OCALA, Fla. (Feb. 28) — Hudson O’Neal ultimately needed a break to put him over the top in Saturday night’s 50-lap Wieland Winternationals finale at Ocala Speedway.

But considering how swimmingly this season has been going for the 25-year-old star from Martinsville, Ind., having things fall his way isn’t a surprise. It’s just par for the course.

O’Neal was almost at a loss to describe his soaring fortunes after inheriting the lead on lap 36 when Brandon Overton of Evans, Ga., pitted with a flat left-rear tire and going on to claim the $25,000 top prize in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event.

“Speechless,” O’Neal said in victory lane after ending Ocala’s miniseries with back-to-back triumphs and pushing his division-leading 2026 win total to seven. “I don’t even know what to say.”

The fourth-starting O’Neal controlled the action once in front, beating Tuesday winner Devin Moran of Dresden, Ohio, to the finish line by 1.474 seconds. Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., climbed forward from the sixth starting spot to place third, ninth-starter Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., rebounded from Thursday’s opening-lap wreck to finish fourth and Drake Troutman of Hyndman, Pa., completed the top five after starting from the pole position.

Overton, who started on the front row outside Troutman, led the race’s first 36 laps in pursuit of his first Lucas Oil Series victory since last May. His hopes were dashed, however, when he had to pull to the infield while pacing the field during a lap-36 caution period because his Riggs Motorsports car’s left-rear tire went soft. He returned but retired with two laps remaining and finished 17th.

The 3/8-mile, D-shaped track’s heavy surface — heavy overnight had soaked it — might have contributed to the flats that Overton and several other drivers experienced during the feature. O’Neal was fearful of what the high speeds could do to his SSI Motorsports Longhorn machine, which led him to be as careful as he could.

Until he found himself leading the pack, that is.

“Whenever I was running second to Overton there, whenever we would kind of get stretched out after the restarts, I was kind of running down through here through those holes just off the gas a little bit, about half-throttle,” O’Neal said. “I felt bad bouncing off the chip every time we left the hole, and then whenever we’d back to lapped traffic, I’d try to pick it back up again.

“But then whenever I got the lead, I never … I’m going. I looked at that board and I seen the 99 (Moran) and the one car (Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill.) behind me and I knew it was going to be some tough company so I was just trying to get away as fast as I could.”

O’Neal didn’t have to deal with Sheppard, Wednesday’s feature winner, because the Rocket Chassis house car driver slowed with a right-rear flat tire on lap 43 while running third. Moran didn’t offer much resistance, either, as the defending Lucas Oil Series champion was unable to mount a serious challenge for the lead over the final seven-lap sprint to the finish.

“The 71 car there is just a little bit better than we are right now, and he can get up front quicker than we can,” Moran, who started from the fifth spot en route to his fourth podium finish in as many starts at Ocala. “The only two heat race wins we have all of Speedweeks, we won the features those nights, so we just gotta keep working on the early-night package and get ourselves starting up front.

“We can get there at the end of the night. We just gotta start up there. If I was gonna pass Hudson it was gonna be from his mistake.”

O’Neal isn’t making many missteps these days. He’s won at all four tracks he’s visited this year, including two for team owner Kevin Rumley in last month’s Wild West Shootout at Central Arizona Raceway; two at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla. (one with Rumley, one with SSI); and one in Lucas Oil action at All-Tech Raceway in Ellisville, Fla.

“What an amazing start to the year for this SSI Motorsports team,” O’Neal said. “And, you know, we gotta give credit where credit’s due — Kevin Rumley and Longhorn chassis helped us some.

“It’s just so, so awesome to be in the situation I am. Whenever I crossed the checkered flag, that was the first thing that came to my mind, is, I’m just speechless. I’m very fortunate in my life right now to be in the position I’m in, and I’m happier than I’ve ever been behind the wheel of a race car and I think the results are showing it.”

O’Neal gave special thanks to his car owners, Todd and Vicki Burns, and his team led by crew chief Jason Durham.

“I think the biggest thing that we did was we hired Jason Durham, and Jason Durham has been a pivotal piece of this,” O’Neal said of the the veteran wrench who is approaching his one-year anniversary working with O’Neal. “Really, it's all him. My job is the easiest out of all my guys. I’m the one that gets all the credit, but I shouldn't get any. They’re the heroes, and I appreciate every single one of them.

“We just got to keep plucking away. It’s early in the season to be getting to be getting pumped up about how good we’re running. We gotta keep our nose down and keep working a little bit because these guys behind us, they’re gonna be chasing us hard.”

Five caution flags slowed the feature. The first came on lap 11 when Cory Lawler spun in turn four from contact with Troutman while being lapped. Garrett Alberson and Ryan Montgomery slowed in separate incidents on lap 22, while flat tires struck Brian Shirley (lap 37), Carson Ferguson (lap 39) and Sheppard (lap 43).

Feature lineup

(50 laps)

Row 1: Drake Troutman, Brandon Overton
Row 2: Brandon Sheppard, Hudson O'Neal
Row 3: Devin Moran, Tim McCreadie
Row 4: Brian Shirley, Ricky Thornton Jr.
Row 5: Jonathan Davenport, Carson Ferguson
Row 6: Max Blair, Boom Briggs
Row 7: Ryan Montgomery, Tyler Erb
Row 8: Dan Ebert, Brenden Smith
Row 9: Daniel Hilsabeck, Clay Harris
Row 10: Garrett Alberson, Blair Nothdurft
Row 11: Josh Rice, Dillon McCowan
Row 12: Cory Lawler, Cory Hedgecock
Row 13: Kyle Bronson

Consolation race results

(Varying distances; top three transfer)

First consolation: Daniel Hilsabeck, Garrett Alberson, Josh Rice, Freddie Carpenter, Dallon Murty, Dennis Erb Jr. Scratched: Daulton Wilson, Cory Hedgecock, Justin Weaver.

