O’NEAL TAKES WIELAND WINTERNATIONALS OPENER AT EAST BAY
TAMPA, Fla. (February 6, 2024) – Hudson O’Neal won the opening round of the 48th Annual Wieland Winternationals – Presented by Lucas Oil on Tuesday night at East Bay Raceway Park.
O’Neal picked up right where he left off, ending last year’s Winternationals at East Bay winning the Thursday and Friday night programs as Saturday’s finale was rained out. O’Neal battled with Tyler Erb for the first 10 laps of the race until taking the lead for good on lap 11.
Daulton Wilson tracked down O’Neal on occasion, but never got the opportunity to pass O’Neal as O’Neal raced through traffic towards the end of the race to score his 27th career win on the tour. Wilson finished second followed by Jonathan Davenport, Ashton Winger, and the Todd Steel Buildings Hard Charger of Race, Devin Moran who came from the 18th starting spot to round out the top five drivers.
O’Neal went to Lucas Oil Victory for the fifth time ever at East Bay and for the third time this year with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. “It looked like they shoved those tires in three and four a little bit. I knew that if I could just stay patient enough eventually that top was going to go away. Tyler [Erb] went down there in front of me one time and it came down to a crucial pass coming off of two he just missed the bottom a little bit and let me sneak in. We rubbed some doors, but I knew that was probably going to be the only chance I had to get back by him. We had a little different tire on I feel like that the rest of the field, but it ended up working out.”
Wilson finished second for the ninth time in his career in Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series competition. “The racetrack was pretty bottom dominant and starting sixth I knew we had to get to the front quickly. It was a great night for us, we had good speed and moved moved forward tonight. We brought home everything in one piece. Since we went to this new car it’s really easy to drive. I feel like I can go wherever I want to. Hats off to my guys for building a great race car.”
Davenport who came into the final Winternationals at East Bay with eight career wins at the “Clay by the Bay” rounded out the Big River Steel Podium in third. “I would have bet this thing would had rubbered in no time and it never did for sure. I don’t know why it didn’t. We went a little harder on tire. I lost my grandpa today. He was probably one of the pioneers of the sport that nobody knows about. He probably owned a car for 40 or 50 years. We hate that we lost him but he lived a great life, he was 94 years old. We was hoping we could win one for him and hopefully tomorrow night we can do that.”
The winner’s Mark Richards Racing, Rocket Chassis is powered by Durham Racing Engine and sponsored by Valvoline, Seubert Calf Ranches, Performance Grading, Ace Metal Works, Stiles Marine and Maintenance, Wheeler Metals, O’Neal’s Salvage and Recycling, Professional Concrete Cutting and Drilling, Gunter’s Honey, Fox Shocks, WR1 Sim Chassis and Sunoco Race Fuels.
