8/10/2018
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Hudson O’Neal Earns Sunoco North/South 100 Pole
UNION, KY (August 10, 2018) – Friday night’s portion of the Sunoco Race Fuels North/South 100 presented by Lucas Oil kicked off with 56 of the nation’s top dirt late model drivers battling in twelve thrilling heat races of passing points.
Twelve different drivers emerged victorious from the twelve heat races that determine Saturday night’s starting grid. The pulse-pounding action landed Hudson O’Neal and Brandon Overton on the front row of Saturday night’s 100-lap, $50,000 to win main event.
In round one, the first heat was a battle between Wednesday night’s Ralph Latham Memorial winner, Hudson O’Neal and Thursday night’s victor, Tim McCreadie. O’Neal started third on the grid and quickly went to the lead on the opening lap. O’Neal held off a hard-charging McCreadie at the finish to take the win. Ricky Weiss came from the back to finish in third.
In the second heat of round one, Nick Hoffman claimed his third heat race win of the week. Hoffman withstood a furious battle with Darrell Lanigan and Jimmy Owens early on. Lanigan’s attempt to earn valuable passing points ended early after making contact with the backstretch wall. Hoffman went on to a narrow win over Owens and Don O’Neal.
The third heat in the first round was taken by Thursday night’s top qualifier, Brandon Overton. Overton started third and overtook Jared Hawkins late in the race for the win. Hawkins came across the line in second, with seventh-place starter Bobby Pierce finishing in third.
In the fourth heat, former Sunoco North/South 100 winner Eddie Carrier Jr. captured the win in his first appearance of the week at Florence. Carrier and Kent Robinson dueled to the end with Carrier emerging victorious. Illinois driver Jeremy Conaway finished third in the final rundown.
The fifth heat saw Florence Speedway regular Josh Rice take the lead at the start of the race and never relinquish the top spot. Jonathan Davenport charge from his eighth starting position to finish second. Scott Bloomquist finished in third.
The sixth and final heat of round one saw 2018 National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame inductee, Jimmy Mars lead all the way for the win. Earl Pearson Jr. worked his way from his sixth starting spot to take second at the finish. Kody Evans rounded out the top three.
The second round began with Dale McDowell grabbing the lead at the start of his heat and leading all the way for the win. Jimmy Owens charged by Michael Chilton at the finish line to take second. Chilton was third.
The second heat of round two saw Ricky Weiss take an easy triumph. Bobby Pierce finished in second with Shanon Buckingham taking the third spot at the finish.
Don O’Neal came from his third starting spot to win heat number three. The former LOLMDS National Champion took the win over his 17-year-old son Hudson O’Neal, who came from the eighth starting position. Nick Hoffman came from the ninth starting spot to finish third.
Zack Dohm held the lead throughout heat number four of round two, finishing well ahead Kent Robinson and Mason Zeigler. Robinson outgunned Zeigler coming off of turn four as the pair headed to the checkers to nab the runner-up spot.
The fifth heat saw Gregg Satterlee race to a convincing win over Jonathan Davenport. Satterlee took the lead at the start of the race and never looked back. Davenport finished in second with Jimmy Mars surviving a three-car battle to the checkered to grab the third spot.
The final heat race of the night saw Earl Pearson Jr. advance from his fourth starting spot to take the victory over Brandon Overton and Kyle Bronson.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Friday, August 10, 2018
Sunoco Race Fuels North/South 100 – Presented by Lucas Oil
Florence Speedway – Union, KY
Eibach Springs Heat Race #1 – ROUND ONE Finish: Hudson O'Neal, Tim McCreadie, Ricky Weiss, Rob Anderzack, Jason Jameson, Steve Casebolt , Michael Brown, Chad Stapleton, James Rice, Nick Latham-DNS
FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 – ROUND ONE Finish: Nick Hoffman, Jimmy Owens, Don O'Neal, Michael Chilton, Chris Shannon, Rob Mayea, Darrell Lanigan, Scott James , Tyler Erb, Craig Vosbergen
Simpson Performance Products Heat Race #3 – ROUND ONE Finish: Brandon Overton, Jared Hawkins, Bobby Pierce, Dale McDowell, Robby Hensley, Kyle Bronson, Doug Drown, Jason Miller, Austin Burns
QA1 ROUND ONE Heat Race #4 – ROUND ONE Finish: Eddie Carrier, Jr., Kent Robinson, Jeremy Conaway, Josh Richards, Jackie Boggs, Gregg Satterlee, Dennis Erb, Jr., Joey Moriarty, David Webb
Sunoco Race Fuels Heat Race #5 – ROUND ONE Finish: Josh Rice, Jonathan Davenport, Scott Bloomquist, Greg Johnson, Shanon Buckingham, Zack Dohm, Trevor Landrum, Eric Wells, Billy Green
Lucas Oil Heat Race #6 – ROUND ONE Finish: Jimmy Mars, Earl Pearson, Jr., Kody Evans, Mason Zeigler, Austin Rettig, Austyn Mills, Jesse Lay, Jeff Alsip, Donald McIntosh
Eibach Springs Heat Race #1 – ROUND TWO Finish: Dale McDowell, Michael Chilton, Jimmy Owens, Eric Wells, Dennis Erb, Jr., Michael Brown, Jeremy Conaway, Donald McIntosh-DNS, Austin Burns-DNS
FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 – ROUND TWO Finish: Ricky Weiss, Bobby Pierce, Shanon Buckingham, Jackie Boggs, Darrell Lanigan, Jared Hawkins, Rob Mayea, Jeff Alsip, James Rice
Simpson Performance Products Heat Race #3 – ROUND TWO Finish: Don O'Neal, Hudson O'Neal, Nick Hoffman, Josh Richards, Scott Bloomquist, Robby Hensley, Jesse Lay, Austin Rettig, Rob Anderzack
QA1 Heat Race #4 – ROUND TWO Finish: Zack Dohm, Kent Robinson, Mason Zeigler, Tim McCreadie, Craig Vosbergen, Trevor Landrum, Doug Drown, Nick Latham, Kody Evans, Chris Shannon
Sunoco Race Fuels Heat Race #5 – ROUND TWO Finish: Gregg Satterlee, Jonathan Davenport, Jimmy Mars, Austyn Mills, David Webb, Jason Miller, Scott James, Greg Johnson, Steve Casebolt, Jason Jameson
Lucas Oil Heat Race #6 – ROUND TWO Finish: Earl Pearson, Jr., Brandon Overton, Kyle Bronson, Tyler Erb, Eddie Carrier, Jr., Billy Green, Josh Rice, Chad Stapleton, Joey Moriarty
Submitted By: Jeremy Shields