O'Neal Steals Thursday World Finals Late Model Victory From Sheppard in Final Corner
Photo by Emily Schwanke
CONCORD, N.C.—With half a lap to go in the first Feature of World of Outlaws World Finals, Brandon Sheppard had the checkered flag in sight. Then Hudson O’Neal happened.
The driver of the Rumley No. 6 took the white flag more than 0.6 seconds behind the Rocket1 Racing machine, but O’Neal wasn’t ready to settle for second. The Martinsville, IN native got a blistering run through Turns 1 and 2 on the final lap to give himself a chance in the last corner.
O’Neal dove to the bottom while Sheppard slid up the track, and the two found themselves side-by-side coming to the line. At the flag stand, it was O’Neal out front by a tenth of a second claiming his third victory with the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision.
“I didn’t really think I had a shot,” O’Neal said. “I knew we were catching lap traffic, and I saw [Sheppard] try and just stay committed out there to that middle. I knew the air was so bad out there and they were blowing all that stuff across, and I felt it affecting my race car too. I thought the best shot I had was just to stay down, maybe he’ll slip and I can get a run, and that’s exactly what happened.”
The 35-lap Feature started with Nick Hoffman as the man to beat, as he cleared Bilstein Pole Award winner Brandon Overton on the start and commanded the first 13 laps. But behind him, Sheppard was on a mission in the first half of the race, getting around Overton on Lap 9 and cutting a second off his deficit to Hoffman in only two laps. “The Thrill From Mooresville” quickly had company up front, and Sheppard found enough grip on the bottom to power into the lead.
It wasn’t long before Overton kicked the No. 76 back into high gear, as he briefly made his own bid for the lead with under 20 to go. He never made a move stick though, and let Hoffman and Drake Troutman get around him to fall to fourth.
One more wrench was thrown at the field with 11 laps remaining, when Jonathan Davenport slowed in Turn 4 to bring out the caution. O’Neal was fifth at that point, but a strong restart moved him to third in one lap after the race went back green. He then made quick work of Hoffman to grab second with nine laps left to catch the reigning World of Outlaws champion.
On the final circuit, 22 laps after he ripped the lower edge of the track into the lead, Sheppard had the same line used against him as O’Neal squeaked past his former ride to earn his first Charlotte victory.
“Most of the race, I didn’t think I had the race car to win it,” O’Neal said. “I found a little bit in that bottom, and it was actually pretty good down [in Turns 1 and 2] around the cushion too. The longer the race went, the better I got.”
On the other side of the battle, Sheppard did everything he could to keep the door shut against a Hail Mary attempt, but O’Neal used the traffic to his advantage in making the winning move.
“I knew there was a chance there,” Sheppard said. “I didn’t feel very good out in the middle, but all the lappers ran the bottom. The last lap, I went into three and I thought, ‘Well, I guess my best chance here is to just hug alongside of Tristan [Chamberlain] there.’ I got to about the middle of the corner and kind of washed out. I was doing that every lap in three and four coming out of four. I knew I needed to be on the bottom, but all the lap cars were down there.”
One year after standing on a World of Outlaws podium for the first time at Charlotte, Troutman found himself back there again with his third-place run, clinching the MD3 Rookie of the Year Award in the process.
“It’s really humbling to be able to cap that deal off,” Troutman said. “Especially over Ethan [Dotson], he’s been really tough all year long too, and he’s one of my best friends. Happy to be able to top that deal off, and maybe by the end of the weekend, we can get a couple spots better in points.”
Hoffman crossed the line fourth for his best World of Outlaws finish at Charlotte, while Chris Madden rounded out the top five.
RACE NOTES:
Nick Hoffman won Real American Beer Heat 1.
Drake Troutman won STAKT Products Heat 2.
Ricky Thornton Jr. won Keyser Manufacturing Heat 3.
Brandon Overton won Jarrett Rifles Heat 4.
Brandon Sheppard won Real American Beer Heat 5.
Hudson O’Neal won Real American Beer Heat 6.
Brian Shirley, Dustin Sorensen and Ethan Dotson won the Landa Pressure Washers Last Chance Showdowns.
