Jake O’Neil continued to show the excellent speed he has had since the year began at the Wild West Shootout at Central Arizona Raceway with the World of Outlaws Late Models at Cedar Lake Speedway during the opening night of the USA Nationals.

The Tucson, Arizona native qualified 2nd in Group, which put him on the pole of the sixth and final heat race of the night. Cody Overton was able to slip past him on the initial start getting underneath him on the exit of turn 4 and completing the pass through turns 1 and 2. O’Neil would counter with a strong run down the back stretch and through the top of 3 and 4. He would get right to the rear of Overton as they went into turn 1 and then ripped through the top and was able to motor past him and reclaim the lead. After that, he never looked back and won by nearly 2 seconds.

The heat race win put him in a third starting spot for the feature. On the initial start, he was able to move into second on the bottom past Ethan Dotson. He then had a spirited battle with Hudson O’Neal for the second spot for a handful of laps before O’Neal was able to work to his outside and get around of him. 

A caution would come out on Lap 8 after Dan Ebert failed to clear Ethan Dotson while attempting to slide him. Ebert would smash into the side of Dotson and the contact slammed Dotson into the outside fence and turned himself around as well. On the restart, O’Neil a few spots to Nick Hoffman, Brandon Sheppard, and Devin Moran. 

As the race progressed, O’Neil faded back to 10th when a caution came out for Dustin Sorensen on lap 23. He would lose a couple of positions on the restart and fall to 13th. When it was all said and done he finished in 14th.

O’Neil’s team revealed in a post to Facebook that the reason why they faded was due to “a pin hole in the right rear.”

The team wrote, “Last night Jake was able to qualify 3rd in his group and win his heat race! He lined up 3rd for the main and was running decent for a few laps but ended up with a pin hole in the right rear and started fading fast, he ended the night in 14th place.”

NEXT: Tyler Erb Opens USA Nationals In Victory Lane At Cedar Lake