The Dirt Track at Charlotte
Notes: On the docket for Rumley-O'Neal? Arizona
By Kyle McFadden
DirtonDirt staff reporter
Hudson O'Neal (left) and Kevin Rumley in the Charlotte pits. (Zach Yost)
CONCORD, N.C. (Nov. 8) — Though they race on limited basis, Hudson O’Neal and Kevin Rumley are forming into a pretty potent pairing when they enter Dirt Late Model racing’s special events together.
The 24-year-old superstar of Martinsville, Ind., has a trio of victories and six podium finishes in 12 races with Rumley’s No. 6 team this year, highlighted by last week’s $15,000 victory at The Dirt Track at Charlotte’s World Finals and near-miss to Jonathan Davenport on Saturday in the World of Outlaws Real American Late Model Series finale.
“It’s been really good. We were just talking about that. This is the last race we’ll have this year together. We were sitting there talking about that we’ve had a really, really good track record here in this little bit we’ve raced together,” said O’Neal, whose 2026 season commences aboard Rumley’s research-and-development Longhorn Chassis at Jan. 10-18’s Wild West Shootout at Central Arizona Raceway.
“Arizona is gonna be a really fun trip,” O’Neal said. “Yeah, it seems like anytime we unload we’re definitely a contender to win.”
O’Neal’s other two victories with Rumley this year came Jan. 28 at Needmore (Ga.) Speedway in a Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series-sanctioned event and Aug. 31’s Hunt the Front-sanctioned Country Roads 100 at Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne, W.Va.
He also led 18 laps at Fairbury (Ill.) Speedway’s Prairie Dirt Classic with Rumley, but finished 13th in the event. O’Neal’s momentum from the trio of top-fives at last weekend’s World Finals can certainly carry over to his Jason Durham-led SSI Motorsports team, which takes on the FloRacing Night in America presented by Kubota finale this Friday and Saturday at Senoia (Ga.) Raceway.
“A lot, especially this time of year we’ll do a lot of testing and stuff,” O’Neal said when asked how much he can learn from working with Rumley. “It’ll be a prime time to try different things and learn. We’re excited about it.”
O’Neal also got to bring home the left-side doorpanel off Rumley’s No. 6 machine from over the weekend at Charlotte. The Indiana driver really wanted some memorabilia from his brief but prosperous 2025 run with the Longhorn engineer.
“I told him, I want the left side off this thing,” O’Neal said. “I don’t have anything hung up in my shop, so this might the first that makes the wall.”
RTJ in a big block?
Ricky Thornton Jr. was quite busy at The Dirt Track at Charlotte’s World Finals balancing driving duties with his regular Koehler Motorsports No. 20rt team and Bernie Stuebgen’s No. 71 Indy Race Parts sprint car.
The weekend could’ve been far busier for the 34-year-old who contemplated checking off another item off his racing bucket-list: Competing in a big-block modified. Indeed, the Chandler, Ariz., superstar put out some feelers among modified car owners and in return garnered plenty of interest from prospective teams that had quality equipment.
Ultimately, Thornton didn’t want to feel stretched too thin across his Dirt Late Model priorities, trying to get back up to speed in a winged 410 sprint car and potentially having to learn a new race car in the big-block modified. But he also envisions that “I think eventually it could happen” — him competing in one-off big-block modified events like the World Finals.
“The hard part here is, I feel like you have to focus on the Late Model. The sprint car is different that it takes a lot of focus, too,” Thornton said at last week’s World Finals. “I think if I can run a few sprint car races a year and get myself in better condition there, I think maybe you could see me run all three here. But I feel like I need to focus enough on the sprint car right now where if I can make the race, be competitive, and maybe a couple years from now we could do all three.”
Should Thornton ever pull off the trifecta at Charlotte, racing the Late Model, sprint car and modified, he’d need more seat time in the 410 sprint car. He last raced a winged sprint car at last year’s World Finals and the rust certainly showed as Thornton could only finish eighth and ninth in B-mains last Thursday and Friday at Charlotte — four and five spots shy of transferring into the A-main.
Thornton, who comes from a successful IMCA modified background, isn’t afraid to strap himself into different race cars. On Oct. 24-25, he finished fourth and fifth in his first-ever USAC National Sprint Car races at Central Arizona Raceway’s 58th annual Western World Championship, a major event on the non-winged sprint car circuit. He’s also raced a midget, Silver Crown car, and micro sprint this year.
“A lot of people I know run big blocks. Had really good offers, but the hard part would be doing it and making sense,” Thornton said. “I don’t wanna do it just to say I did it. Ideally, it’d be a year we could run all three and somehow win all three. That’d be a cool stat that’d be about impossible to ever do, let alone, it’s tough running two classes. We’ll just kind of wait and see.”
Ferguson’s absence explained
Paylor Motorsports team owner Donald Bradsher told DirtonDirt last week at The Dirt Track at Charlotte that Carson Ferguson missed the World Finals for “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” but declined to provide further details.
Daily Downforce recently reported that the 23-year-old Lincolnton, N.C., driver has been selected to participate in a tryout for Kaulig Racing’s forthcoming NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series program backed by Dodge’s Ram brand. The competition is rumored to assemble top short-track talent for potential ride opportunities in Kaulig’s new five-truck effort debuting in 2026. Reports also suggest a reality-TV component tied to the tryout, though no official announcement has been made.
Ferguson, who finished ninth in this year’s Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series standings and remains committed to another full Lucas Oil campaign with Bradsher’s Paylor Motorsports team in 2026, is among several grassroots racers linked to the project that’s yet to be officially revealed.