Brandon Overton won the Bilstein Pole Award.
Ryan Gustin won the FOX Factory Hard Charger Award.
Drake Troutman was the MD3 Rookie of the Race.
Brandon Sheppard won the WELD Racing Second-Place Finisher Award.
Nick Hoffman was the ARP Fourth-Place Finisher.
Chris Madden was the MSD Fifth-Place Finisher.
Ricky Thornton Jr. was the Swift Springs Sixth-Place Finisher.
Michael Leach was the VP Racing Fuels Eighth-Place Finisher.
Tim McCreadie was the Lifeline USA Ninth-Place Finisher.
Brandon Overton was the COMP Cams 10th-Place Finisher.
Bobby Pierce was the Cometic Gaskets 12th-Place Finisher.
UP NEXT: World of Outlaws World Finals continues at The Dirt Track at Charlotte with the penultimate Feature of the season for the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision on Friday, Nov. 7. Get your tickets in advance by clicking here.
If you can’t make it to the track, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.
RESULTS
Dirt Super Late Models
Real American Beer Feature (35 Laps): 1. 6-Hudson O'Neal[3]; 2. 1-Brandon Sheppard[5]; 3. 22*-Drake Troutman[4]; 4. 9-Nick Hoffman[2]; 5. 44-Chris Madden[7]; 6. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[6]; 7. 19R-Ryan Gustin[25]; 8. 09-Michael Leach[12]; 9. 9M-Tim McCreadie[15]; 10. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 11. 17M-Dale McDowell[9]; 12. 32-Bobby Pierce[16]; 13. 58-Daulton Wilson[10]; 14. 1T-Tyler Erb[13]; 15. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[18]; 16. 22-Chris Ferguson[17]; 17. 16-Ben Watkins[14]; 18. 157-Mike Marlar[11]; 19. 2-Cody Overton[24]; 20. 49-Jake Timm[27]; 21. 20-Jimmy Owens[22]; 22. 74X-Ethan Dotson[21]; 23. 3S-Brian Shirley[19]; 24. 8-Kyle Strickler[23]; 25. 19-Dustin Sorensen[20]; 26. 96-Tanner English[26]; 27. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[28]; 28. 49D-Jonathan Davenport[8]
Landa Pressure Washers LCS 1 (10 Laps): 1. 3S-Brian Shirley[1]; 2. 20-Jimmy Owens[3]; 3. 96-Tanner English[2]; 4. 11R-Josh Rice[5]; 5. 57-Zack Mitchell[6]; 6. 5J-Braden Jones[10]; 7. 23-Beckham Malone[11]; 8. 215-Jamison McBride[4]; 9. 2S-Layton Sullivan[7]; 10. 555-Brock Pinkerous[16]; 11. 4-Kale Green[8]; 12. C4-Freddie Carpenter[9]; 13. 24-Tyler Wyant[14]; 14. 55E-Eli Johnson[12]; 15. 421-Anthony Sanders[13]; 16. 1L-Chuckie Lepsch[18]; 17. 07-Brian Ledbetter[17]; 18. 79-Kyle Bryant[15]
Landa Pressure Washers LCS 2 (10 Laps): 1. 19-Dustin Sorensen[1]; 2. 8-Kyle Strickler[6]; 3. 19R-Ryan Gustin[3]; 4. 114-Jordan Koehler[12]; 5. 15-Clay Stuckey[7]; 6. 17SS-Brenden Smith[2]; 7. 55-Benji Hicks[14]; 8. 40B-Kyle Bronson[10]; 9. 13-Dylan Thornton[8]; 10. 75-Daniel Adam[4]; 11. 99-Devin Moran[13]; 12. 8A-Austin Holcombe[11]; 13. 49-Jake Timm[16]; 14. 88-Trent Ivey[15]; 15. 17SR-Brody Smith[5]; 16. 49M-Luke Morey[18]; 17. 618-Kevin Wilson[9]; 18. 7W-Mike West[17]
