Kylan Garner[7]; 9. 1/4J-Jaxon Ertel[10]; 10. 31C-Cole Henson[9]
Heat 2 - 1. 71-Hudson O'Neal[1]; 2. 11H-Jeff Herzog[5]; 3. 1X-Aaron Marrant[6]; 4. 74-Mitch McGrath[9]; 5. 11GG-Gordy Gundaker[10]; 6. 22D-Daniel Hilsabeck[3]; 7. 3-Brennon Willard[2]; 8. 12-Scott Crigler[4]; 9. 7J-Ryan Johnson[7]; 10. 18-Shannon Parker[8]
Heat 3 - 1. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 2. 157-Mike Marlar[3]; 3. 8-Dillon McCowan[6]; 4. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[4]; 5. 66-Eli Ross[2]; 6. 8K-Tyler Kuykendall[5]; 7. 82J-Jace Parmley[7]; 8. 77-Jeremy Petty[8]; 9. 805-Rob Hough[9]; 10. 1K-Richard Kimberling[10]
Heat 4 - 1. 56-Tony Jackson Jr[2]; 2. 98-Justin Wells[1]; 3. 32-Chris Simpson[3]; 4. 15S-Clay Stuckey[8]; 5. 15-Shane Stephens[4]; 6. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[5]; 7. 7W-JC Waller[6]; 8. 96-Dalton Imhoff[7]; 9. 14-Reid Millard[10]; 10. 26P-Glen Powell[9]
Qualifying Group 1 - 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport, 00:15.560[2]; 2. 71-Hudson O'Neal, 00:15.843[12]; 3. 5-Logan Martin, 00:15.986[8]; 4. 3-Brennon Willard, 00:16.099[10]; 5. 97-Cade Dillard, 00:16.167[17]; 6. 22D-Daniel Hilsabeck, 00:16.203[7]; 7. 50-Kayden Clatt, 00:16.391[6]; 8. 12-Scott Crigler, 00:16.396[4]; 9. 93-Mason Oberkramer, 00:16.403[18]; 10. 11H-Jeff Herzog, 00:16.410[1]; 11. 11-Jon Kirby, 00:16.419[3]; 12. 1X-Aaron Marrant, 00:16.421[14]; 13. 128-Kylan Garner, 00:16.571[5]; 14. 7J-Ryan Johnson, 00:16.681[19]; 15. 93F-Carson Ferguson, 00:16.707[16]; 16. 18-Shannon Parker, 00:16.749[9]; 17. 31C-Cole Henson, 00:16.774[15]; 18. 74-Mitch McGrath, 00:16.780[11]; 19. 1/4J-Jaxon Ertel, 00:17.069[13]; 20. (DNS) 11GG-Gordy Gundaker, 00:17.069
Qualifying Group 2 - 1. 76-Brandon Overton, 00:16.118[16]; 2. 98-Justin Wells, 00:16.251[6]; 3. 66-Eli Ross, 00:16.360[13]; 4. 56-Tony Jackson Jr, 00:16.389[1]; 5. 157-Mike Marlar, 00:16.449[5]; 6. 32-Chris Simpson, 00:16.544[12]; 7. 21-Billy Moyer Sr, 00:16.608[2]; 8. 15-Shane Stephens, 00:16.661[8]; 9. 8K-Tyler Kuykendall, 00:16.721[11]; 10. 11T-Trevor Gundaker, 00:16.742[14]; 11. 8-Dillon McCowan, 00:16.766[18]; 12. 7W-JC Waller, 00:16.819[20]; 13. 82J-Jace Parmley, 00:16.823[9]; 14. 96-Dalton Imhoff, 00:16.847[4]; 15. 77-Jeremy Petty, 00:16.876[3]; 16. 15S-Clay Stuckey, 00:16.895[17]; 17. 805-Rob Hough, 00:17.035[10]; 18. 26P-Glen Powell, 00:17.055[19]; 19. 1K-Richard Kimberling, 00:17.256[15]; 20. 14-Reid Millard, 00:17.284[7]
Hickamo Super Stocks
A Feature - 1. 26M-Donnie Miller[2]; 2. 10K-Kyle Davis[8]; 3. 111-Tim Brown[1]; 4. 04-Blaine Ewing[3]; 5. 11-Derek Brown[5]; 6. G1T-Tony Anglin[4]; 7. 4-Jared Hays[13]; 8. B4-Brian Worley[9]; 9. 21W-Ted Welschmeyer[17]; 10. 94C-JT Carroll[14]; 11. 2-Colton Bourland[6]; 12. 22-Craig Wiggens[18]; 13. 77-Jeff Douty[21]; 14. 69-Brian Brown[11]; 15. 67-Devin Irvin[19]; 16. 164-Michael Muskrat[22]; 17. 22D-Lonnie Duncan[16]; 18. 69C-Caleb Brown[15]; 19. 16-Logan Thompson[20]; 20. 112-Kevin Brown[23]; 21. (DNF) 94-Kenny Carroll[7]; 22. (DNF) 44-James Nighswonger[12]; 23. (DNF) 4G-Gary Clark[10]; 24. (DNF) 28K-Chris Kircher[24]
B Feature 1 - 1. 21W-Ted Welschmeyer[1]; 2. 67-Devin Irvin[2]; 3. 77-Jeff Douty[3]; 4. 112-Kevin Brown[6]; 5. 127-Jay Barnett[4]; 6. 70-Patrick West[5]; 7. (DNF) 27S-Will Smart[8]; 8. (DNF) 89-Josh Harris[7]; 9. (DNS) 35-Johnny Coats
B Feature 2 - 1. 22-Craig Wiggens[2]; 2. 16-Logan Thompson[4]; 3. 164-Michael Muskrat[3]; 4. 28K-Chris Kircher[5]; 5. 15M-Michael Matthews[1]; 6. 3-Dale Douty III[6]; 7. (DNF) 69T-Tony Bowman[8]; 8. (DNF) G1-Nick Gibson[7]; 9. (DNS) 08-Scott Pullen
