DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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Did Hudson O'Neal become a bad guy?! | Daily 7-16-2024

You guys, I think Hudson O'Neal might be becoming a bit of a late model villain. We'll talk about that, plus last night's Lucas action, the Brad Doty Classic at Attica, and much more. Let's go!

It's Tuesday, July 16th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.

In just a few short days sprint cars will be on track at Eldora Speedway, and another big Eldora event means another opportunity to visit our friends at The Whistle Stop Bar and Grill located just 7 miles South of the track. Head down to Ansonia for good food and drink, and you can even order and bring it back to the track. Besides the Whistle Stop, they also have a sister business located in Downtown Greenville, Ohio called Sure Shot Tap House. Sure Shot Tap House is a 46 tap self pour facility featuring domestic and craft beer, ciders, seltzers, bourbons, and wines. They also have a self-serve cocktail machine that compliments their amazing food menu. Venture upstairs to the Bullseye Game Lounge which boasts Duckpin Bowling as well as 24 arcade games, making Sure Shot the ultimate destination to Eat, Drink, and Play all under one roof. New this year, they will be running buses from Eldora to Sure Shot on the Fridays of all major events, and that includes this week. The trip includes a buffet, $15 pour card, swag bag and more! Visit sureshottaphouse.com/events for more information on this great trip.

Entertaining show last night at Eagle Raceway with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. Hudson O'Neal and Ricky Thornton Jr. have dominated the headlines the last week, and wouldn't you know it, those two ended up racing for the win. O'Neal came out on top, picking up his first series victory since East Bay back on February 6th. That was obviously when he was still driving the Rocket house car. He had won some races lately in his own car and with Kevin Rumley, but not on tour with Lucas. O'Neal led early, gave it up to RTJ for a few laps, and then took over for good on lap 13. Thornton finished second after starting second, and Jonathan Davenport was third. Some big chargers in that feature as well, including Tim McCreadie 12th to fifth, Max Blair 15th to seventh, Ross Robinson 18th to eighth, and Drake Troutman 20th to ninth. The race wasn't without a little drama, including O'Neal and RTJ battling hard, and a run-in with the lap car of Cory Lawler that knocked Daulton Wilson and Garrett Alberson out of contention. Thornton made it pretty clear afterwards who's fault he thought that deal was with the lap car. I was not surprised to see O'Neal win. We certainly know what that car is capable of, and O'Neal knows how to win on the big stages. I'm also not shocked to see a motivated Ricky Thornton Jr. mixing it up at the front and not looking like a guy who is trying to build a newer team into a national touring contender. It would be disrespectful to characterize Koehler as some low level or local team, but it should be noted what RTJ has done through two starts with a fresh group. He clearly feels like he's got something to prove, and I think that will continue to provide us with plenty of entertainment going forward. What I was a little surprised by last night though, was the reaction to O'Neal's win. After the victory lane interview with Dustin Jarrett, the Eagle crowd showered O'Neal with a chorus of boos, and some of the reaction in other places has not been so positive. I certainly understand the reasons behind it, I have seen some of the same comments and feelings on my own videos and shows the last several days. But I guess I didn't expect it to be on display so publicly. It's clear that at least some portion of the race fans are viewing Hudson O'Neal as a little villain-like in the aftermath of this situation. I will say that racing is a cut throat business, and I don't blame O'Neal for any decisions he made. It's just a big game of musical chairs. And I say that as someone who has had similar things happen to them in motorsports, that is getting shuffled out of deals. I will be curious to see if this little bit of a reputation that O'Neal seems to have gained here will persist, or if everyone will forget about this in a few weeks. No change in the Lucas standings after last night, although Huddy is only 50 points back now of McCreadie. Lucas will race again tonight at Shelby County with $10,000 to the winner. This will be the series debut at the track. After tonight, teams are off tomorrow, and then the Silver Dollar Nationals begins Thursday at Huset's.

If you want other late model action today, the Southern Nationals are at I-75 in Tennessee for another $7500 to win show. Some drivers there to expect include Tanner English, Sam Seawright, Dalton Cook, the most recent winner Dale McDowell, and more. Donald McIntosh leading that championship through three races.

Elsewhere last night, the Sprint Car Challenge Tour kicked off their Western Sprint Tour speedweek with night number one at Cottage Grove Speedway in Oregon. Tyler Thompson the winner over Andy Forsberg and Braden Chiaramonte. Chiaramonte leading the SCCT standings through six races. The speedweek continues tonight at Coos Bay, with Douglas County, Marysville, Silver Dollar, and Placerville still to come through Saturday.

At Attica tonight, it's Brad Doty Classic time for the World of Outlaws sprint cars. $15,000 to win and $1200 to start, and a race that a lot of the sprint car drivers and teams want to win. There is obviously a lot of respect out there for Brad Doty, and the trophy helmet might be one of the coolest prizes in sprint car racing. I would expect a healthy field tonight leading into Eldora, with this event drawing 48 in 2023. And the field will likely include Kyle Larson, who's won this race the past two years. Rico Abreu posted a photo very late last night to social media of his and Larson's cars parked next to each other getting in some practice somewhere. It seems like it was probably at Lincoln Park. I saw some comments around that photo as well about the legality of practice and testing, and just to help clear that up, there are no rules for testing. Sprint car teams can practice and test all they want on off days. It would be incredibly difficult to police if series did indeed try and put rules on it. There will be a number of other High Limit teams racing against the Outlaws tonight as well. This could be a solid chance for Carson Macedo and Donny Schatz to close down even more on David Gravel, as both have better average finishes there. Schatz was a winner at Attica last season also. And then besides High Limit, the full time Outlaws, and this ongoing championship battle, you'll also have the full compliment of Ohio regulars. Guys like Cale Thomas, Cap Henry, and Kalib Henry are just a few names to keep an eye on. After tonight, it's off to Eldora for Kings Royal, but don't overlook the action tonight.

We'll call it good for today's episode right here. If you want even more dirt racing content, stop by dirtrackr.com/theslider and sign up for our free email newsletter. You can read past issues there, including a new piece from just a few days ago by Pat Sullivan. Dirtrackr.com also your home for updated news, the analytics section, and the daily streaming schedule.

Hope you guys have a great Tuesday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!