Hudson O’Neal Takes Lucas Oil East Bay Opener

TAMPA, FL  – Hudson O’Neal held off Brandon Sheppard to win on opening night of the Wrisco Industries 45th Annual Winternationals – Presented by Lucas Oil at East Bay Raceway Park. O’Neal picked up the lead for good on lap 20 and held it to the checkered flag. The win marked his eighth career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and second-ever at East Bay.

Sheppard finished .359 seconds behind O’Neal at the checkers. Brandon Overton came home in the third finishing position. Devin Moran, who started 22nd finished fourth. Earl Pearson, Jr. came from 24th to take fifth.

Kyle Bronson grabbed the lead at the start of the 30-lap race and led for five laps until O’Neal took over the top spot for lap 6. O’Neal would only hold the point for one circuit until Bronson got back around him. Tyler Erb powered to the lead on lap 8 and then held the lead until the 19th lap when he was involved in a caution that relegated him to the tail. Several cautions dotted a competitive battle for the lead that existed throughout the race.

O’Neal inherited the lead due to Erb’s misfortune, and began inching away from the field when a caution happened with two laps remaining. On the final restart of the race O’Neal held off several attempts from Sheppard on the last lap for the victory, his first since last Labor Day Weekend at Portsmouth, Ohio on his 20th birthday.

“We went with a little different tire choice than everybody else. I was a little worried at the beginning rolling down the frontstretch and I saw everybody had on different tires. I was hopeful that the track would get slow enough where that our gamble would pay off. This Rocket Chassis has been awesome. We didn’t have anything to show how good we were at All-Tech, and I am happy to redeem myself here,” said the third-generation racer who was making his second start for his new team.

Sheppard, who has been strong at East Bay the last few years with six victories came home in second.  “It definitely felt like a long race out there. Congrats to Hudson, he did a great job. It was definitely a technical racetrack tonight.”

Overton, who won 26 features a year ago, finished in third. “I kind of messed us up at All-Tech the other night. On the first lap there I hit the wall, so this is our first really good run of the year. This is a good way to start off the week at East Bay. It was a like a sheet of ice out there. The steering wheel doesn’t work like it does at most other places, it’s hard to turn and you are basically just hanging on.”

The winner’s Roger Sellers/Double Down Motorsports Rocket Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and is sponsored by Lazydays RV, O’Neal’s Salvage and Recycling, Lucas Oil Products, 2150 Enterprises, and WR1 Sim Chassis.

Completing the top ten were Tony Jackson Jr., Tyler Erb, Tanner English, Mike Marlar, and Jeff Mathews.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Wrisco Industries 45th Annual Winternationals – Presented by Lucas Oil
Monday, January 25, 2021
East Bay Raceway Park – Tampa, FL

Allstar Performance Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Kyle Bronson / 14.479 seconds
Fast Time Group B: Brandon Overton / 14.375 seconds (overall)

Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer):  1. 40B-Kyle Bronson[1]; 2. 157-Mike Marlar[5]; 3. 33J-Jeff Mathews[4]; 4. 49-Jonathan Davenport[3]; 5. 28E-Dennis Erb Jr[7]; 6. 311A-Ashton Winger[8]; 7. 0E-Rick Eckert[6]; 8. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[9]; 9. 00H-Wil Herrington[2]; 10. 48-Colton Flinner[12]; 11. 36-Matt Irey[11]; 12. 14R-Jeff Roth[13]; 13. 29-Larry Grube[10]

Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 2. 385-Mark Whitener[2]; 3. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[7]; 4. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[6]; 5. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[3]; 6. 1ST-Johnny Scott[11]; 7. 6S-Blake Spencer[10]; 8. J8-Jadon Frame[9]; 9. 7T-Drake Troutman[4]; 10. 16-Tyler Bruening[5]; 11. 94M-Jason Miller[8]; 12. 3W-Brennon Willard[12]; 13. 27J-Joe Denby[13]

Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 1T-Tyler Erb[3]; 2. 14B-John Baker[2]; 3. 11H-Spencer Hughes[1]; 4. 81-Jason Riggs[4]; 5. 2S-Stormy Scott[7]; 6. 2X-Devin Dixon[9]; 7. 111-Steven Roberts[5]; 8. 18S-David Seibers[10]; 9. 44H-Dave Hess Jr[8]; 10. 311-Ken Monahan[11]; 11. 4B-Richie Edwards[12]; 12. 20B-Todd Brennan[6]

Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 2. 39-Tim McCreadie[2]; 3. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[3]; 4. 20-Jimmy Owens[4]; 5. 24D-Michael Brown[6]; 6. 1G-Ryan King[5]; 7. 2D-Dan Stone[8]; 8. 66C-Matt Cosner[7]; 9. 22-Gregg Satterlee[10]; 10. 4S-Danny Snyder[9]; 11. 51-Dean Carpenter[11]; 12. 51B-Brandon Carpenter[12]; 13. (DNS) 111M-Matthew Lux

MyRacePass Heat Race #5 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 71-Hudson O’Neal[2]; 2. 3S-Brian Shirley[1]; 3. 25-Shane Clanton[3]; 4. 9-Devin Moran[5]; 5. 7R-Ross Robinson[6]; 6. 12D-Doug Drown[12]; 7. 00S-Jesse Stovall[10]; 8. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[11]; 9. 19R-Ryan Gustin[4]; 10. 14-Josh Richards[7]; 11. C4-Freddie Carpenter[8]; 12. 14G-Joe Godsey[9]; 13. (DNS) 6B-Adam Boyd