Heat 1 - 1. 111-Tim Brown[5]; 2. 26M-Donnie Miller[8]; 3. 44-James Nighswonger[3]; 4. 69-Brian Brown[7]; 5. 69C-Caleb Brown[1]; 6. 15M-Michael Matthews[2]; 7. 22-Craig Wiggens[6]; 8. 164-Michael Muskrat[9]; 9. 28K-Chris Kircher[10]; 10. G1-Nick Gibson[4]; 11. 27S-Will Smart[11]; 12. 69T-Tony Bowman[12]
Heat 2 - 1. 2-Colton Bourland[1]; 2. 11-Derek Brown[5]; 3. 10K-Kyle Davis[6]; 4. B4-Brian Worley[9]; 5. 4-Jared Hays[8]; 6. 94C-JT Carroll[11]; 7. 77-Jeff Douty[7]; 8. 16-Logan Thompson[4]; 9. 112-Kevin Brown[10]; 10. 89-Josh Harris[2]; 11. (DNS) 35-Johnny Coats
Heat 3 - 1. G1T-Tony Anglin[2]; 2. 04-Blaine Ewing[6]; 3. 4G-Gary Clark[4]; 4. 94-Kenny Carroll[10]; 5. 22D-Lonnie Duncan[3]; 6. 21W-Ted Welschmeyer[7]; 7. 67-Devin Irvin[8]; 8. 127-Jay Barnett[9]; 9. 70-Patrick West[11]; 10. 3-Dale Douty III[1]; 11. 08-Scott Pullen[5]
Show-Me Vintage Racers
A Feature - 1. 09D-Chad Eickleberry[10]; 2. 18-Owen Evinger[19]; 3. 6-Damon Clevenger[23]; 4. 66-David Isaacs[11]; 5. 88-Dan Schmidt[3]; 6. 63-John Martin[17]; 7. 9D-Bryant Moyer[8]; 8. 58-Beth Martin[1]; 9. 27-Danny Lorton[18]; 10. 76-Kevin Prall[2]; 11. 113-Jim Thorne[4]; 12. 5-Ken Brown[9]; 13. 32W-Bob Werkmeister[6]; 14. 44-Terry Price[12]; 15. 8X-Gary Proskocil[13]; 16. 72-WIlliam Holohan[15]; 17. 42-Rob Brash[21]; 18. 1-Angela Ashworth[22]; 19. (DNF) 1A-Rodney Ashworth[20]; 20. (DNF) 14-Mickie Cook[7]; 21. (DNF) 98-Patrick Adamy[14]; 22. (DNF) 3-Ed Neil[16]; 23. (DNF) 2B-Brian Cox[5]
Heat 1 - 1. 88-Dan Schmidt[3]; 2. 1A-Rodney Ashworth[6]; 3. 2B-Brian Cox[5]; 4. 14-Mickie Cook[7]; 5. 113-Jim Thorne[4]; 6. 76-Kevin Prall[2]; 7. 58-Beth Martin[1]
Heat 2 - 1. 5-Ken Brown[2]; 2. 32W-Bob Werkmeister[1]; 3. 72-WIlliam Holohan[6]; 4. 8X-Gary Proskocil[3]; 5. 44-Terry Price[4]; 6. 98-Patrick Adamy[5]; 7. 42-Rob Brash[8]; 8. 1-Angela Ashworth[7]
Heat 3 - 1. 66-David Isaacs[1]; 2. 6-Damon Clevenger[7]; 3. 18-Owen Evinger[6]; 4. 09D-Chad Eickleberry[3]; 5. 9D-Bryant Moyer[2]; 6. 27-Danny Lorton[8]; 7. 63-John Martin[4]; 8. 3-Ed Neil[5]
Easter Bowl Enduro 150 next Saturday: Next up at Lucas Oil Speedway next Saturday, April 19th, is the Easter Bowl Enduro 150 with a $1,500 prize for the winner of the 150-lapper. Also in action will be the Pitts Homes & Realty Weekly Series featuring the Arctic Food Equipment Modifieds, O'Reilly Auto Parts Stock Cars and the Clear Creek Golf Car B-Mods. The Arctic Food Equipment Modifieds will be racing for a top prize of $1,000 to win.
Pit and spectator Gates open open at 4 p.m. with hot laps at 6:30 and opening ceremonies at 7.
Off Road UTV action: UTV Short Course action is set for the Off Road track with practice on Friday and racing on Saturday, tentatively set to begin at 8 a.m. Race classes will include 200 stock: ages 5-12, 200 limited: ages 5-12, 250 modified: ages 7-12, 700cc and under: ages 10-15, youth 1k: ages 13-17, sportsman na: ages 14 and up, sportsman turbo: ages 14 and up, women's na: ages 13 and up, women's fi: ages 13 and up, vet na: ages 40 and over, vet fi: ages 40 and up, pro-am na: ages 18 and up, pro-am turbo: ages 18 and up, pro na: ages 18 and up, pro turbo: ages 18 and up.
For information on tickets or camping for any Lucas Oil Speedway event in 2025, contact Admissions Director Nichole McMillan at (417) 295-6043 or email her at nmcmillan@lucasoilspeedway.com for more information.