WHEATLAND, Mo. — Hudson O’Neal came to south-central Missouri in a self-proclaimed slump, winless and often non-competitive for more than two months. O’Neal left Lucas Oil Speedway with a momentum-turning sweep of the 12th annual Spring Nationals Presented by Iconic Apparel.
The Martinsville, Ind., driver chased down race-long leader Brandon Overton on lap 43 and turned Night Two of the Spring Nationals into a rout from there, claiming the $20,000 prize in the unsanctioned feature for late models.
After working to make the pass on Overton for several laps, O’Neal finally took over the top spot and went on to win by 3.5 seconds. The triumph, in his SSI Motorsports Longhorn chassis, was worth nearly triple his prize for Friday’s $7,000 feature win.
“I had a good race car again tonight,” said O’Neal, the 2021 Show-Me 100 winner. “We didn’t start on the front row, which was scary for a little bit at the beginning of the race. We shuffled back pretty good there, but thanks to all my guys.
“Hopefully this is a good sign for the months to come. I’ve loved coming to this place since I was little.”
Overton used the outside line to earn the early lead with Tony Jackson Jr., following him from the outside of row two and Jonathan Davenport settling for third after one lap. That’s when Jace Parmley rolled to a stop in turn one to bring out a quick caution.
As action resumed, Davenport cruised around Jackson and began pursuit of Overton who opened a 1.3-second lead by lap five. Overton caught lapped cars by lap 13 as the race settled into a long green-flag run.
Davenport took advantage to whittle the lead to under one second with O’Neal about another second back in third. Billy Moyer slowed on the front stretch of lap 22, bringing out the event’s second caution and wiping out Overton’s rebuilt-lead, which had expanded to 1.8 seconds.
The restart saw Overton break away and open a 1.3-second lead by lap 26 when the race’s third caution came out after Eli Ross spun in turn four. O’Neal took advantage of a good start from the inside on the restart to edge past Davenport for second with Marlar in fourth.
“I was just lucky, I got to going through some lapped cars there and one of them got a really good run off the bottom,” O’Neal said. “I thought, ‘Man, if lapped cars are getting around off the bottom, then I think I can.”
O’Neal continued to dive low into the turns and started to cut into Overton’s lead and was on his backside by lap 32. He pulled alongside several laps in a row, but was unable to make the pass out of turn four as the duo separated from Davenport and Marlar by two seconds.
O’Neal finally made the inside pass for the lead out of turn four on lap 43, supplanting the race-long pacesetter. He worked through lapped traffic, was able to separate himself by one second by lap 48.
As action remained caution-free the rest of the way, the 2021 Show-Me 100 winner poured it on and beat Overton by 3.56 seconds.
“It’s a hell of a lot better than we’ve been,” Overton said. “Just hats off to my crew. Everybody’s been working really hard. We’re making gains at it.
“Good job by Hudson, he did a hell of a job. We’re right there. I feel good about it.”
Marlar won the battle with Davenport in the final laps for third with Cade Dillard capturing fifth.
Donnie Miller of West Plains won a thriller in the Hickamo Super Stocks feature, taking home the $1,000 prize.
Chad Eickleberry of Warrensburg rallied from a 10th-starting position to win the Show-Me Vintage Racers feature, beating Owen Evinger by just under one second.
The finish:
Feature – 1. 71-Hudson O’Neal[3]; 2. 76-Brandon Overton[2]; 3. 157-Mike Marlar[6]; 4. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 5. 97-Cade Dillard[5]; 6. 93F-Carson Ferguson[17]; 7. 22D-Daniel Hilsabeck[21]; 8. 98-Justin Wells[8]; 9. 15S-Clay Stuckey[16]; 10. 8-Dillon McCowan[10]; 11. 11GG-Gordy Gundaker[19]; 12. 5-Logan Martin[9]; 13. 11H-Jeff Herzog[7]; 14. 93-Mason Oberkramer[13]; 15. 74-Mitch McGrath[15]; 16. 3-Brennon Willard[23]; 17. (DNF) 11T-Trevor Gundaker[20]; 18. (DNF) 8K-Tyler Kuykendall[22]; 19. (DNF) 32-Chris Simpson[12]; 20. (DNF) 56-Tony Jackson Jr[4]; 21. (DNF) 66-Eli Ross[18]; 22. (DNF) 21-Billy Moyer Sr[14]; 23. (DNF) 1X-Aaron Marrant[11]; 24. (DNF) 82J-Jace Parmley[24]
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