Current Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series points leader Hudson O’Neal of Martinsville, Indiana charged from the seventh starting position to capture his fifth Series victory of the 2026 season Thursday night during opening night of the Malvern Bank High Bank Heist at Eagle Raceway.

O’Neal collected $10,000 for the win, which also marked his 13th overall dirt late model victory of the year.

Ricky Thornton Jr., who started 15th, earned Hoker Trucking Hard Charger honors as he rallied to finish second. Brandon Sheppard, fresh off last Saturday’s victory at Fairbury Speedway, rounded out the Big River Steel podium in third after starting 10th. Max Blair finished fourth, while Jonathan Davenport completed the top five.

Brandon Overton led the opening 17 laps of the 40-lap main event before Garrett Alberson briefly took over the top spot for three circuits. Overton regained the lead on lap 21 and appeared poised for victory until O’Neal began closing rapidly in the closing stages.

O’Neal completed the winning pass exiting turn four on lap 30. Overton remained second until lap 34, when a flat left rear tire forced him to the hot pit. After changing the tire, Overton returned to finish 16th after leading 27 laps.

The win marked the 39th Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory of O’Neal’s career and his second triumph at Eagle Raceway, having also won during the Series’ inaugural visit to the track in 2024.

“I felt like we were pretty good all night,” O’Neal said in Lucas Oil Victory Lane. “The top was dominant early, and it was hard to make time on the bottom. Once the track started moving around, though, I felt really good down there. Overton was definitely better around the cushion, but once the bottom came in, I just tried to stay patient and wait for my opportunity.”

“We finally got a restart where I could get underneath him, and then he had the misfortune with the flat tire. On that last restart, my carburetor stumbled a little bit and I thought everybody was going to pile into me. I’m sorry if anybody got caught up in that.”

Thornton, who unloaded a backup car after issues surfaced during hot laps, charged from the eighth row to finish just 0.616 seconds behind O’Neal.

“I love this place,” Thornton said. “We had trouble with the primary car in hot laps, so we unloaded this one and probably overdrove in qualifying, which made for a long night. But we passed a lot of cars, and the car felt really good.”

“Restarts really dictated where you needed to be. I knew Max (Blair) wasn’t going to the top, and if JD left the top open, I was going for it. I got a really good run and just tried not to get stuck following Hud around the bottom.”

Sheppard continued his recent momentum with a third-place finish after charging forward from 10th.

“Honestly, I felt like we had a really good race car the whole race,” Sheppard said. “I just made a couple wrong moves early—stayed too high too long, then stayed too low too long before halfway. Once everyone started moving around, I could really roll the track and move wherever I needed to. We had a really fast race car tonight.”

O’Neal’s winning SSI Motorsports, Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and backed by Big River Steel, Wheeler Metals, Merrill Bonding Company, Professional Concrete Cutting and Drilling, O’Neal’s Salvage and Recycling, Lineal Contracting, Seven Spurs Ranch, Sub Surface of Indiana, Beeman Lumber, Indiana USSSA Fast Pitch Softball, Dicky’s Doghouse, Lucas Oil Products, Penske Racing Shocks, and Sunoco Race Fuels.

Completing the top ten were Brian Shirley, Devin Moran, Kyle Bronson, Garrett Alberson, and Dallon Murty.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series 

Race Summary 

Malvern Bank Presents High Bank Heist | Night 1

Thursday, May 14, 2026

Eagle Raceway | Eagle, NE

Allstar Performance Time Trials

Fast Time Group A: Brandon Overton | 13.7022 seconds

Fast Time Group B: Garrett Alberson | 13.7017 seconds (Overall)

Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 2. 76N-Blair Nothdurft[2]; 3. 3S-Brian Shirley[5]; 4. 60-Dan Ebert[3]; 5. 6-Clay Harris[4]; 6. 04-Tad Pospisil[6]; 7. 19M-Brenden Smith[7]; 8. 71M-Mike Morton Jr[8]

Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 18-Chase Junghans[3]; 2. 71-Hudson O’Neal[4]; 3. 93L-Cory Lawler[1]; 4. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[5]; 5. 93-Carson Ferguson[6]; 6. 35D-Dylan Sillman[7]; 7. 45D-Dan Battaglia[8]; 8. 15-Clay Stuckey[2]

Cool-It Thermo-Tec Heat Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 58-Garrett Alberson[1]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 3. 1-Brandon Sheppard[4]; 4. 11-Josh Rice[3]; 5. 13-Dallon Murty[6]; 6. 99 18-Jesse Sobbing[5]; 7. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[7]; 8. (DNS) 10-Junior Coover

Simpson Race Products Heat Race #4 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 111-Max Blair[1]; 2. 40B-Kyle Bronson[3]; 3. 99-Devin Moran[2]; 4. 16-Tyler Bruening[4]; 5. 8-Dillon McCowan[5]; 6. 14S-Collen Winebarger[6]; 7. 15C-Curt Schroeder[7]

Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 6 Transfer): 1. 13-Dallon Murty[2]; 2. 8-Dillon McCowan[4]; 3. 6-Clay Harris[1]; 4. 99 18-Jesse Sobbing[6]; 5. 93-Carson Ferguson[3]; 6. 04-Tad Pospisil[5]; 7. 14S-Collen Winebarger[8]; 8. 15-Clay Stuckey[15]; 9. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[10]; 10. 19M-Brenden Smith[9]; 11. 35D-Dylan Sillman[7]; 12. 15C-Curt Schroeder[12]; 13. 71M-Mike Morton Jr[13]; 14. 45D-Dan Battaglia[11]; 15. (DNS) 10-Junior Coover

