BARBERVILLE, Fla. — Less than a month after failing to qualify for a feature at Volusia Speedway Park, Hudson O’Neal got reassurance that Rocket1 Racing is heading in the right direction.
The Martinsville, Ind., driver, stormed from his sixth-starting spot, taking the lead from Bobby Pierce on lap 16 to score his first Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals win Monday night.
It’s also O’Neal’s third straight feature win, something he stated is due to the team’s hard work and how the car fits his driving style.
“It’s just reassurance that this team’s heading in the right direction,” O’Neal said. I’m heading in the right direction. The car is coming around to fit my kind of style. And it’s just cool.
“I’m with a team that’s unbelievable. They’re second to none, and they work their tail off every single day. They give me a great race car, and I was just the one lucky enough to drive it.”
Four different drivers traded the lead throughout the 25-lap feature, as Bobby Pierce led the first two laps before Nick Hoffman and Tim McCreadie took turns leading the pack.
However, once Pierce retook the lead from McCreadie on lap 14, O’Neal made his move to the front.
While running in third, the Hoosier State competitor got a thunderous run off turn two, quickly passing McCreadie before hooking his Rocket Chassis on the bottom of turns three and four to steal the lead away from Pierce on lap 16.
From there, O’Neal cruised to the $7,000 Victory and took the first step toward the Big Gator trophy.
“I noticed they couldn’t get away from me,” O’Neal said. “We were all just pretty good, just keeping our speed up, tied to a chain like one car-length behind each other. We started to catch lap traffic, and I knew my car was maneuverable, so I just started kind of feeling it out.
“They caught lap traffic and were both fighting for the bottom, and I just railed the top and got lucky down that backstretch the way it all kind of worked out. I just caught them at the right place and at the right time for me.”
Hudson O’Neal (Josh James photo)
McCreadie finished second — his third consecutive runner-up finish at Volusia.
He said his lane choice affected where he finished.
“I just needed to get into a better groove,” McCreadie said. “I was just kind of losing the right front, losing the right front, and that’s kind of what we had the first night we were here in January.
“Hudson did a good job, and I guess it’s better to be running third. Bobby was worried about what I was doing, I think, and must not have even known he was coming. When [O’Neal] went by me, I was like, Bobby, you better do something, or he’s going to drive by both of us no problem.”
Chris Madden, the 2018 Big Gator Champion, rounded out the podium.
The Gray Court, S.C., driver said he got pinned on the bottom during a lap-six restart which impeded his progress toward the front.
“That one restart, Bobby chose the bottom there, and we just got hung up,” Madden said. “I fell back a little bit and couldn’t get going. We just had to work our way back through there.”
Early race leader Nick Hoffman finished fourth, his second consecutive top-five finish at Volusia.
Ricky Thornton Jr. rounded out the top five after transferring into the feature from the Last Chance Showdown.
Keyword: It’s O’Neal In Volusia LM Run