6/12/2023
Hudson O'Neal collects $100,000 XR Super Series payday at Kokomo
Hudson O’Neal raced to the $100,000 XR Super Series victory on Monday night at Kokomo Speedway aboard his Rocket1 Racing / Valvoline / Seubert Calf Ranches No. 1 Ace Metal Works / XR1 Rocket Chassis / Durham Racing Engine Super Late Model.
The career payday for the 22-year-old driver paired with a $12,000 preliminary win a few days earlier at Eldora Speedway pushed his 2023-win total to nine.
“I don't know how to feel. Some may say I’m not excited. I just … I don’t even know what to do,” said O’Neal in Victory Lane. “Lapped traffic was crazy. I did Brandon (Sheppard) a little dirty to be honest with you. I hate that. I wish I could maybe go back and redo that one a little bit. I didn't see him out there. I thought I might have heard someone, but I didn't see him and it was just … yeah. But we're racing for 100-grand, too, man.
“I don't even know what to say. Lapped traffic was everywhere. I'm sure they were everywhere behind me. The cushion was big. The bottom was rough. I just can't thank my guys, Mark, Steve Baker, Rocket Chassis, Danny, Joel, Austin, Cody, my girlfriend (Tessa Sims), my Dad's here. Got some good people here with us, the Sharpley’s. I don't know. I've never done anything like this. I can't even put it into words.”
Rocket1 Racing and Hudson O’Neal returned to action on Thursday evening at Eldora Speedway (Rossburg, Ohio) as the 29th running of the Dirt Late Model Dream kicked off with a pair of preliminary features.
With the massive 95-car field divided into two groups, Hudson’s 16th-fastest lap in his time trial group placed him on the pole of his heat based off the four-car invert. Holding off Chris Ferguson in the caution-plagued 10-lapper, O’Neal locked into a front row starting spot for his prelim. Chasing a $12,000 top prize, Hudson led the opening 19 circuits before surrendering the top spot to Tim McCreadie on a lap-20 restart. He went on to place second behind McCreadie with Kyle Strickler rounding out the podium.
For another round of preliminaries on Friday, O'Neal laid down the second-fastest time in his 48-car group before going fourth-to-first in his heat. Whizzing past pole-starting Tim McCreadie on the 10th circuit of the feature, Hudson stormed to his eighth win of the season, which came ahead of Bobby Pierce, McCreadie, Joseph Joiner, and Brandon Sheppard. He collected a $12,000 payday for his winning performance.
Starting on the second row of his heat race on Saturday afternoon, Hudson secured his spot into the $129,000-to-win Dirt Late Model Dream finale with a convincing heat race victory by more than a three-second margin. Hanging onto a Top-10 finish after nearly getting spun on lap 36 of the 100-lapper, O'Neal recorded a seventh-place finish.
Back in action on Monday, Rocket1 Racing and O’Neal stopped at Kokomo Speedway (Kokomo, Ind.) for the XR Super Series-sanctioned 100K Upgrade. With 42 competitors on the grounds, Hudson set the pace in time trials before capturing a heat race victory.
Turning back an early challenge from Ricky Thornton Jr. and a hard-charging Brandon Sheppard in the closing laps, O’Neal led 99 of the 100 laps to secure his ninth win of the season and the richest victory of his career, a $100,000 payday.
He recorded his first career XR Series triumph ahead of Sheppard, Bobby Pierce, Ryan Unzicker, and Tanner English.
Full results from the events available at www.EldoraSpeedway.com and www.XRSuperSeries.com.
Rocket1 Racing’s attention now turns to the upcoming weekend and a return to Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series (LOLMDS) competition with a visit to Smoky Mountain Speedway (Maryville, Tenn.) for the Mountain Moonshine Classic. On Friday twin $5,000-to-win programs will be held followed by a $50,000-to-win finale on Saturday.
Hudson is currently second in the series’ standings.
For more event details, please visit www.LucasDirt.com.
Article Credit: Jim DenHamer photo