9/30/2023
Second-place finish in Castrol FloRacing Night in America stop at Tyler County
Hudson O’Neal entered a trio of events last week in the Rocket1 Racing / Valvoline / Seubert Calf Ranches No. 1 Ace Metal Works / XR1 Rocket Chassis / Durham Racing Engine Super Late Model.
His best finish of the week came in Wednesday’s Castrol FloRacing Night in America event at Tyler County Speedway with a second-place finish.
“It was an up-and-down weekend for our team. I had the best run I’ve ever had at Tyler County (Speedway) on Wednesday and came away with a second-place finish. We battled bad luck throughout Friday’s feature at Raceway 7, but our team kept digging and we rebounded to finish seventh. Then on Saturday we got buried early but we had a great car in the feature and came home fourth,” O’Neal said. “We’re locked into the Big River Steel Championship Race with Lucas Oil (Late Model Dirt Series) at Eldora in a few weeks, so we’re excited for that, and we’re also looking forward to battling for the Castrol (FloRacing Night in America) title too. We’re second in those points.
“Thanks as always to everyone with this Rocket1 Racing team and all our great marketing partners.”
Visiting the home state of Rocket1 Racing, Hudson O’Neal took the Seubert Calf Ranches No. 1 Late Model into battle at Tyler County Speedway (Middlebourne, W. Va.) on Wednesday evening for the ninth round of the Castrol FloRacing Night in America miniseries.
Drawing 31 Late Models to the quarter-mile bullring, O’Neal backed up the ninth-fastest qualifying lap in his time trial group with a third-to-first display in his heat. Chasing a $23,023 top prize in the feature, Hudson threatened race-long leader Bobby Pierce after a lap-45 caution before ultimately finishing second in the 50-lapper. Tim McCreadie, Ricky Thornton Jr., and Jonathan Davenport rounded out the top-five.
With the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series (LOLMDS) on Friday at Raceway 7 (Conneaut, Ohio) for the Great Lakes 50, O’Neal followed up All Star Performance Fast Time honors in qualifying with a runner-up run in his heat race.
Rallying after a flat left-rear tire sent him pitside on lap 39 while running third in the A-Main, Hudson salvaged a seventh-place finish.
For the 35th running of the Pittsburgher on Saturday at Pittsburgh’s Pa. Motor Speedway (Imperial, Pa.), Hudson’s fourth-place finish in his heat race pinned him on the eighth row for the $30,000-to-win weekend finale.
Wheeling his way into the Top 5, O’Neal passed 12 cars in the 75-lap affair to register a fourth-place finish. He chased Ricky Thornton Jr., Devin Moran, and Tim McCreadie to the checkers with Earl Pearson Jr. fifth.
O'Neal remains second in the latest Castrol FloRacing Night in America point standings and the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series points chase.
Full results from the events are available at www.FloSeries.com and www.LucasDirt.com.
The team will be idle this weekend before resuming the 2023 season on Thursday, Oct. 12 at Tri-County Race Track (Brasstown, N.C.) with a $23,023-to-win Castrol FloRacing Night in America event.
Event details can be found at www.TriCountyRaceTrack.net.
Article Credit: Zach Yost image