1.25.24 Lucas Oil Late Models Results

O’NEAL TAKES LUCAS OIL LATE MODEL DIRT SERIES OPENER AT GOLDEN ISLES
WAYNESVILLE, Ga. (January 25, 2024) – The defending Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Champion, Hudson O’Neal started his title defense by winning the tour’s season opener. O’Neal led all but one lap to win the General Tire Super Bowl of Racing on Thursday night at Golden Isles Speedway.

O’Neal yielded the lead for one lap to Jonathan Davenport on lap 22 but fought back to regain the point and go on to win the 40-lap race by 0.633 seconds. Davenport held on for second over Brandon Overton who won four of the previous six Super Bowl races at Golden Isles.

Overton came home in third followed by Ricky Thornton Jr. and Brandon Sheppard who rounded out the top five drivers.

O’Neal started on the Victory Fuel Pole and grabbed the lead at the start of the race. Jimmy Owens, looking for his 81st career win with the series, ran in second for the first six laps until yielding the spot to Davenport.

The race was a hotly contested battle for most of the 40 laps as several drivers were in contention to pick up the opening night win. O’Neal stumbled slightly in turn two, opening the door for Davenport to take the lead on lap 22, but O’Neal came right back to regain the point from the three-time champion.

With cautions on lap 27 and lap 30, the field stayed bunched up behind O’Neal for the restarts, but when O’Neal stayed on the high-side to hold off Davenport and Overton at the end as the final 10 laps went caution-free.

In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the 25th time in his career, O’Neal has his sights set on a second consecutive Lucas Oil National Championship after scoring his first win at Golden Isles.

O’Neal was asked about the lap that nearly led to his downfall. “The top was just blowing a lot of crumbs across it. If you didn’t get set enough you would lose the front end halfway through the corner. Jonathan got back by me and did the exact same thing and let me get back by him. Things just worked out in our favor, and I thought that one mistake I made it was going to be it, but fortunately he made a little bobble over there in two and got us back in it.”

“The restarts actually calmed me down a little bit,” said the Martinsville, Indiana resident who earned an industry record $200,000 from the over one million dollar point fund the series offered in 2023. “I was nervous whenever we got to lapped traffic, because I didn’t know where to go. Whenever the cautions come out it actually gave me a little bit of a clean racetrack again for a few laps. My race car was awesome all night long.”

Davenport, entered the event with 72 career LOLMDS wins, saw his one chance to take control of the race slip away on lap 23. “I just kind of slid for the lead there and I knew he (O’Neal) would be coming back the next corner. He made a mistake over there. I wish I was a little bit further behind because once he started coming left, I knew he was going to block the bottom, but I was already to his inside. I wish I was a couple of feet behind because I could have went to the outside and maybe got a run off of four on him. I just didn’t capitalize on his one mistake he made.”

Overton rounded out the Big River Steel Podium with his third-place finish as the driver who has dominated at Golden Isles over the past few seasons was in the thick of things until the end. “Our car was actually good. These guys are good. It is what it is. They are the best in the business. It was a heck of a race for a while. This is just the first night. I am looking forward to tomorrow. I am sure we can do a couple of things to speed up the car a little bit.”

The winner’s Mark Richards Racing Rocket Chassis is powered by a Durham Racing Engine and sponsored by Valvoline, Seubert Calf Ranches, Performance Grading, Ace Metal Works, Stiles Marine and Maintenance, Wheeler Metals, Gunter’s Honey, O’Neal’s Salvage and Recycling, Professional Concrete Cutting and Drilling, Fox Shocks, and Sunoco Race Fuels.

Completing the top ten were Jimmy Owens, Kyle Bronson, Devin Moran, Daulton Wilson, and Dennis Erb Jr.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
General Tire Super Bowl of Racing | Night 1
Thursday, January 25, 2024
Golden Isles Speedway – Waynesville, GA

General Tire Super Bowl of Racing A-Main | Night 1 (40 Laps): 1. 1-Hudson O’Neal[1]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 3. 76-Brandon Overton[5]; 4. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[7]; 5. B5-Brandon Sheppard[8]; 6. 20-Jimmy Owens[3]; 7. 40B-Kyle Bronson[4]; 8. 99-Devin Moran[9]; 9. 18D-Daulton Wilson[6]; 10. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[13]; 11. 58-Garrett Alberson[17]; 12. 7T-Drake Troutman[16]; 13. 5-Mark Whitener[20]; 14. 7-Ross Robinson[22]; 15. 6-Clay Harris[15]; 16. 157-Mike Marlar[19]; 17. 111-Max Blair[23]; 18. 10-Garrett Smith[12]; 19. 79-Donald McIntosh[14]; 20. 39-Tim McCreadie[21]; 21. 25-Tony Jackson Jr[26]; 22. 99B-Boom Briggs[25]; 23. 1T-Tyler Erb[18]; 24. 17M-Dale McDowell[10]; 25. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[24]; 26. 75-Daniel Adam[27]; 27. 44-Chris Madden[11]