Completing the top ten were Tyler Erb, Chase Junghans, Brandon Sheppard, Ricky Thornton Jr., and Spencer Hughes.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
48th Annual Wieland Winternationals | Night 2
Tuesday, February 6, 2024
East Bay Raceway Park – Tampa, FL
Tues A-Main (30 Laps): 1. 1-Hudson O’Neal[1]; 2. 18D-Daulton Wilson[6]; 3. 49-Jonathan Davenport[4]; 4. 12-Ashton Winger[3]; 5. 99-Devin Moran[18]; 6. 1T-Tyler Erb[2]; 7. 18-Chase Junghans[8]; 8. B5-Brandon Sheppard[11]; 9. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[7]; 10. 19M-Spencer Hughes[13]; 11. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[9]; 12. 3S-Brian Shirley[12]; 13. 111-Max Blair[19]; 14. 58-Garrett Alberson[17]; 15. 39-Tim McCreadie[21]; 16. 99B-Boom Briggs[15]; 17. 14X-Wil Herrington[20]; 18. 10-Garrett Smith[5]; 19. 25-Tony Jackson Jr[22]; 20. 66C-Matt Cosner[10]; 21. 31-Tyler Millwood[24]; 22. 1Z-Logan Zarin[16]; 23. 40B-Kyle Bronson[23]; 24. 20-Jimmy Owens[14]
Fast Shafts B-Main 1 (10 Laps): 1. 111-Max Blair[1]; 2. 25-Tony Jackson Jr[2]; 3. 11C-Trevor Collins[5]; 4. 76N-Blair Nothdurft[4]; 5. 82B-Jason Milam[7]; 6. 7T-Drake Troutman[9]; 7. 17SS-Brenden Smith[8]; 8. 128-Kylan Garner[6]; 9. 2*-Logan Hitt[3]; 10. 9-Levi Yetter[11]; 11. 71C-RJ Conley[10]; 12. 4G-Bob Gardner[12]; 13. 214-Haiden Cowan[19]; 14. 21M-Tre Martin[16]; 15. 29-Larry Grube[14]; 16. 42-Terry Casey[13]; 17. (DNS) 6H-Ross Bailes; 18. (DNS) 45D-Dan Battaglia; 19. (DNS) 81J-Jack Riggs
UNOH B-Main 2 (10 Laps): 1. 14X-Wil Herrington[1]; 2. 40B-Kyle Bronson[4]; 3. 6-Clay Harris[2]; 4. 81F-Jadon Frame[5]; 5. 7-Ross Robinson[6]; 6. 4-Amanda Robinson[3]; 7. 187-David McCoy[9]; 8. 6T-Tim Dohm[7]; 9. 51-Dean Carpenter[11]; 10. 71R-Rod Conley[16]; 11. 27-Michael Lake[14]; 12. 3-Brennon Willard[8]; 13. 21-Kenny Howell[17]; 14. 07-Brian Ledbetter[18]; 15. 22M-Sean Mattingly[13]; 16. 20B-Todd Brennan[12]; 17. 69-Brandon Thirlby[10]; 18. (DNS) 12R-Ryan Payne; 19. (DNS) 32-Jason Jack
MyRacePass B-Main 3 (10 Laps): 1. 39-Tim McCreadie[2]; 2. 31-Tyler Millwood[6]; 3. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[8]; 4. S21-Seth Daniels[9]; 5. 81-Jason Riggs[3]; 6. 96V-Tanner English[4]; 7. 174-Ethan Dotson[16]; 8. 48-Tim Lance[11]; 9. 8-Dillon McCowan[7]; 10. 25B-Mike Benedum[14]; 11. 4S-Danny Snyder[12]; 12. 47W-Brandon Weigle[5]; 13. 15K-Jensen Ford[15]; 14. USA1-Chris Hawkins[13]; 15. 93-Cory Lawler[10]; 16. 75-Daniel Adam[1]; 17. (DNS) 15-Blake McClain; 18. (DNS) 33-Jeff Mathews
