RPW Exclusive: Hudson O’Neal Scores Lucas Oil LM North / South 100 Pole At Florence Speedway
Column By: ROBERT SYMONDS / RPW – UNION, KY – After announcing on social media earlier this week that the North/South 100 weekend will be his final weekend in the 2018 Race Season because of shoulder surgery, Hudson O’Neal dedicated himself to this final weekend. Scoring the Ralph Latham Memorial in a rain shortened race, O’Neal wasn’t finished yet.
In heat race one, O’Neal started third and was able to work by the North/South Shootout winner Tim McCreadie to score a few points. Though it was his performance in Round 2 Heat 3 that got him max points. O’Neal started outside of the fourth row, position number 8. He had some tough competition including his father, Don O’Neal.
At the drop of the green, O’Neal was flying through the pack. Making his way past Jesse Lay, Robby Hensley, and Rob Anderzack in the first couple laps to put him on the bumper of Scott Bloomquist. Bloomquist ran the bottom lane blocking the New Deal from advancing. O’Neal took his number 71 to the topside and passed Bloomquist in the blink of an eye. This pass still gave him time to catch Austin Rettig, Josh Richards, and his father before the end of the race.
When Bloomquist was passed, Hudson’s pass on Rettig came in the next lap. Now in third, Hudson caught Richards within the next lap. Using the extreme bottom off of turn 4, O’Neal was able to clear Richards and work on catching his father with a couple laps remaining. Though time did expire for the ‘New Deal,’ the ‘Real Deal’ reigned supreme in this heat.
Combined with both the first round and the second round, Hudson O’Neal managed to score max points and claim the pole position for the North/South 100 on Saturday Night.
Race Summary
Friday, August 10, 2018
Sunoco Race Fuels North/South 100 – Presented by Lucas Oil
Florence Speedway – Union, KYEibach Springs Heat Race #1 – ROUND ONE Finish: Hudson O’Neal, Tim McCreadie, Ricky Weiss, Rob Anderzack, Jason Jameson, Steve Casebolt , Michael Brown, Chad Stapleton, James Rice, Nick Latham-DNS
FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 – ROUND ONE Finish: Nick Hoffman, Jimmy Owens, Don O’Neal, Michael Chilton, Chris Shannon, Rob Mayea, Darrell Lanigan, Scott James , Tyler Erb, Craig Vosbergen
Simpson Performance Products Heat Race #3 – ROUND ONE Finish: Brandon Overton, Jared Hawkins, Bobby Pierce, Dale McDowell, Robby Hensley, Kyle Bronson, Doug Drown, Jason Miller, Austin Burns
QA1 ROUND ONE Heat Race #4 – ROUND ONE Finish: Eddie Carrier, Jr., Kent Robinson, Jeremy Conaway, Josh Richards, Jackie Boggs, Gregg Satterlee, Dennis Erb, Jr., Joey Moriarty, David Webb
Sunoco Race Fuels Heat Race #5 – ROUND ONE Finish: Josh Rice, Jonathan Davenport, Scott Bloomquist, Greg Johnson, Shanon Buckingham, Zack Dohm, Trevor Landrum, Eric Wells, Billy Green
Lucas Oil Heat Race #6 – ROUND ONE Finish: Jimmy Mars, Earl Pearson, Jr., Kody Evans, Mason Zeigler, Austin Rettig, Austyn Mills, Jesse Lay, Jeff Alsip, Donald McIntosh
Eibach Springs Heat Race #1 – ROUND TWO Finish: Dale McDowell, Michael Chilton, Jimmy Owens, Eric Wells, Dennis Erb, Jr., Michael Brown, Jeremy Conaway, Donald McIntosh-DNS, Austin Burns-DNS
FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 – ROUND TWO Finish: Ricky Weiss, Bobby Pierce, Shanon Buckingham, Jackie Boggs, Darrell Lanigan, Jared Hawkins, Rob Mayea, Jeff Alsip, James Rice
Simpson Performance Products Heat Race #3 – ROUND TWO Finish: Don O’Neal, Hudson O’Neal, Nick Hoffman, Josh Richards, Scott Bloomquist, Robby Hensley, Jesse Lay, Austin Rettig, Rob Anderzack
QA1 Heat Race #4 – ROUND TWO Finish: Zack Dohm, Kent Robinson, Mason Zeigler, Tim McCreadie, Craig Vosbergen, Trevor Landrum, Doug Drown, Nick Latham, Kody Evans, Chris Shannon
Sunoco Race Fuels Heat Race #5 – ROUND TWO Finish: Gregg Satterlee, Jonathan Davenport, Jimmy Mars, Austyn Mills, David Webb, Jason Miller, Scott James, Greg Johnson, Steve Casebolt, Jason Jameson
Lucas Oil Heat Race #6 – ROUND TWO Finish: Earl Pearson, Jr., Brandon Overton, Kyle Bronson, Tyler Erb, Eddie Carrier, Jr., Billy Green, Josh Rice, Chad Stapleton, Joey Moriarty
B-Main #1 Line Up (15 Laps, Top 2 Transfer):
| DRIVER | INSIDE | OUTSIDE | DRIVER |
| Gregg Satterlee | 22 | 12R | Josh Rice |
| Shanon Buckingham | 50 | 1AM | Austyn Mills |
| Darrell Lanigan | 14 | 37 | Rob Mayea |
| Kody Evans | 4G | 18L | Trevor Landrum |
| Doug Drown | 12d | C9 | Steve Casebolt |
| Scott James | 1J | 32S | Chad Stapleton |
| Donald McIntosh | 58 | 22B | Austin Burns |
B-Main #2 Line Up (15 Laps, Top 2 Transfer):
| DRIVER | INSIDE | OUTSIDE | DRIVER |
| Zack Dohm | 17d | 0 | Scott Bloomquist |
| Kyle Bronson | 40B | F15 | Jeremy Conaway |
| Rob Anderzack | 8a | 28 | Dennis Erb, Jr. |
| Eric Wells | 18E | 24d | Michael Brown |
| Jason Miller | 94M | 12J | Jason Jameson |
| Craig Vosbergen | 8 | 2A | Jeff Alsip |
| James Rice | 11R |
| DRIVER | INSIDE | OUTSIDE | DRIVER |
| Jared Hawkins | 11H | 1R | Josh Richards |
| Jackie Boggs | 4B | 21H | Robby Hensley |
| Austin Rettig | 94 | 17J | Greg Johnson |
| Tyler Erb | 91 | 13W | David Webb |
| Jesse Lay | 33 | 9s | Chris Shannon |
| Billy Green | 49G | 51M | Joey Moriarty |
| Nick Latham | 31 |
| DRIVER | INSIDE | OUTSIDE | DRIVER |
| Hudson O’Neal | 71 | 76 | Brandon Overton |
| Earl Pearson, Jr. | 1 | 2H | Nick Hoffman |
| Don O’Neal | 5 | 7w | Ricky Weiss |
| Jimmy Owens | 20 | 7R | Kent Robinson |
| Jimmy Mars | 28m | 49 | Jonathan Davenport |
| Bobby Pierce | 32 | 17m | Dale McDowell |
| Tim McCreadie | 39 | 10C | Eddie Carrier, Jr. |
| Michael Chilton | 97 | 25Z | Mason Zeigler |
| B-Main Transfer | 17th | 18th | B-Main Transfer |
| B-Main Transfer | 19th | 20th | B-Main Transfer |
| B-Main Transfer | 21st | 22nd | B-Main Transfer |
| LOLMDS Provisional | 23rd | 24th | LOLMDS Provisional |