Landa Pressure Washers LCS 3 (10 Laps): 1. 74X-Ethan Dotson[1]; 2. 2-Cody Overton[2]; 3. 18P-Gray Parton[4]; 4. B1-Brent Larson[8]; 5. 11-Evan Koehler[3]; 6. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[6]; 7. 69-RC Whitwell[9]; 8. 2X-John Henderson[5]; 9. 93-Donald Bradsher[10]; 10. 2G-GR Smith[17]; 11. 19C-Gavin Cowan[11]; 12. 8L-Matthew Larson[12]; 13. 0-Glenn Styres[13]; 14. 7-Hardy Youmans III[15]; 15. 23V-Cory Hedgecock[7]; 16. 11S-Austin Smith[14]; 17. 32B-Larry Blankenship[16]
Real American Beer Heat Race 1 (8 Laps): 1. 9-Nick Hoffman[1]; 2. 44-Chris Madden[2]; 3. 1T-Tyler Erb[4]; 4. 3S-Brian Shirley[8]; 5. 20-Jimmy Owens[3]; 6. 11R-Josh Rice[7]; 7. 2S-Layton Sullivan[5]; 8. C4-Freddie Carpenter[10]; 9. 23-Beckham Malone[6]; 10. 421-Anthony Sanders[9]; 11. 79-Kyle Bryant[11]; 12. 07-Brian Ledbetter[12]
STAKT Products Heat Race 2 (8 Laps): 1. 22*-Drake Troutman[1]; 2. 17M-Dale McDowell[4]; 3. 9M-Tim McCreadie[3]; 4. 96-Tanner English[6]; 5. 215-Jamison McBride[2]; 6. 57-Zack Mitchell[8]; 7. 4-Kale Green[5]; 8. 5J-Braden Jones[7]; 9. 55E-Eli Johnson[10]; 10. 24-Tyler Wyant[9]; 11. 555-Brock Pinkerous[11]; 12. 1L-Chuckie Lepsch[12]
Keyser Mfg Heat Race 3 (8 Laps): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[2]; 2. 157-Mike Marlar[4]; 3. 22-Chris Ferguson[5]; 4. 19-Dustin Sorensen[6]; 5. 19R-Ryan Gustin[1]; 6. 17SR-Brody Smith[9]; 7. 15-Clay Stuckey[7]; 8. 618-Kevin Wilson[11]; 9. 8A-Austin Holcombe[10]; 10. 99-Devin Moran[3]; 11. 88-Trent Ivey[8]; 12. 7W-Mike West[12]
Jarrett Rifles Heat Race 4 (8 Laps): 1. 76-Brandon Overton[2]; 2. 49D-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 3. 16-Ben Watkins[4]; 4. 17SS-Brenden Smith[5]; 5. 75-Daniel Adam[6]; 6. 8-Kyle Strickler[3]; 7. 13-Dylan Thornton[8]; 8. 40B-Kyle Bronson[9]; 9. 114-Jordan Koehler[7]; 10. 55-Benji Hicks[10]; 11. 49-Jake Timm[11]; 12. 49M-Luke Morey[12]
Real American Beer Heat Race 5 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 2. 58-Daulton Wilson[3]; 3. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 4. 74X-Ethan Dotson[4]; 5. 11-Evan Koehler[9]; 6. 2X-John Henderson[7]; 7. 23V-Cory Hedgecock[6]; 8. 69-RC Whitwell[10]; 9. 19C-Gavin Cowan[8]; 10. 0-Glenn Styres[11]; 11. 7-Hardy Youmans III[12]; 12. 2G-GR Smith[5]
Real American Beer Heat Race 6 (8 Laps): 1. 6-Hudson O'Neal[1]; 2. 09-Michael Leach[3]; 3. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[8]; 4. 2-Cody Overton[6]; 5. 18P-Gray Parton[4]; 6. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[7]; 7. B1-Brent Larson[5]; 8. 93-Donald Bradsher[9]; 9. 8L-Matthew Larson[10]; 10. 11S-Austin Smith[2]; 11. 32B-Larry Blankenship[11]