Lucas Oil Heat Race #6 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 81E-Tanner English[1]; 2. 18J-Chase Junghans[2]; 3. 17D-Zack Dohm[7]; 4. 44-Stewart Friesen[4]; 5. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[3]; 6. 54-David Breazeale[6]; 7. 8-Kyle Strickler[9]; 8. 99B-Boom Briggs[5]; 9. 8A-Rob Anderzack[8]; 10. 0G-Deshawn Gingerich[11]; 11. 11A-Adam Elliott[12]; 12. (DNS) 212-Josh Putnam

LINE-X B-Main #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 28E-Dennis Erb Jr[4]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 3. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[5]; 4. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[2]; 5. 81-Jason Riggs[3]; 6. 0E-Rick Eckert[10]; 7. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[13]; 8. 6S-Blake Spencer[11]; 9. J8-Jadon Frame[14]; 10. 1ST-Johnny Scott[8]; 11. 00H-Wil Herrington[16]; 12. 48-Colton Flinner[19]; 13. 2S-Stormy Scott[6]; 14. 18S-David Seibers[15]; 15. 36-Matt Irey[22]; 16. 3W-Brennon Willard[26]; 17. 16-Tyler Bruening[20]; 18. 29-Larry Grube[28]; 19. 44H-Dave Hess Jr[18]; 20. 20B-Todd Brennan[27]; 21. 94M-Jason Miller[23]; 22. 27J-Joe Denby[29]; 23. 4B-Richie Edwards[24]; 24. 311-Ken Monahan[21]; 25. 311A-Ashton Winger[7]; 26. 111-Steven Roberts[12]; 27. 7T-Drake Troutman[17]; 28. (DNS) 2X-Devin Dixon; 29. (DNS) 14R-Jeff Roth

UNOH B-Main #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 20-Jimmy Owens[1]; 2. 9-Devin Moran[2]; 3. 44-Stewart Friesen[3]; 4. 7R-Ross Robinson[5]; 5. 8-Kyle Strickler[12]; 6. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[14]; 7. 24D-Michael Brown[4]; 8. 54-David Breazeale[9]; 9. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[6]; 10. 99B-Boom Briggs[15]; 11. 66C-Matt Cosner[13]; 12. 12D-Doug Drown[8]; 13. 51-Dean Carpenter[22]; 14. 2D-Dan Stone[10]; 15. 51B-Brandon Carpenter[25]; 16. C4-Freddie Carpenter[23]; 17. 4S-Danny Snyder[19]; 18. 111M-Matthew Lux[28]; 19. 0G-Deshawn Gingerich[21]; 20. 14G-Joe Godsey[26]; 21. 22-Gregg Satterlee[16]; 22. 1G-Ryan King[7]; 23. 8A-Rob Anderzack[18]; 24. 00S-Jesse Stovall[11]; 25. (DNS) 6B-Adam Boyd; 26. (DNS) 11A-Adam Elliott; 27. (DNS) 19R-Ryan Gustin; 28. (DNS) 212-Josh Putnam; 29. (DNS) 14-Josh Richards

Berry Barn Strawberry Dash Finish: 1. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[1]; 2. 7R-Ross Robinson[3]; 3. 81-Jason Riggs[4]; 4. 44-Stewart Friesen[2]; 5. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[11]; 6. 8-Kyle Strickler[5]; 7. 6S-Blake Spencer[8]; 8. 99B-Boom Briggs[13]; 9. J8-Jadon Frame[10]; 10. 48-Colton Flinner[15]; 11. 0E-Rick Eckert[6]; 12. 12D-Doug Drown[16]; 13. (DNS) 54-David Breazeale; 14. (DNS) 24D-Michael Brown; 15. (DNS) 66C-Matt Cosner; 16. (DNS) 1ST-Johnny Scott

Lucas Oil Feature Finish (30 Laps):

Race Statistics
Entrants: 76
Lap Leaders: Kyle Bronson (Laps 1 – 5); Hudson O’Neal (Lap 6); Tyler Erb (Laps 8 – 19); Hudson O’Neal (Laps 20 – 30)
Wrisco Feature Winner: Hudson O’Neal
Margin of Victory: 0.359 seconds
Cautions: Earl Pearson Jr., Tony Jackson Jr (Lap 1); Frank Heckenast Jr. (Lap 4); Chase Junghans (Lap 7); Kyle Bronson (Lap 11); Jonathan Davenport, Wil Herrington (Lap 12); Billy Moyer Jr. (Lap 17); Jimmy Owens (Lap 19); Tyler Erb (Lap 19); Spencer Hughes (Lap 20); Dennis Erb Jr., Josh Richards, Jonathan Davenport, Mark Whitener (Lap 21); Mark Whitener (Lap 28)
Series Provisionals: Josh Richards, Earl Pearson Jr.
Wrisco Industries Fast Time Provisional: Wil Herrington
Berry Barn Strawberry Dash Provisional: Frank Heckenast Jr.
Series Emergency Provisionals: Billy Moyer Jr, Tyler Bruening, Gregg Satterlee, Tony Jackson Jr.
Track Provisionals: n/a
Big River Steel Podium Top 3: Hudson O’Neal, Brandon Sheppard, Brandon Overton
Penske Shocks Top 5: Hudson O’Neal, Brandon Sheppard, Brandon Overton, Devin Moran, Earl Pearson Jr.
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Tony Jackson Jr. (Advanced 24 Positions)
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: n/a
Hot Rod Processing Most Laps Led: Hudson O’Neal (12 Laps)
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Brandon Sheppard
Eibach Springs Rookie of the Race: n/a
Dirty Girl Racewear Fastest Lap of the Race: Kyle Bronson (Lap #1 – 16.8670 seconds)
Fast Shafts Tough Break of the Race: Kyle Bronson
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Trevor Crittenden (Hudson O’Neal)
ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Cornett Racing Engines
Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Rocket Chassis
Dirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Brandon Overton
Time of Race: 48 minutes 08 seconds