There was a Cindarella story brewing on Monday night at East Bay Raceway Park, but not many thought Hudson O’Neal would be the one to slam the door on it.
The young-gun would usually be assumed to be the story, however, when it looked like Devin Moran couldn’t be stopped, O’Neal stepped up to the plate.
The 20-year-old took his first win of the season and second at the Tampa, Florida track.
“It’s unbelievable,” O’Neal said on the MAVTV Plus broadcast. “(We have a) new team, a new crew, a new everything, so it’s awesome to come out here and have this early success. It’s a team effort.”
O’Neal had to battle with Moran on a multitude of restarts, as the race was riddled with caution flags.
The long runs saw a lot of teams with tire fallouts, but O’Neal’s stayed steady.
“We went with a little different tire choice than everybody else,” O’Neal said on the broadcast. “I was a little worried at the beginning, but I was (hoping) that the race track would get slow enough for that tire to come in and play a factor.”
It’s hard to believe any driver that started toward the back in the 29-car, 12-lap twin B-Mains had any shot of getting into a transfer spot during Monday’s Winter Nationals race.
But, that’s exactly what Moran had going, starting things off from 22nd in the 30-lap main event.
Twice Moran took the lead, but it was not in his cards on Monday.
One of the cars Moran had to pass for that lead spot was the No. 1T of Tyler Erb.
The driver they call Terbo had gotten made his way through the front part of the field early on, before making a pass for the lead midway through the race.
Erb, along with Sheppard, Moran, and O’Neal were trying their hardest to give the fans one of the best shows they could ask for, but cautions got in the way.
Erb was swept up in one of them when O’Neal and Moran fought on the inside of the track, leaving no room for the No. 1T and forcing him to spin.
Because he was the cause of the caution, Erb went to the back of the field, but still raced his way up to seventh on the night.
The series will continue with its Winter Nationals week and the tour’s third race of the year on Tuesday at East Bay. The action is scheduled to kick off once again at 5:00 p.m. CT and will be streamed on MAVTV Plus.
LOLMDS East Bay Night 1 Results
1. Hudson O’Neal
2. Brandon Sheppard
3. Brandon Overton
4. Devin Moran
5. Earl Pearson Jr.
6. Tony Jackson Jr.
7. Tyler Erb
8. Tanner English
9. Mike Marlar
10. Jeff Mathews
11. Zack Dohm
12. Frank Heckenast Jr.
13. Shane Clanton
14. Will Herrington
15. Dennis Erb Jr.
16. John Baker
17. Josh Richards
18. Chase Junhans
19. Gregg Satterlee
20. Jonathan Davenport
21. Blair Nothdurft
22. Mark Whitener
23. Jimmy Owens
24. Spencer Hughes
25. Tim McCreadie
26. Billy Moyer Jr.
27. Kyle Bronson
28. Mason Ziegler
29. Tyler Bruening
30. Brian Shirley
