Hudson O’Neal drove away from the field in Saturday’s Sunshine Nationals finale at Volusia Speedway Park, while Ricky Thornton Jr. showed shades of his 2023 self in a hard charging effort.
The Martinsville, Indiana native was able to lead for the entirety of the race, earning the win in the series’ second race of the year.
“Oh man, what a race,” O’Neal said on the DirtVision broadcast. “Hats off to the whole Volusia Speedway Park (track crew), they just kept working and working – we all had our doubts, but man, did they prepare a heck of a race track for us.”
Thornton Jr. made up all of the ground that he could, racing from a P23 starting spot to finish P4 at the end of the night.
He never got to challenge for the win, but it’s evident that ‘RTJ’ is still a major threat in 2024.
Florida-Georgia Speedweeks will continue for national late models on Thursday, January 25 with the season opening race for the series at Golden Isles Speedway (can be seen live on FloRacing). The World of Outlaws Late Model Series will return to the track on Thursday, Feb. 18 with its first of four nights at the DIRTCar Nationals right back at Volusia Speedway Park (DirtVision).
World of Outlaws Late Model results
Sunshine Nationals
Volusia Speedway Park
Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024
1. Hudson O’Neal
2. Kyle Bronson
3. Devin Moran
4. Ricky Thornton Jr.
5. Brandon Sheppard
6. Bobby Pierce
7. Dennis Erb Jr.
8. Cade Dillard
9. Chris Madden
10. Nick Hoffman
11. Ashton Winger
12. Garrett Smith
13. Tyler Bruening
14. Ryan Gustin
15. Tim McCreadie
16. Tanner English
17. Daulton Wilson
18. Drake Troutman
19. Cody Overton
20. Max Blair
21. Ethan Dotson
22. Brian Shirley
23. Brent Larson
24. Dustin Walker
25. Jimmy Owens
26. Todd Cooney
27. Dustin Sorensen
28. Mike Marlar
29. Dale McDowell
30. David Breazeale
