Hudson O’Neal Stars In $75,000 Knoxville Late Model Nats

Hudson O'Neal celebrates his Knoxville Late Model Nationals win Saturday night. (Heath Lawson/LOLMDS photo)

KNOXVILLE, Iowa – Hudson O’Neal charged from 15th on the grid to win the 21st Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals presented by All Makes Collision Center Saturday night at Knoxville Raceway.

The Martinsville, Ind., driver earned an event record $75,000 for his 34th career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win.

In a race with nine lead changes among three drivers, O’Neal finally took the lead for good on lap 57 and then controlled the last 18 laps to win by 8.368 seconds over Ricky Thornton Jr., Devin Moran, Brandon Sheppard, and Daulton Wilson.

Jonathan Davenport and Moran swapped the lead during the first 54 laps of the race, until O’Neal became the third different leader on lap 55.

Moran countered back on lap 56, before O’Neal took the lead for the second time on lap 57, then pulled away to dominate the rest of the race.

O’Neal became the 16th different winner in 21 editions of the crown jewel event. Hudson and his father Don are the first father-son duo to win the race, with Don having won it in 2011.

It was also a rebound for the young superstar, after he got upside down on the opening preliminary night of this year’s event Thursday.

“I'm tired, man. Riding around that berm was so demanding; it got really rough down there, and I kept telling myself to just breathe,” said Hudson O’Neal, the 2023 series champion. “Hats off to my guys — whenever you destroy a race car like that, it definitely hurts. I put a lot of effort into that car to make it to the World 100; it was the car we planned to finish our championship with. That was definitely a morale killer a little bit, but we were able to unload the car the next day, and the guys worked hard to get it ready. To come back and have good speed last night was great—we had a mechanical failure, and to come from 15th is just so awesome.

“It’s been a tough month, but we’ve been making progress step by step. We’ve received a lot of help from many different people, including my family and everyone watching back home. These races are so special — these are the ones you dream of adding to your list. This one is so cool. I knew I was really good, and when I was racing with Devin, I didn’t feel like I was pushing my limits down there. They were having to run really hard on the track to keep up, and I figured they’d heat their tires, and I could slip away from them,” said the winner, who

At 25 years of age, Hudson O’Neal set the record as the youngest driver to win the Knoxville Late Model Nationals.

Thornton was the only driver in the top three finishers who did not lead during the race and came in second after passing Moran in the final four laps.

“I went much tighter than I did last night; the track never really slowed down like it usually does here. I don’t know if it was easier to run around the bottom berm; overall, I’m happy with second,” admitted Thornton. “Obviously, Hud was a lot better than all of us; he drove to the front and won by over eight seconds or whatever it was. Congrats to him.

“I feel like any time it gets around a berm like that on the bottom, like at Pittsburgh a few years back, he wore us all out running below the berm. So again, congrats to him for tonight; after flipping on night one, it didn’t scare him at all.”

Moran finished third after leading 21 laps.

“We just got that bottom to start chunking out a little, and when it did, my nose was just too low, and it kept bouncing and bouncing. I couldn't circle that bottom,” noted Moran. “Overall, we’ll take it. I really felt like we had a really good car for a long part of that race. I could move all around, and JD was having an awesome race. It was so fun to race with him, but obviously Hudson was the best car tonight.

“At the end, he did a great job — my guys said he was a second faster per lap at the end of the race.”

Completing the top 10 were Brian Shirley, Garrett Alberson, Dan Ebert, Tyler Erb, and Donald McIntosh.

Perennial contenders Jonathan Davenport and Bobby Pierce both suffered misfortune Saturday night, with Davenport’s motor expiring on lap 53 and Pierce falling out much earlier just 28 laps into the main.

The finish:

A-Main (75 laps): 1. 71-Hudson O’Neal [15]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr. [4]; 3. 99-Devin Moran [1]; 4. 1-Brandon Sheppard [9]; 5. 18D-Daulton Wilson [7]; 6. 3S-Brian Shirley [10]; 7. 58-Garrett Alberson [3]; 8. 60-Dan Ebert [21]; 9. 01-Tyler Erb [5]; 10. 79-Donald McIntosh [14]; 11. 25-Chad Simpson [26]; 12. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr. [27]; 13. 19M-Joseph Joiner [13]; 14. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck [17]; 15. 15-Clay Stuckey [30]; 16. 76N-Blair Nothdurft [20]; 17. 99S-Jesse Sobbing [23]; 18. 49-Jonathan Davenport [2]; 19. 93L-Cory Lawler [22]; 20. 93-Carson Ferguson [12]; 21. 1XM-Aaron Marrant [11]; 22. 75-Daniel Adam [28]; 23. 6-Clay Harris [24]; 24. 19R-Ryan Gustin [19]; 25. 32-Bobby Pierce [8]; 26. 51B-Brandon Carpenter [32]; 27. 99X-Dallon Murty [29]; 28. 32S-Chris Simpson [16]; 29. 04-Tad Pospisil [31]; 30. 6J-Jake Neal [25]; 31. 76-Brandon Overton [6]; 32. 18C-Chase Junghans [18].