Penske Shocks Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Hudson O’Neal[1]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[4]; 3. 19M-Spencer Hughes[2]; 4. 111-Max Blair[3]; 5. 2*-Logan Hitt[10]; 6. 11C-Trevor Collins[7]; 7. 82B-Jason Milam[11]; 8. 7T-Drake Troutman[5]; 9. 9-Levi Yetter[6]; 10. 42-Terry Casey[8]; 11. 6H-Ross Bailes[9]; 12. 45D-Dan Battaglia[13]; 13. (DNS) 214-Haiden Cowan
Summit Racing Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 12-Ashton Winger[3]; 2. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[1]; 3. 99B-Boom Briggs[2]; 4. 25-Tony Jackson Jr[9]; 5. 76N-Blair Nothdurft[4]; 6. 128-Kylan Garner[6]; 7. 17SS-Brenden Smith[7]; 8. 71C-RJ Conley[8]; 9. 4G-Bob Gardner[10]; 10. 29-Larry Grube[11]; 11. 21M-Tre Martin[12]; 12. 81J-Jack Riggs[5]; 13. (DNS) K&B-Kerry King
Earnhardt Technologies Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 10-Garrett Smith[1]; 2. B5-Brandon Sheppard[6]; 3. 58-Garrett Alberson[3]; 4. 14X-Wil Herrington[2]; 5. 4-Amanda Robinson[7]; 6. 81F-Jadon Frame[4]; 7. 6T-Tim Dohm[5]; 8. 187-David McCoy[11]; 9. 51-Dean Carpenter[8]; 10. 22M-Sean Mattingly[12]; 11. 12R-Ryan Payne[9]; 12. (DNS) 21-Kenny Howell
Simpson Race Products Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 1T-Tyler Erb[1]; 2. 18-Chase Junghans[4]; 3. 20-Jimmy Owens[3]; 4. 6-Clay Harris[2]; 5. 40B-Kyle Bronson[5]; 6. 7-Ross Robinson[8]; 7. 3-Brennon Willard[9]; 8. 69-Brandon Thirlby[6]; 9. 20B-Todd Brennan[7]; 10. 27-Michael Lake[11]; 11. 71R-Rod Conley[10]; 12. 07-Brian Ledbetter[13]; 13. 32-Jason Jack[12]
Lucas Oil Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 66C-Matt Cosner[2]; 3. 1Z-Logan Zarin[3]; 4. 75-Daniel Adam[6]; 5. 81-Jason Riggs[4]; 6. 47W-Brandon Weigle[7]; 7. 8-Dillon McCowan[9]; 8. S21-Seth Daniels[10]; 9. 48-Tim Lance[8]; 10. USA1-Chris Hawkins[12]; 11. 15K-Jensen Ford[5]; 12. (DNS) 33-Jeff Mathews
Lucas Oil Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 18D-Daulton Wilson[1]; 2. 3S-Brian Shirley[2]; 3. 99-Devin Moran[9]; 4. 39-Tim McCreadie[4]; 5. 96V-Tanner English[3]; 6. 31-Tyler Millwood[7]; 7. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[8]; 8. 93-Cory Lawler[6]; 9. 4S-Danny Snyder[12]; 10. 25B-Mike Benedum[10]; 11. 174-Ethan Dotson[5]; 12. 15-Blake McClain[11]
Qualifying | GROUP A: 1. 1-Hudson O’Neal, 00:14.666[27]; 2. 28-Dennis Erb Jr, 00:14.752[9]; 3. 10-Garrett Smith, 00:14.815[14]; 4. 19M-Spencer Hughes, 00:14.871[23]; 5. 99B-Boom Briggs, 00:14.883[10]; 6. 14X-Wil Herrington, 00:14.885[38]; 7. 111-Max Blair, 00:14.889[4]; 8. 12-Ashton Winger, 00:14.909[8]; 9. 58-Garrett Alberson, 00:14.923[12]; 10. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr, 00:14.964[20]; 11. 76N-Blair Nothdurft, 00:14.972[15]; 12. 