Second consolation: Clay Harris, Blair Nothdurft, Dillon McCowan, Kyle Bronson, Preston Luckman, Michael Leach, Cory Lawler. Scratched: Ross Robinson, Cody Overton.

Heat race recap

Drake Troutman overcame an opening lap scrape and paced all eight circuits in winning the first heat race by 0.438 of a second over fourth-starting Devin Moran. Sixth-starting Jonathan Davenport finished third while Ryan Montgomery held on for the fourth and final transfer spot into Saturday’s 50-lap Ocala finale. The first incident necessitated a 10-minute red flag for cleanup after Troutman and Daulton Wilson made contact on the opening lap, sending Wilson spinning, leaving Justin Weaver launching over Wilson’s right front and launching several feet in the air, nearly flipping upside down before landing down hard on the backstretch; both drivers were OK, but scratched for the night. … Brandon Sheppard earned a flag-to-flag victory from the pole in winning the second heat by 0.615 of a second over Brian Shirley, who trailed Sheppard the entire way. Max Blair gained two spots to finish third with third-starting Dan Ebert claiming the fourth and final transfer position into the night’s $25,000-to-win main event. … Polesitter Brandon Overton cruised to win the third heat, leading the entire distance and taking the checkers 0.637 of a second ahead of second-starting Tim McCreadie. Carson Ferguson and Tyler Erb both held serve in completing the top-four finishers. … Hudson O’Neal dominated the night’s fourth and final heat race, commanding all eight laps and winning by 2.206 seconds over Ricky Thornton Jr., who trailed O'Neal all the way. Boom Briggs muscled his way by Brenden Smith on the opening lap to finish third, relegating Smith to fourth.

Heat race results

(Eight laps; top four transfer)

First heat: Drake Troutman, Devin Moran, Jonathan Davenport, Ryan Montgomery, Garrett Alberson, Freddie Carpenter, Daulton Wilson, Cory Hedgecock, Justin Weaver.

Second heat: Brandon Sheppard, Brian Shirley, Max Blair, Dan Ebert, Daniel Hilsabeck, Josh Rice, Dallon Murty, Dennis Erb Jr.

Third heat: Brandon Overton, Tim McCreadie, Carson Ferguson, Tyler Erb, Blair Nothdurft, Kyle Bronson, Preston Luckman, Michael Leach, Cory Lawler.

Fourth heat: Hudson O'Neal, Ricky Thornton Jr., Boom Briggs, Brenden Smith, Clay Harris, Dillon McCowan, Ross Robinson, Cody Overton.

Time trials

Group A
Driver (car no.), hometown, time (unofficial)
1. Drake Troutman (22*), Hyndman, Pa., 14.525
2. Brandon Sheppard (1), New Berlin, Ill., 14.530
3. Daulton Wilson (58v), Fayetteville, N.C., 14.538
4. Brian Shirley (3s), Chatham, Ill., 14.549
5. Ryan Montgomery (12m), Fairmont, W.Va., 14.563
6. Dan Ebert (60), Lake Shore, Minn., 14.583
7. Devin Moran (99), Dresden, Ohio, 14.583
8. Dallon Murty (13), Chelsea, Iowa, 14.597
9. Cory Hedgecock (79), Loudon, Tenn., 14.604
10. Max Blair (111), Centerville, Pa., 14.610
11. Jonathan Davenport (49), Blairsville, Ga., 14.612
12. Daniel Hilsabeck (22), Earlham, Iowa, 14.616
13. Garrett Alberson (58), Las Cruces, N.M., 14.646
14. Josh Rice (11), Crittenden, Ky., 14.694
15. Justin Weaver (32J), Clearspring, Md., 14.756
16. Dennis Erb Jr. (28), Carpentersville, Ill., 14.838
17. Freddie Carpenter (c4), Parkersburg, W.Va., 14.860
Group B
1. Brandon Overton (76), Evans, Ga., 14.338
2. Hudson O’Neal (71), Martinsville, Ind., 14.416
3. Tim McCreadie (9), Watertown, N.Y., 14.494
4. Ricky Thornton Jr. (20rt), Chandler, Ariz., 14.500
5. Carson Ferguson (93), Lincolnton, N.C., 14.511
6. Boom Briggs (99B), Bear Lake, Pa., 14.547
7. Tyler Erb (1T), New Waverly, Texas, 14.569
8. Brenden Smith (19m), Dade City, Fla., 14.616
9. Blair Nothdurft (76n), Renner, S.D., 14.623
10. Clay Harris (6), Jupiter, Fla., 14.627
11. Kyle Bronson (40B), Brandon, Fla., 14.636
12. Cody Overton (15k), Evans, Ga., 14.660
13. Preston Luckman (77), Coos Bay, Ore., 14.672
14. Dillon McCowan (8), Urbana, Mo., 14.719
15. Michael Leach (09), Sun Rivert, Mont., 14.744
16. Ross Robinson (7), Georgetown, Del., 14.819
17. Cory Lawler (93L), Hanover, Pa., 15.636

Saturday’s schedule

(All times local)
1:30 p.m. - Pits closed and cleared
2 p.m. - Pits reopen
2:30 p.m. - Tech and registration opens
4:30-5:15 p.m. - Driver autograph session (midway)
5 p.m. - Grandstands open
5:15 p.m. - Tech and registration closes
5:30 p.m. - Drivers’ meeting
6 p.m. - On-track activity
- Late Model hot laps
- Late Model time trials (2 laps)
Opening ceremonies
- Late Model heats (8 laps)
- Late Model consolations (10 laps)
Intermission/track prep
- Late Model Feature (50 laps)