Fast Shafts B-Main 1 (10 Laps): 1. 157-Mike Marlar[4]; 2. 39-Tim McCreadie[1]; 3. 111-Max Blair[3]; 4. 3S-Brian Shirley[5]; 5. 99B-Boom Briggs[8]; 6. 76N-Blair Nothdurft[6]; 7. 19M-Spencer Hughes[2]; 8. 214-Haiden Cowan[7]; 9. 8-Dillon McCowan[11]; 10. 111R-Steven Roberts[13]; 11. 66C-Matt Cosner[12]; 12. 81J-Jack Riggs[15]; 13. 17SS-Brenden Smith[14]; 14. 93-Cory Lawler[16]; 15. 388-Jackson Hise[17]; 16. 81-Jason Riggs[9]; 17. 3-Brennon Willard[10]

UNOH B-Main 2 (10 Laps): 1. 5-Mark Whitener[1]; 2. 7-Ross Robinson[3]; 3. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[7]; 4. 96V-Tanner English[2]; 5. 97-Cody Overton[4]; 6. 25-Tony Jackson Jr[5]; 7. 14X-Wil Herrington[8]; 8. 19R-Ryan Gustin[13]; 9. 174-Ethan Dotson[10]; 10. 14JR-Trey Mills[6]; 11. 4G-Bob Gardner[9]; 12. 28B-Carson Brown[14]; 13. 75-Daniel Adam[12]; 14. (DNS) 99T-Dylan Thompson; 15. (DNS) 42-Terry Casey; 16. (DNS) 16-Tyler Bruening

Penske Shocks Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Hudson O’Neal[1]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[2]; 3. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[5]; 4. 39-Tim McCreadie[3]; 5. 157-Mike Marlar[4]; 6. 214-Haiden Cowan[6]; 7. 3-Brennon Willard[7]; 8. 111R-Steven Roberts[9]; 9. 93-Cory Lawler[8]

Summit Racing Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 20-Jimmy Owens[1]; 2. 99-Devin Moran[3]; 3. 6-Clay Harris[2]; 4. 19M-Spencer Hughes[4]; 5. 3S-Brian Shirley[9]; 6. 99B-Boom Briggs[5]; 7. 8-Dillon McCowan[8]; 8. 17SS-Brenden Smith[7]; 9. 388-Jackson Hise[6]

Earnhardt Technologies Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 76-Brandon Overton[3]; 2. 44-Chris Madden[1]; 3. 58-Garrett Alberson[2]; 4. 111-Max Blair[5]; 5. 76N-Blair Nothdurft[4]; 6. 81-Jason Riggs[7]; 7. 66C-Matt Cosner[6]; 8. 81J-Jack Riggs[8]

Simpson Race Products Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. B5-Brandon Sheppard[3]; 3. 79-Donald McIntosh[2]; 4. 5-Mark Whitener[7]; 5. 97-Cody Overton[4]; 6. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[8]; 7. 174-Ethan Dotson[5]; 8. 19R-Ryan Gustin[6]; 9. 28B-Carson Brown[9]

Lucas Oil Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 40B-Kyle Bronson[3]; 2. 17M-Dale McDowell[1]; 3. 7T-Drake Troutman[2]; 4. 96V-Tanner English[6]; 5. 25-Tony Jackson Jr[5]; 6. 14X-Wil Herrington[4]; 7. 99T-Dylan Thompson[7]; 8. (DNS) 42-Terry Casey

Lucas Oil Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 18D-Daulton Wilson[2]; 2. 10-Garrett Smith[1]; 3. 1T-Tyler Erb[4]; 4. 7-Ross Robinson[5]; 5. 14JR-Trey Mills[6]; 6. 4G-Bob Gardner[8]; 7. 75-Daniel Adam[7]; 8. 16-Tyler Bruening[3]

Qualifying | GROUP A: 1. 1-Hudson O’Neal, 00:15.166[24]; 2. 20-Jimmy Owens, 00:15.208[25]; 3. 44-Chris Madden, 00:15.233[19]; 4. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr, 00:15.349[18]; 5. 6-Clay Harris, 00:15.389[17]; 6. 58-Garrett Alberson, 00:15.503[9]; 7. 39-Tim McCreadie, 00:15.516[23]; 8. 99-Devin Moran, 00:15.520[6]; 9. 76-Brandon Overton, 00:15.532[8]; 10. 157-Mike Marlar, 00:15.598[12]; 11. 19M-Spencer Hughes, 00:15.634[26]; 12. 76N-Blair Nothdurft, 00:15.638[14]; 13. 28-Dennis Erb Jr, 00:15.649[16]; 14. 99B-Boom Briggs, 00:15.659[2]; 15. 111-Max Blair, 00:15.701[7]; 16. 214-Haiden Cowan, 00:15.781[11]; 17. 388-Jackson Hise, 00:15.849[4]; 18. 66C-Matt Cosner, 00:16.021[3]; 19. 3-Brennon Willard, 00:16.067[10]; 20. 17SS-Brenden Smith, 00:16.118[13]; 21. 81-Jason Riggs, 00:16.138[21]; 22. 93-Cory Lawler, 00:16.171[22]; 23. 8-Dillon McCowan, 00:16.172[5]; 24. 81J-Jack Riggs, 00:16.479[20]; 25. 111R-Steven Roberts, 00:16.661[1]; 26. 3S-Brian Shirley, 00:59.999[15]