81F-Jadon Frame, 00:15.023[3]; 13. 7T-Drake Troutman, 00:15.090[11]; 14. 81J-Jack Riggs, 00:15.133[26]; 15. 6T-Tim Dohm, 00:15.166[7]; 16. 9-Levi Yetter, 00:15.176[30]; 17. 128-Kylan Garner, 00:15.180[19]; 18. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 00:15.310[37]; 19. 11C-Trevor Collins, 00:15.333[24]; 20. 17SS-Brenden Smith, 00:15.345[29]; 21. 4-Amanda Robinson, 00:15.360[32]; 22. 42-Terry Casey, 00:15.364[13]; 23. 71C-RJ Conley, 00:15.366[34]; 24. 51-Dean Carpenter, 00:15.389[21]; 25. 6H-Ross Bailes, 00:15.404[22]; 26. 25-Tony Jackson Jr, 00:15.408[25]; 27. 12R-Ryan Payne, 00:15.424[35]; 28. 2*-Logan Hitt, 00:15.467[36]; 29. 4G-Bob Gardner, 00:15.468[31]; 30. 21-Kenny Howell, 00:15.666[28]; 31. 82B-Jason Milam, 00:15.744[16]; 32. 29-Larry Grube, 00:15.844[2]; 33. 187-David McCoy, 00:16.245[33]; 34. 214-Haiden Cowan, 00:16.465[5]; 35. 21M-Tre Martin, 00:16.504[17]; 36. 22M-Sean Mattingly, 00:16.884[6]; 37. 45D-Dan Battaglia, 00:18.512[18]; 38. (DNS) K&B-Kerry King
Qualifying | GROUP B: 1. 1T-Tyler Erb, 00:15.004[34]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport, 00:15.039[36]; 3. 18D-Daulton Wilson, 00:15.100[26]; 4. 6-Clay Harris, 00:15.137[19]; 5. 66C-Matt Cosner, 00:15.165[8]; 6. 3S-Brian Shirley, 00:15.218[29]; 7. 20-Jimmy Owens, 00:15.242[25]; 8. 1Z-Logan Zarin, 00:15.245[1]; 9. 96V-Tanner English, 00:15.246[9]; 10. 18-Chase Junghans, 00:15.248[2]; 11. 81-Jason Riggs, 00:15.303[27]; 12. 39-Tim McCreadie, 00:15.320[16]; 13. 40B-Kyle Bronson, 00:15.334[37]; 14. 15K-Jensen Ford, 00:15.383[22]; 15. 174-Ethan Dotson, 00:15.418[13]; 16. 69-Brandon Thirlby, 00:15.455[18]; 17. 75-Daniel Adam, 00:15.456[14]; 18. 93-Cory Lawler, 00:15.464[33]; 19. 20B-Todd Brennan, 00:15.480[30]; 20. 47W-Brandon Weigle, 00:15.500[5]; 21. 31-Tyler Millwood, 00:15.510[7]; 22. 7-Ross Robinson, 00:15.545[15]; 23. 48-Tim Lance, 00:15.548[4]; 24. 46-Earl Pearson Jr, 00:15.555[3]; 25. 3-Brennon Willard, 00:15.601[17]; 26. 8-Dillon McCowan, 00:15.616[35]; 27. 99-Devin Moran, 00:15.626[24]; 28. 71R-Rod Conley, 00:15.645[28]; 29. S21-Seth Daniels, 00:15.646[23]; 30. 25B-Mike Benedum, 00:15.750[20]; 31. 27-Michael Lake, 00:15.857[21]; 32. 33-Jeff Mathews, 00:15.904[10]; 33. 15-Blake McClain, 00:16.018[31]; 34. 32-Jason Jack, 00:16.046[6]; 35. USA1-Chris Hawkins, 00:16.053[32]; 36. 4S-Danny Snyder, 00:16.154[12]; 37. 07-Brian Ledbetter, 00:16.307[11]
Hot Laps | GROUP 1: 1. 12-Ashton Winger, 00:15.231[8]; 2. 6T-Tim Dohm, 00:15.359[7]; 3. 99B-Boom Briggs, 00:15.404[10]; 4. 28-Dennis Erb Jr, 00:15.625[9]; 5. 214-Haiden Cowan, 00:15.943[5]; 6. 111-Max Blair, 00:15.962[4]; 7. 81F-Jadon Frame, 00:16.353[3]; 8. 22M-Sean Mattingly, 00:16.395[6]; 9. 29-Larry Grube, 00:17.090[2]; 10. (DNS) K&B-Kerry King
