9/23/2023
Runner-up honors for O'Neal in Jackson 100 at Brownstown
Hudson O’Neal charged from the 10th-starting position to the lead late in Saturday’s 44th annual Jackson 100, but ultimately came up short of claiming his second triumph in the event.
He crossed the finish line in second with his Rocket1 Racing / Valvoline / Seubert Calf Ranches No. 1 Ace Metal Works / XR1 Rocket Chassis / Durham Racing Engine Super Late Model.
Saturday’s performance came on the heels of O’Neal only being able to manage an 11th-place finish on Friday night.
“After the weekend we’ve had, we just haven’t been where we needed to be, and we just kept working and working and my guys really worked their tails off trying to get better,” Hudson O’Neal shared after Saturday night’s finale. “We had a great race car there, just unfortunately I just didn’t quite have as good a race car as Ricky (Thornton Jr.) did in lapped traffic. I felt pretty good whenever I was out by myself and able to roll that top. Whenever I got behind people, I just struggled a little bit. Man, we will take second after starting 10th we were able to pass a lot of good guys.”
Rocket1 Racing and Hudson O’Neal followed the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series (LOLMDS) to Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway to kick off the Jackson 100 weekend with Friday’s C.J. Rayburn Memorial.
After securing his spot into the opener via a consolation victory, O’Neal charged forward seven spots in the 40-lapper to place 11th.
Improving on his qualifying effort on Saturday, Hudson timed in seventh-fastest in his 23-car group before coming in third in his heat race.
Starting the $30,000-to-win Jackson 100 finale in the 10th position, O’Neal climbed eight positions to register a second-place finish. He tracked down early leader Ricky Thornton Jr. on lap 58 and led the ensuing 28 circuits but wasn’t able to repel a charging Thornton in the closing distance of the 100-lap affair. O’Neal finished second with Devin Moran rounding out the podium.
O'Neal remains second in the latest LOLMDS point standings.
Full results from the events are available at www.LucasDirt.com.
The upcoming week has three races on the schedule. Action opens at West Virginia’s Tyler County Speedway on Wednesday with a $23,023 top prize on the line in the ninth round of the 2023 Castrol FloRacing Night in America slate. O’Neal is currently second in the latest series’ standings.
From there the team has a pair of LOLMDS races in their sights with a $12,000-to-win event at Raceway 7 (Conneaut, Ohio) on Friday and the $30,000-to-win Pittsburgher 100 at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway (Imperial, Pa.) on Saturday.
For more information on this week’s events point your browser www.FloSeries.com and www.LucasDirt.com.
Article Credit: Heath Lawson image