2/9/2023
Hudson O'Neal parks Rocket1 twice in victory lane at East Bay
Rocket1 Racing and Hudson O’Neal raced to back-to-back Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series (LOLMDS) victories on Thursday and Friday at East Bay Raceway Park with their Rocket1 Racing / Valvoline / Seubert Calf Ranches No. 1 Ace Metal Works / XR1 Rocket Chassis / Durham Racing Engine Super Late Model.
O’Neal scored a $10,000 win in Thursday’s event before bagging a $12,000 triumph in Friday’s program. He led every lap of both features to pick up his first wins with Rocket1 Racing. Additionally, he moved into the second position in the latest LOLMDS standings.
“To break through with back-to-back wins with Rocket1 Racing just feels amazing. It feels like a ton of pressure has been lifted off me. These guys (Rocket1 Racing) haven’t put any pressure on me, they’ve been amazing to deal with. I’ve put a lot of pressure on myself to perform in this amazing ride, and with two wins now I couldn’t be more excited about this year,” O’Neal said. “We struggled a little to start the week at East Bay (Raceway Park), but then we really hit our stride on Thursday with a win and got another one on Friday. I hated to see Saturday rained out, but now I’m looking forward to heading to Volusia (Speedway Park) for six nights of racing.
“Again, I just can’t say enough about this team and this opportunity. They give me everything I need to be successful, and I’m just the lucky guy, who gets to drive the car.”
Hudson O’Neal and Rocket1 Racing unloaded the Durham Racing Engines powered No. 1 Super Late Model at East Bay Raceway Park (Gibsonton, Fla.) on Monday afternoon as 58 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series (LOLMDS) entries invaded the 1/3-mile oval for six consecutive nights of racing.
Following the fifth-fastest qualifying lap in his group, O’Neal outdueled Jensen Ford in his heat race to pick up the eight-lap victory. Chasing race-long pacesetter Tyler Erb to the checkers, Hudson lost ground in the middle stages of the 30-lapper but rebounded in the final five circuits to finish second. He trailed Erb to the checkers with a charging Tyler Millwood rounding out the podium.
For the second round of the Weiland Winternationals on Tuesday, Hudson topped his 30-car time trial group before placing first in his heat. Reeling in his second consecutive podium finish in the feature, O’Neal mounted a late charge to finish second, following Ashton Winger across the line.
On Wednesday, O’Neal tagged the wall in his heat race, relegating him to 10th. Slated to start deep in the field of his B-Main, Hudson and the team elected scratch from the consolation race and shift their focus to the remainder of the Weiland Winternationals.
After his 14.903-second lap in time trials on Thursday evening earned him the Allstar Performance fast time honors, Hudson picked up a convincing heat win over Tim McCreadie. Powering ahead of pole-starting Dennis Erb Jr. on the drop of the green flag in the feature, O’Neal led wire-to-wire in the 40-lapper to claim his first win of the season. He pocketed $10,000 ahead of Max Blair, Erb, Garrett Smith, and Tim McCreadie.
On Friday evening the winner’s check increased to $12,000 to win, and Hudson once again swept the program with a 14.706-second lap in Allstar Performance qualifying, followed by a heat race win to earn the second-starting spot for the 50-lap feature. For the second-straight night he wired the field to claim his second win in as many nights and his 19th-career LOLMDS triumph.
Saturday’s $15,000-to-win finale fell victim to rain.
With the LOLMDS portion of Speedweeks now complete, Hudson sits second in the latest series standings.
Full results from the week are available at www.LucasDirt.com.
The Rocket1 Racing team now heads to Volusia Speedway Park (Barberville, Fla.) for six nights of action on Feb. 13-18. Monday and Tuesday’s programs are headlined by $7,000-to-win DIRTcar Late Model events, while Wednesday’s program finds the field divided into triple $5,000-to-win DIRTcar Late Model features. The World of Outlaws (WoO) Case Late Model Series sanctions Thursday ($12,000-to-win), Friday ($12,000-to-win), and Saturday ($20,000-to-win).
Full information on the week can be found at www.DIRTcarNationals.com.
Article Credit: Heath Lawson image
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