WHEATLAND, Mo. — Hudson O’Neal recorded the biggest win of his racing career on Saturday night at Lucas Oil Speedway.
The third-generation racer picked up the $30,000 first place prize in the 29th annual Show-Me 100 Presented by Protect the Harvest. The event was sanctioned by the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and the Lucas Oil Midwest Latemodel Racing Ass’n.
The 20-year-old Indiana native took the lead on lap 68 from series point leader Tim McCreadie and marched away to win the first crown jewel event of the season. In a competitive race that saw five different race leaders, O’Neal crossed the finish line in jubilant fashion for his third LOLMDS win of the season and the 10th of his career.
Brandon Sheppard made a late-race charge to finish second behind O’Neal. Josh Richards took the third spot with McCreadie and Shane Clanton rounding out the top five drivers.
Richards started on the pole and led the first four laps of the race before yielding to Clanton on the fifth circuit. Clanton then held the point until four-time Show-Me 100 winner Jimmy Owens took over the lead. McCreadie took charge on lap 41 and he led until O’Neal passed him with 32 laps remaining.
O’Neal emerged from his car with tears streaming down his face after the 100-lap thriller. He joined his father, Don as the only father-son combo to win the Memorial Day Weekend tradition that began in 1993.
“I looked up at the board with about 18 to go and my signal guy Eric Webber was telling me they were closing a little bit,” O’Neal said. “I didn’t drive the greatest the last 20 laps by any means, but it was just good enough. I knew we had a racecar that could win this thing earlier in the weekend. My dad called and gave me some words of encouragement that we could do this. I just wanted to drive my own race. I don’t think we will leave this place tonight. We will be celebrating this for sure.”
Sheppard was driving his family-owned car this weekend and finished 1.4 seconds behind O’Neal.
“I pulled up alongside Hudson after the race and gave him a thumbs up, he deserved it,” Sheppard said. “He’s a tough competitor. We kind of have grown up together, but he’s a little younger than I am. It’s cool seeing these young guys get big wins. The speedway crew had the racing surface awesome all weekend long. This is a fun place to race at.”
Richards came home in third and was satisfied with his finish.
“Hudson did a great job tonight and our hats are off to him. He’s been really consistent this year. We had a really good weekend. We led early on and then went back a little. I thought we might run fifth, but we had a little bit of momentum at the end get back to third.”
The finish:
Hudson O’Neal, Brandon Sheppard, Josh Richards, Tim McCreadie, Shane Clanton, Mike Marlar, Ricky Thornton Jr., Jimmy Owens, Kyle Bronson, Brian Shirley, Bobby Pierce, Frank Heckenast Jr., Stormy Scott, Rick Eckert, Jonathan Davenport, Earl Pearson Jr., Tony Jackson Jr., Tyler Erb, Garrett Alberson, Logan Martin, Jason Papich, Scott Bloomquist, Shannon Babb, Mason Oberkramer, Ryan Gustin, Scott Crigler, Billy Moyer Jr., Chris Ferguson, Matt Cosner, Chad Simpson, Payton Looney, Jake Timm.