It looked like Hudson O’Neal had the Dirt Track World Championship locked up, but it all ended in disaster with a little more than a quarter of the race to go.
O’Neal took the lead early and was unchallenged until he got into lap traffic a little over 30 laps into the race. Ricky Thornton Jr. was able to take advantage of his struggles navigating the slower cars and took the lead with 67 laps left in the 100-lap feature. However, O’Neal did not sit in second for long. He wrestled the lead back just a couple of laps later with 65 to go.
He would then lead throughout the middle portion of the race. However, following a restart with 26 laps to go he would get up and over the cushion in turn 3. Ricky Thornton Jr. took advantage and grabbed the lead into turn 4. Devin Moran would then pull beside him to try and grab second. As Moran was moving underneath him, O’Neal’s right rear tire appeared to go flat and he drew a caution. He would get his tire changed and he would end up rallying back to finish in 8th, but his chances at the $100,000 to-win Dirt Track World Championship were dashed.
On Facebook, O’Neal shared a video and revealed that the reason he got up and over the cushion was because he was struck by a mud clot. He wrote, “Absolutely gut wrenching! A mud clot cost us $100,000! I don’t really have the words!”
“All I know is our SSI Motorsports 71 machine was fast this weekend! We put ourselves in position and just didn’t get it done! To our fans, we apologize that we didn’t get that one for you guys! All we know is the sun will rise tomorrow and we will move on to the next one!”
He then went on to share that he would be back in action later this week at Volunteer Speedway for the FloRacing Night in America Series race. Additionally, he plans to prepare for the World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte with the K&L Rumley Enterpsies No. 6 car.
O’Neal wrote, “On another note, Tessa, River, and I are loaded up and headed to Charlotte to test the 6 car in preparation for the world finals! We will see everyone next week at Bullsgap!”
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