Records Fifth-Place Finish in Fairbury’s Prairie Dirt Classic

SHINNSTON, W.Va. (08/01/23) – Hudson O’Neal will take the Rocket1 Racing / Valvoline / Seubert Calf Ranches No. 1 Ace Metal Works / XR1 Rocket Chassis / Durham Racing Engine Super Late Model into battle this weekend in the 36^th annual USA Nationals at Wisconsin’s Cedar Lake Speedway.

The team heads into the crown jewel event on the heels of a fifth-place finish in last weekend’s ISRA Prairie Dirt Classic at Fairbury (Ill.) Speedway.

“All the rain from the week left Fairbury tricky both nights. We started sixth in Saturday’s finale, and I battled the cushion early and fell back a few spots. We were running third late, but I got crossed up on the final lap and ended up fifth. We are now looking ahead to Cedar Lake (Speedway) this week,” O’Neal noted. “That place and that race have a lot of history. This team has won that race before, and I’m focused on winning my first one.”

Headed south after a weekend in South Dakota, Rocket1 Racing and Hudson O’Neal traveled to Off Road Speedway (Norfolk, Neb.) on Monday for the two-day event with the XR Super Series.

Lined up on the fifth row for his preliminary feature via a fifth-place finish in his heat, Hudson charged forward five spots in the 25-lapper to register a fourth-place finish.

With Monday’s fourth-place finish locking him on the fourth row for Tuesday’s $100,000-to-win Elkhorn 100 finale, O’Neal had worked his way up to third but was on the receiving end of bad luck that resulted in an early exit on lap 80.

Back in action on Friday, O’Neal and the Rocket1 Racing team were one of 63 World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series competitors on hand at Fairbury (Ill.) Speedway for the 33^rd running of the Prairie Dirt Classic weekend. With time trials setting the grid for four prelims, Hudson followed up the fourth-fastest qualifying lap in his group with a runner-up finish in his 25-lap prelim. He slipped to a second-place finish on the final lap after leading the race’s opening 24 circuits.

Rolling off sixth for Saturday night’s $50,000-to-win Prairie Dirt Classic via Friday’s result, O’Neal ran as high as second before a slip-up on the final lap dropped him to fifth in the finishing order. He trailed Ricky Thornton Jr., Bobby Pierce, Ryan Gustin, and Brandon Sheppard to the checkers.

Full results from the events are available at www.RaceXR.com and www.WorldofOutlaws.com.

Next on tap for Rocket1 Racing is a visit this week to Cedar Lake Speedway (New Richmond, Wisc.) for the 36^th annual USA Nationals. The World of Outlaws (WoO) Late Model Series weekend is highlighted by a $6,000-to-win program on Thursday followed by prelims for the mega finale on Friday and the $50,000-to-win feature on Saturday.

Rocket1 Racing topped the crown jewel in 2011 and 2016 with Josh Richards while Brandon Sheppard took the team’s No. 1 to Victory Lane in 2018.

Full details on the weekend can be found at www.CedarLakeSpeedway.com.

Rocket1 Racing would like to thank all of their marketing partners, which include Valvoline, Seubert Calf Ranches, Rocket Chassis, Ace Metal Works, Durham Racing Engines, Five Star RaceCar Bodies, Gunter’s Honey, Performance Grading, Hoosier Racing Tire, Integra Racing Shocks, Keyser Manufacturing, Petroff Towing, Slavic Custom Racing Shirts & Decals, WR1 Sim Chassis, O’Neal’s Salvage & Recycling, Sweet Manufacturing, Sunoco Race Fuels, Accu-Force Shock Service, ATL Fuel Cells, Aurora Rod Ends, Barnes Dry Sump Oil Systems, Bazell Race Fuels, Beyea Custom Headers, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Brinn Transmissions, Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, CP Carrillo, Dohm Cycles, Edelbrock, Fibreworks Composites, Hardrock Powder Coating, Howe Racing Enterprises, Jones Racing Products, Kenny’s Components, Maxima Racing Oils, MSD, E3 Spark Plugs, Tel Tac, Performance Bodies, Peterson Fluid Systems, Powers Performance, Performance Rod & Custom, Quarter Master, QuickCar Racing Products, Rocket Pre-Owned Motors, Safecraft, Show Trucks Unlimited, Simpson, Stealth Carburetors, Strange Oval, Suave Talk, Total Power Valvoline Pro-V Racing, Walker Performance Filtration, Weld Racing, Wiles Driveshafts, Wilwood Brakes, Winters Performance Products, Wrisco Aluminum, Xceldyne Valvetrain, and MyRacePass Marketing Services.

For the latest information on Rocket1Racing please visit the team website at www.Rocket1Racing.com as well as their social media channels at www.facebook.com/Rocket1Racing, www.twitter.com/Rocket1_Racing, and www.instagram.com/rocket1racing .