Malvern Bank Presents High Bank Heist | Night 1 Feature Finish (40 Laps):

Pos – Start – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Earnings

1 – 7 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – $10,100

2 – 15 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – $5,500

3 – 10 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – $3,500

4 – 4 – 111 – Max Blair – Centerville, PA – $2,700

5 – 6 – 49 – Jonathan Davenport – Blairsville, GA – $2,500

6 – 9 – 3S – Brian Shirley – Chatham, IL – $2,300

7 – 12 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – $2,200

8 – 8 – 40B – Kyle Bronson – Brandon, FL – $2,100

9 – 2 – 58 – Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – $2,050

10 – 17 – 13 – Dallon Murty – Chelsea, IA – $2,000

11 – 11 – 93L – Cory Lawler – Hanover, PA – $1,600

12 – 18 – 8 – Dillon McCowan – Urbana, MO – $1,500

13 – 14 – 11 – Josh Rice – Crittenden, KY – $1,200

14 – 16 – 16 – Tyler Bruening – Decorah, IA – $1,000

15 – 22 – 4 – Tad Pospisil – Norfolk, NE – $950

16 – 1 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – $925

17 – 21 – 93 – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – $900

18 – 24 – 19M – Brenden Smith – Dade City, FL – $875

19 – 20 – 99-18 – Jesse Sobbing – Malvern, IA – $850

20 – 19 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – $825

21 – 13 – 60 – Dan Ebert – Lake Shore, MN – $800

22 – 23 – 22 – Daniel Hilsabeck – Earlham, IA – $900

23 – 3 – 18 – Chase Junghans – Manhattan, KS – $800

24 – 5 – 76N – Blair Nothdurft – Renner, SD – $800

Race Statistics  

Entrants: 31

Bilstein Shocks Pole Sitter: Brandon Overton

MD3 Lap Leaders: Brandon Overton (Laps 1-17); Garrett Alberson (Laps 18-20); Brandon Overton (Laps 21-30); Hudson O’Neal (Laps 31-40)

Hellraizer Jacks Halfway Leader: Garrett Alberson

Wieland Feature Winner: Hudson O’Neal

Margin of Victory: 0.616 seconds

Hellraizer Jacks Cautions: Blair Nothdurft (Lap 20); Josh Rice (Lap 30); Brandon Overton (Lap 34); Dan Ebert (Lap 34 restart); Chase Junghans (Lap 37)

MyRacePass Series Provisional: Daniel Hilsabeck; Brenden Smith

Fast Time Provisional: n/a

Emergency Provisionals: n/a

Track Provisional: n/a

Big River Steel Podium Top 3: Hudson O’Neal, Ricky Thornton, Jr., Brandon Sheppard

Penske Shocks Top 5: Hudson O’Neal, Ricky Thornton, Jr., Brandon Sheppard, Max Blair, Jonathan Davenport

Behrent’s One-Lap-to-Go Top 3: Hudson O’Neal, Ricky Thornton, Jr., Brandon Sheppard

PEM 4th Place Feature: Max Blair

Diversified Machine 5th Place Feature: Jonathan Davenport

Wilwood Brakes 7th Place Feature: Devin Moran

Wehrs Machine 11th Place Feature: Cory Lawler

Velocity Manufacturing 13th Place Feature: Josh Rice

XS Power Batteries 15th Place Feature: Tad Pospisil

Hoker Trucking Hard Charger of the Race: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Advanced 13 positions)

MD3 Most Laps Led: Brandon Overton (27 Laps)

Sunoco Race Fuels Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Hudson O’Neal

Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Hudson O’Neal

O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Dillon McCowan

Pro Fabrication Headers Fastest Lap of the Race: Brandon Overton | Lap 3 | 13.921 seconds

FK Rod Ends Hard Luck Award: Daniel Hilsabeck

Victory Fuel Power Move of the Race: Garrett Alberson

Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Jason Durham

ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Clements Racing Engines

Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn Chassis

Dirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Tyler Bruening | 13.728 seconds

Time of Race: 25 minutes 46 seconds

Big River Steel Championship Standings Presented by ARP:

Pos – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Points – Earnings

1 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – 2945 – $146,200

2 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – 2855 – $154,999

3 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – 2780 – $107,100

4 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – 2695 – $88,250

5 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – 2650 – $62,675

6 – 111 – Max Blair – Centerville, PA – 2650 – $58,900

7 – 3s – Brian Shirley – Chatham, IL – 2410 – $43,900

8 – 58 – Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – 2405 – $46,675

9 – 40B – Kyle Bronson – Brandon, FL – 2325 – $36,375

10 – 11 – Josh Rice – Crittenden, KY – 2300 – $38,175

11 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – 2285 – $48,425

12 – 93 – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – 2235 – $37,850

13 – 60 – Dan Ebert – Lake Shore, MN – 2185 – $36,375

14 – 8 – Dillon McCowan – Urbana, MO – 1955 – $23,400

15 – 22 – Daniel Hilsabeck – Earlham, IA – 1920 – $22,875

16 – 19M – Brenden Smith – Dade City, FL – 1895 – $24,125

17 – 93L – Cory Lawler – Hanover, PA – 1735 – $15,225

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