Set for Eldora’s LOLMDS Dirt Track World Championship

SHINNSTON, W.Va. (10/16/23) – Hudson O’Neal entered a single event last week and made the most of the opportunity with a $23,023 victory aboard his No. 1 Ace Metal Works / XR1 Rocket Chassis / Durham Racing Engine Super Late Model.

O’Neal’s 15^th triumph of the season came in Castrol FloRacing Night in America action on Thursday evening at North Carolina’s Tri-County Racetrack during the 18^th annual FK Rod Ends Tar Heel 53. He had to overcame mechanical issues to snare the victory.

“We had a terrible miss (in the engine),” O’Neal said. “It started about halfway. I don’t know that it really hurt me, but it was making me nervous. I thought that eventually it was just gonna get worse and worse and worse and we were gonna be out of it. The longer the race went and the slicker (the surface) got up there (near the outside wall), I just kept hanging and hanging and hanging. Then I just started diamonding (the first and second corners). I started doing it a little bit down in (turn) four too and it really helped my exit and got me a lot more speed down the straightaway.

“When something like that happens your heart just sinks, because I’m leading this race and I feel like I’ve got a car good enough to win and then something like that happens. I’m like, ‘No, man, not right now.’ It can’t happen whenever you’re running 10^th. Thankfully it held up. Now we are excited to head to Eldora (Speedway) this week and go after both a Lucas Oil (Late Model Dirt Series) and Dirt Track World Championship title.”

Rocket1 Racing and Hudson O’Neal returned to the road with the Castrol FloRacing Night in America miniseries on Thursday as the FK Rod Ends Tar Heel 53 drew 34 competitors to Tri-County Racetrack (Brasstown, N.C.).

O’Neal backed up the fastest lap in time trials with a win in his heat race and a flag-to-flag victory in the 53-lap feature. Despite an early mechanical scare that faded as the race went on, Hudson led wire-to-wire to secure his 15^th win of the season and the $23,023 top prize. He finished 1.273 seconds ahead of pole-starting Bobby Pierce with Ricky Thornton Jr., Jonathan Davenport, and Dennis Erb Jr. rounding out the Top-5.

With the victory, O’Neal has closed within nine points of Castrol Flo Racing Night in America point leader Bobby Pierce.

Full results from the event are available at www.FloSeries.com.

Hudson and Rocket1 Racing now are focused on a huge weekend, which will see them competing for their first-ever Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series title at Eldora Speedway (Rossburg, Ohio) during this weekend’s 43^rd annual Dirt Track World Championship.

As one of the four Big River Steel Chase for the Championship presented by ARP finalists, O’Neal can claim the record-setting $200,000 title by being the highest finisher of the eligible quartet of drivers in Saturday’s 100-lap finale.

Additionally, a $100,000 top prize is on the line for the victor of the event.

Full event details are available at www.EldoraSpeedway.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, Stiles Marine & Maintenance, 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 .