Hot Laps | GROUP 2: 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr, 00:15.141[10]; 2. 58-Garrett Alberson, 00:15.323[2]; 3. 7T-Drake Troutman, 00:15.353[1]; 4. 10-Garrett Smith, 00:15.386[4]; 5. 128-Kylan Garner, 00:15.943[9]; 6. 21M-Tre Martin, 00:16.565[7]; 7. 42-Terry Casey, 00:17.228[3]; 8. 82B-Jason Milam, 00:17.295[6]; 9. 45D-Dan Battaglia, 00:17.843[8]; 10. (DNS) 76N-Blair Nothdurft
Hot Laps | GROUP 3: 1. 19M-Spencer Hughes, 00:14.952[3]; 2. 81J-Jack Riggs, 00:15.221[6]; 3. 6H-Ross Bailes, 00:15.242[2]; 4. 25-Tony Jackson Jr, 00:15.294[5]; 5. 1-Hudson O’Neal, 00:15.321[7]; 6. 11C-Trevor Collins, 00:15.485[4]; 7. 21-Kenny Howell, 00:15.512[8]; 8. 9-Levi Yetter, 00:15.808[10]; 9. 51-Dean Carpenter, 00:15.967[1]; 10. (DNS) 17SS-Brenden Smith
Hot Laps | GROUP 4: 1. 187-David McCoy, 00:15.179[3]; 2. 4-Amanda Robinson, 00:15.232[2]; 3. 12R-Ryan Payne, 00:15.291[5]; 4. 2*-Logan Hitt, 00:15.577[6]; 5. 71C-RJ Conley, 00:15.626[4]; 6. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 00:15.672[7]; 7. 4G-Bob Gardner, 00:15.769[1]; 8. 1Z-Logan Zarin, 00:15.813[9]; 9. (DNS) 14X-Wil Herrington
Hot Laps | GROUP 5: 1. 47W-Brandon Weigle, 00:15.122[4]; 2. 66C-Matt Cosner, 00:15.244[7]; 3. 46-Earl Pearson Jr, 00:15.286[2]; 4. 18-Chase Junghans, 00:15.301[1]; 5. 96V-Tanner English, 00:15.370[8]; 6. 33-Jeff Mathews, 00:15.545[9]; 7. 31-Tyler Millwood, 00:15.906[6]; 8. 48-Tim Lance, 00:16.423[3]; 9. 32-Jason Jack, 00:16.741[5]
Hot Laps | GROUP 6: 1. 39-Tim McCreadie, 00:14.960[6]; 2. 174-Ethan Dotson, 00:15.012[3]; 3. 75-Daniel Adam, 00:15.240[4]; 4. 6-Clay Harris, 00:15.261[9]; 5. 7-Ross Robinson, 00:15.435[5]; 6. 69-Brandon Thirlby, 00:15.449[8]; 7. 4S-Danny Snyder, 00:15.952[2]; 8. 3-Brennon Willard, 00:15.972[7]; 9. 07-Brian Ledbetter, 00:16.644[1]
Hot Laps | GROUP 7: 1. 20-Jimmy Owens, 00:14.768[6]; 2. 99-Devin Moran, 00:14.923[5]; 3. 18D-Daulton Wilson, 00:15.110[7]; 4. S21-Seth Daniels, 00:15.111[4]; 5. 81-Jason Riggs, 00:15.124[8]; 6. 15K-Jensen Ford, 00:15.265[3]; 7. 27-Michael Lake, 00:15.493[2]; 8. 71R-Rod Conley, 00:15.589[9]; 9. 25B-Mike Benedum, 00:15.875[1]
Hot Laps | GROUP 8: 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport, 00:14.765[8]; 2. 1T-Tyler Erb, 00:14.870[6]; 3. 8-Dillon McCowan, 00:15.063[7]; 4. 20B-Todd Brennan, 00:15.123[2]; 5. 3S-Brian Shirley, 00:15.170[1]; 6. 40B-Kyle Bronson, 00:15.490[9]; 7. 93-Cory Lawler, 00:15.883[5]; 8. 15-Blake McClain, 00:15.899[3]; 9. (DNS) USA1-Chris Hawkins