Real American Beer LM Qual A (2 Laps): 1. 9-Nick Hoffman[4]; 2. 22*-Drake Troutman[8]; 3. 19R-Ryan Gustin[11]; 4. 44-Chris Madden[13]; 5. 215-Jamison McBride[1]; 6. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[29]; 7. 20-Jimmy Owens[15]; 8. 9M-Tim McCreadie[28]; 9. 99-Devin Moran[14]; 10. 1T-Tyler Erb[17]; 11. 17M-Dale McDowell[31]; 12. 157-Mike Marlar[33]; 13. 2S-Layton Sullivan[19]; 14. 4-Kale Green[35]; 15. 22-Chris Ferguson[5]; 16. 23-Beckham Malone[34]; 17. 96-Tanner English[22]; 18. 19-Dustin Sorensen[20]; 19. 11R-Josh Rice[10]; 20. 5J-Braden Jones[24]; 21. 15-Clay Stuckey[23]; 22. 3S-Brian Shirley[21]; 23. 57-Zack Mitchell[16]; 24. 88-Trent Ivey[2]; 25. 421-Anthony Sanders[32]; 26. 24-Tyler Wyant[30]; 27. 17SR-Brody Smith[27]; 28. C4-Freddie Carpenter[3]; 29. 55E-Eli Johnson[9]; 30. 8A-Austin Holcombe[18]; 31. 79-Kyle Bryant[26]; 32. 555-Brock Pinkerous[7]; 33. 618-Kevin Wilson[6]; 34. 07-Brian Ledbetter[25]; 35. 1L-Chuckie Lepsch[36]; 36. 7W-Mike West[12]
Real American Beer LM Qual B (2 Laps): 1. 49D-Jonathan Davenport[11]; 2. 1-Brandon Sheppard[19]; 3. 6-Hudson O'Neal[33]; 4. 76-Brandon Overton[17]; 5. 32-Bobby Pierce[28]; 6. 11S-Austin Smith[31]; 7. 8-Kyle Strickler[13]; 8. 58-Daulton Wilson[25]; 9. 09-Michael Leach[4]; 10. 16-Ben Watkins[7]; 11. 74X-Ethan Dotson[32]; 12. 18P-Gray Parton[22]; 13. 17SS-Brenden Smith[23]; 14. 2G-GR Smith[10]; 15. B1-Brent Larson[20]; 16. 75-Daniel Adam[27]; 17. 23V-Cory Hedgecock[26]; 18. 2-Cody Overton[2]; 19. 114-Jordan Koehler[34]; 20. 2X-John Henderson[24]; 21. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[6]; 22. 13-Dylan Thornton[14]; 23. 19C-Gavin Cowan[18]; 24. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[5]; 25. 40B-Kyle Bronson[21]; 26. 11-Evan Koehler[16]; 27. 93-Donald Bradsher[3]; 28. 55-Benji Hicks[35]; 29. 69-RC Whitwell[15]; 30. 8L-Matthew Larson[9]; 31. 49-Jake Timm[30]; 32. 0-Glenn Styres[8]; 33. 32B-Larry Blankenship[12]; 34. 49M-Luke Morey[29]; 35. 7-Hardy Youmans III[1]
CIRRENT WORLD OF OUTLAWS LATE MODEL SERIES STANDINGS
Points Updated: November 6, 2025
Pos. No. Driver Hometown Points Gap Starts Wins Top 5s Top 10s
1 32 Bobby Pierce Oakwood, IL 5786 41 11 27 34
2 9 Nick Hoffman Mooresville, NC 5678 -108 41 5 23 35
3 19R Ryan Gustin Marshalltown, IA 5488 -298 41 5 14 27
4 9M Tim McCreadie Watertown, NY 5434 -352 40 6 14 25
5 28 Dennis Erb Carpentersville, IL 5370 -416 40 1 9 23
6 3S Brian Shirley Chatham, IL 5354 -432 41 1 19 23
7 22* Drake Troutman Hyndman, PA 5320 -466 41 1 13 22
8 2 Cody Overton Thomson, GA 5220 -566 41 0 6 19
9 96 Tanner English Benton, KY 5180 -606 40 1 7 14
10 74X Ethan Dotson Bakersfield, CA 5116 -670 40 1 8 17
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