By Spence Smithback
With half a lap to go in the first Feature of World of Outlaws World Finals, Brandon Sheppard had the checkered flag in sight. Then Hudson O’Neal happened.
The driver of the Rumley No. 6 took the white flag more than 0.6 seconds behind the Rocket1 Racing machine, but O’Neal wasn’t ready to settle for second. The Martinsville, IN native got a blistering run through Turns 1 and 2 on the final lap to give himself a chance in the last corner.
O’Neal dove to the bottom while Sheppard slid up the track, and the two found themselves side-by-side coming to the line. At the flag stand, it was O’Neal out front by a tenth of a second claiming his third victory with the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision.
“I didn’t really think I had a shot,” O’Neal said. “I knew we were catching lap traffic, and I saw [Sheppard] try and just stay committed out there to that middle. I knew the air was so bad out there and they were blowing all that stuff across, and I felt it affecting my race car too. I thought the best shot I had was just to stay down, maybe he’ll slip and I can get a run, and that’s exactly what happened.”
The 35-lap Feature started with Nick Hoffman as the man to beat, as he cleared Bilstein Pole Award winner Brandon Overton on the start and commanded the first 13 laps. But behind him, Sheppard was on a mission in the first half of the race, getting around Overton on Lap 9 and cutting a second off his deficit to Hoffman in only two laps. “The Thrill From Mooresville” quickly had company up front, and Sheppard found enough grip on the bottom to power into the lead.
It wasn’t long before Overton kicked the No. 76 back into high gear, as he briefly made his own bid for the lead with under 20 to go. He never made a move stick though, and let Hoffman and Drake Troutman get around him to fall to fourth.
One more wrench was thrown at the field with 11 laps remaining, when Jonathan Davenport slowed in Turn 4 to bring out the caution. O’Neal was fifth at that point, but a strong restart moved him to third in one lap after the race went back green. He then made quick work of Hoffman to grab second with nine laps left to catch the reigning World of Outlaws champion.
On the final circuit, 22 laps after he ripped the lower edge of the track into the lead, Sheppard had the same line used against him as O’Neal squeaked past his former ride to earn his first Charlotte victory.
“Most of the race, I didn’t think I had the race car to win it,” O’Neal said. “I found a little bit in that bottom, and it was actually pretty good down [in Turns 1 and 2] around the cushion too. The longer the race went, the better I got.”
On the other side of the battle, Sheppard did everything he could to keep the door shut against a Hail Mary attempt, but O’Neal used the traffic to his advantage in making the winning move.
“I knew there was a chance there,” Sheppard said. “I didn’t feel very good out in the middle, but all the lappers ran the bottom. The last lap, I went into three and I thought, ‘Well, I guess my best chance here is to just hug alongside of Tristan [Chamberlain] there.’ I got to about the middle of the corner and kind of washed out. I was doing that every lap in three and four coming out of four. I knew I needed to be on the bottom, but all the lap cars were down there.”
One year after standing on a World of Outlaws podium for the first time at Charlotte, Troutman found himself back there again with his third-place run, clinching the MD3 Rookie of the Year Award in the process.
“It’s really humbling to be able to cap that deal off,” Troutman said. “Especially over Ethan [Dotson], he’s been really tough all year long too, and he’s one of my best friends. Happy to be able to top that deal off, and maybe by the end of the weekend, we can get a couple spots better in points.”
Hoffman crossed the line fourth for his best World of Outlaws finish at Charlotte, while Chris Madden rounded out the top five.
RACE NOTES:
Nick Hoffman won Real American Beer Heat 1.
Drake Troutman won STAKT Products Heat 2.
Ricky Thornton Jr. won Keyser Manufacturing Heat 3.
Brandon Overton won Jarrett Rifles Heat 4.
Brandon Sheppard won Real American Beer Heat 5.
Hudson O’Neal won Real American Beer Heat 6.
Brian Shirley, Dustin Sorensen and Ethan Dotson won the Landa Pressure Washers Last Chance Showdowns.
Brandon Overton won the Bilstein Pole Award.
Ryan Gustin won the FOX Factory Hard Charger Award.
Drake Troutman was the MD3 Rookie of the Race.
Brandon Sheppard won the WELD Racing Second-Place Finisher Award.
Nick Hoffman was the ARP Fourth-Place Finisher.
Chris Madden was the MSD Fifth-Place Finisher.
Ricky Thornton Jr. was the Swift Springs Sixth-Place Finisher.
Michael Leach was the VP Racing Fuels Eighth-Place Finisher.
Tim McCreadie was the Lifeline USA Ninth-Place Finisher.
Brandon Overton was the COMP Cams 10th-Place Finisher.
Bobby Pierce was the Cometic Gaskets 12th-Place Finisher.
UP NEXT: World of Outlaws World Finals continues at The Dirt Track at Charlotte with the penultimate Feature of the season for the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision on Friday, Nov. 7. Get your tickets in advance by clicking here.
If you can’t make it to the track, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.
Feature (35 Laps): 1. 6-Hudson O’Neal[3]; 2. 1-Brandon Sheppard[5]; 3. 22*-Drake Troutman[4]; 4. 9-Nick Hoffman[2]; 5. 44-Chris Madden[7]; 6. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[6]; 7. 19R-Ryan Gustin[25]; 8. 09-Michael Leach[12]; 9. 9M-Tim McCreadie[15]; 10. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 11. 17M-Dale McDowell[9]; 12. 32-Bobby Pierce[16]; 13. 58-Daulton Wilson[10]; 14. 1T-Tyler Erb[13]; 15. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[18]; 16. 22-Chris Ferguson[17]; 17. 16-Ben Watkins[14]; 18. 157-Mike Marlar[11]; 19. 2-Cody Overton[24]; 20. 49-Jake Timm[27]; 21. 20-Jimmy Owens[22]; 22. 74X-Ethan Dotson[21]; 23. 3S-Brian Shirley[19]; 24. 8-Kyle Strickler[23]; 25. 19-Dustin Sorensen[20]; 26. 96-Tanner English[26]; 27. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[28]; 28. 49D-Jonathan Davenport[8]