Qualifying | GROUP B: 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport, 00:15.299[8]; 2. 40B-Kyle Bronson, 00:15.394[14]; 3. 10-Garrett Smith, 00:15.468[21]; 4. 79-Donald McIntosh, 00:15.472[11]; 5. 17M-Dale McDowell, 00:15.531[4]; 6. 18D-Daulton Wilson, 00:15.544[12]; 7. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 00:15.595[7]; 8. 7T-Drake Troutman, 00:15.620[22]; 9. 16-Tyler Bruening, 00:15.632[24]; 10. 97-Cody Overton, 00:15.675[23]; 11. 14X-Wil Herrington, 00:15.685[15]; 12. 1T-Tyler Erb, 00:15.686[20]; 13. 174-Ethan Dotson, 00:15.764[25]; 14. 25-Tony Jackson Jr, 00:15.778[10]; 15. 7-Ross Robinson, 00:15.796[18]; 16. 19R-Ryan Gustin, 00:15.797[1]; 17. 96V-Tanner English, 00:15.912[2]; 18. 14JR-Trey Mills, 00:15.930[5]; 19. 5-Mark Whitener, 00:16.069[9]; 20. 99T-Dylan Thompson, 00:16.092[13]; 21. 75-Daniel Adam, 00:16.095[6]; 22. 46-Earl Pearson Jr, 00:16.200[16]; 23. 42-Terry Casey, 00:16.381[17]; 24. 4G-Bob Gardner, 00:16.418[3]; 25. 28B-Carson Brown, 00:16.577[19]

Hot Laps | GROUP 1: 1. 99-Devin Moran, 00:15.708[6]; 2. 76-Brandon Overton, 00:15.820[8]; 3. 66C-Matt Cosner, 00:15.922[3]; 4. 58-Garrett Alberson, 00:16.030[9]; 5. 99B-Boom Briggs, 00:16.038[2]; 6. 111-Max Blair, 00:16.039[7]; 7. 8-Dillon McCowan, 00:16.051[5]; 8. 111R-Steven Roberts, 00:16.129[1]; 9. 388-Jackson Hise, 00:16.178[4]

Hot Laps | GROUP 2: 1. 28-Dennis Erb Jr, 00:15.691[7]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr, 00:15.704[9]; 3. 157-Mike Marlar, 00:15.754[3]; 4. 3S-Brian Shirley, 00:15.760[6]; 5. 214-Haiden Cowan, 00:15.919[2]; 6. 76N-Blair Nothdurft, 00:15.988[5]; 7. 6-Clay Harris, 00:16.010[8]; 8. 17SS-Brenden Smith, 00:16.270[4]; 9. 3-Brennon Willard, 00:16.283[1]

Hot Laps | GROUP 3: 1. 20-Jimmy Owens, 00:15.469[7]; 2. 1-Hudson O’Neal, 00:15.564[6]; 3. 44-Chris Madden, 00:15.599[1]; 4. 39-Tim McCreadie, 00:15.649[5]; 5. 19M-Spencer Hughes, 00:15.975[8]; 6. 81-Jason Riggs, 00:16.291[3]; 7. 81J-Jack Riggs, 00:16.609[2]; 8. 93-Cory Lawler, 00:16.954[4]

Hot Laps | GROUP 4: 1. 96V-Tanner English, 00:15.732[2]; 2. 19R-Ryan Gustin, 00:15.752[1]; 3. 5-Mark Whitener, 00:15.863[9]; 4. 17M-Dale McDowell, 00:15.922[4]; 5. 14JR-Trey Mills, 00:15.958[5]; 6. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 00:16.023[7]; 7. 49-Jonathan Davenport, 00:16.270[8]; 8. 4G-Bob Gardner, 00:16.482[3]; 9. 75-Daniel Adam, 00:16.796[6]

Hot Laps | GROUP 5: 1. 40B-Kyle Bronson, 00:15.572[5]; 2. 79-Donald McIntosh, 00:15.578[2]; 3. 14X-Wil Herrington, 00:15.660[6]; 4. 18D-Daulton Wilson, 00:15.727[3]; 5. 25-Tony Jackson Jr, 00:15.876[1]; 6. 46-Earl Pearson Jr, 00:15.980[7]; 7. 99T-Dylan Thompson, 00:15.983[4]; 8. 42-Terry Casey, 00:16.225[8]

Hot Laps | GROUP 6: 1. 7-Ross Robinson, 00:15.639[1]; 2. 174-Ethan Dotson, 00:15.664[8]; 3. 7T-Drake Troutman, 00:15.757[5]; 4. 10-Garrett Smith, 00:15.933[4]; 5. 1T-Tyler Erb, 00:15.983[3]; 6. 28B-Carson Brown, 00:16.026[2]; 7. 16-Tyler Bruening, 00:16.038[7]; 8. (DNS) 97-Cody Overton