O’Neal tops Davenport on Night One of 12th annual Spring Nationals at Lucas Oil Speedway

admin | April 12, 2025

WHEATLAND, MO. (April 11, 2025) – Hudson O’Neal emerged from an early duel with Jonathan Davenport and went on to prevail on Friday night at Lucas Oil Speedway, capturing Night One of the 12th annual Spring Nationals Presented by Iconic Apparel.

The Martinsville, Ind., driver pocketed $7,000 for the unsanctioned Open Late Model victory, beating Davenport by two seconds in a battle of former Show-Me 100 winners.

A total of 43 Late Models checked into the pits for Night One. The stakes are higher on Saturday night with $20,000 going to the winner of a 60-lap main event.

O’Neal started inside of Davenport on row one of Friday’s 40-lapper and Davenport was credited with the lead by a few feet at the conclusion of the opening circuit. O’Neal used the inside line to inch in front the next time around and never surrendered the top spot the rest of the way.

“It’s been a rocky start to the season,” O’Neal said in victory lane, “but being able to hire Jason Durham and Todd Burns … everybody has done a great job. They’ve given me a great crew that’s behind and they’ve worked their tails off. I appreciate all my guys.”

O’Neal, 23, drives for Burns’ SSI Motorsports, with Durham named the new crew chief earlier this season. The team’s last win was s. 28, but it has made obvious gains with the impressive run at the home of the Show-Me 100.

Davenport, of Blairsville, Ga., said he got into O’Neal slightly going into turn three in the early going as he tried to regain the lead, but fortunately both cars came away unscathed by the close shave that left a small racing stripe on the side of his car.

“He was really good, for sure,” Davenport said of O’Neal. “I couldn’t believe the bottom was that good when we first took off. Once he did get by me, I could move into his lane and he was still a little better than we was.

“I’m just gonna go back and we’re gonna make us a drink and think about this.”

O’Neal opened a 1.3-second lead over Davenport by lap eight as lapped traffic began to play a factor. O’Neal maneuvered through the slower cars, though Davenport began to cut into the margin a bit by lap 15.

The difference was back to 1.5 seconds at the halfway mark as the action remained caution-free. Brandon Overton advanced to third by that point with Mike Marlar fourth.

O’Neal narrowly avoided a disaster on lap 28 when Scott Crigler suddenly slowed, right in front of him coming off turn two. O’Neal yanked to the outside of Crigler in time to avoid contact, but a caution flew as Crigler’s car limped to the edge of he infield before rolling to a stop.

The caution wiped out a 2.4-second lead and gave Davenport’s chances life with 12 laps remaining. Davenport opted to start outside of turn two with Overton to the inside, but O’Neal nailed the restart and needed just three laps to open a 1.2-second lead.

With a clear track ahead, O’Neal hit his marks from there as action remained under green. The 2021 Show-Me 100 winner beat Davenport, the reigning Show-Me 100 champ, by 2.074 seconds.

“This feels like so much bigger than $7,000 for us,” O’Neal said. “We’re excited about the future. We’ve always enjoyed coming here. The race track was pretty good and we were able to put on a good show.

“I was a little nervous about when J.D. got the start on me at the beginning. He’s a tough one whenever he gets out front. We were able to find the bottom a little earlier than those guys and were able to work back by him.”

Added Davenport: “The race track was awesome. I think it would have been even better the longer we went. Hats off to the track crew and thanks to my guys, they gave me another great race car.”

Overton was about one second behind Davenport for third with Marlar fourth and Mason Oberkramer fifth after starting 10th.

The top two were speedy from the start of the night. O’Neal set the fast overall qualifying time with a lap of 15.434 in Group 2. Davenport had quick time in Group 1 at 15.549.

Super Stocks win to Hays: Jared Hays of Jonesboro, Ark., captured the $650 first prize in the Hickamo Super Stocks, beating Brian Worley by just over one second in the 20-lap feature.

The sixth-starting Hays worked his way into the lead on lap five, getting around pole-starting J.T. Carroll who led the first four circuits.

Hays had a 3.3-second lead over Tony Anglin when a caution flew on lap 13. He handled the restart and drove away to win by 1.1 seconds over Brian Worley with Kyle David third, time Brown fourth and Carroll fifth.

“This one’s been a long time coming here. We’ve been short so many times and we finally got the win here,” Hays said in victory lane.

The Super Stocks will run for $1,000-to-win on Saturday.

Clevenger wins SMVR feature: Seventh-starting Damon Clevenger of Parkville took command in the early stages and rolled to the Show-Me Vintage Racers feature win.

Clevenger passed Mickie Cook on the outside heading into turn three to take over the lead on lap five. Clevenger, in his 1939 Chevy Sedan, set sail from there and breezed over the final 10 laps to beat Chad Eickleberry by a 5.9-second margin at the finish.

David Isaacs finished third with John Martin fourth and Bryant Moyer fifth.

“We love having the opportunity to race at Lucas Oil Speedway,” Clevenger said after winning a feature at the track for a third straight year.

LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY UNOFFICIAL RESULTS (April 11, 2025)
12th Annual Spring Nationals
Open Late Models
A Feature – 1. 71-Hudson O’Neal[2]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 3. 76-Brandon Overton[5]; 4. 157-Mike Marlar[6]; 5. 93O-Mason Oberkramer[10]; 6. 22D-Daniel Hilsabeck[7]; 7. 93-Carson Ferguson[8]; 8. 97-Cade Dillard[3]; 9. 8-Dillon McCowan[13]; 10. 11GG-Gordy Gundaker[11]; 11. 98-Justin Wells[14]; 12. 11-Jeff Herzog[4]; 13. 74-Mitch McGrath[19]; 14. 11K-Jon Kirby[20]; 15. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[21]; 16. 1X-Aaron Marrant[16]; 17. (DNF) 12-Scott Crigler[17]; 18. (DNF) 8K-Tyler Kuykendall[12]; 19. (DNF) 5-Logan Martin[18]; 20. (DNF) 2-Tyler Stevens[22]; 21. (DNF) 21-Billy Moyer Sr[23]; 22. (DNF) 7-Cole Wells[15]; 23. (DNF) 56-Tony Jackson Jr[9]; 24. (DNF) 31C-Cole Henson[24]

B Feature 1 – 1. 12-Scott Crigler[1]; 2. 74-Mitch McGrath[3]; 3. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[4]; 4. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[2]; 5. 32-Chris Simpson[12]; 6. 7J-Ryan Johnson[5]; 7. 1/4J-Jaxon Ertel[6]; 8. 82J-Jace Parmley[8]; 9. 18-Shannon Parker[7]; 10. 1K-Richard Kimberling[10]; 11. (DNF) 15S-Clay Stuckey[13]; 12. (DNF) 14-Reid Millard[9]; 13. (DNS) 25-Chad Simpson; 14. (DNS) 26-Matt Menzie

B Feature 2 – 1. 5-Logan Martin[1]; 2. 11K-Jon Kirby[2]; 3. 2-Tyler Stevens[7]; 4. 31C-Cole Henson[3]; 5. 3-Brennon Willard[5]; 6. 50-Kayden Clatt[4]; 7. 128-Kylan Garner[8]; 8. 96-Dalton Imhoff[9]; 9. 7W-JC Waller[10]; 10. 77-Jeremy Petty[6]; 11. (DNF) 26P-Glen Powell[11]; 12. (DNS) 62-Justin Zeitner; 13. (DNS) 15-Shane Stephens

Heat 1 – 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 76-Brandon Overton[2]; 3. 56-Tony Jackson Jr[4]; 4. 8-Dillon McCowan[5]; 5. 12-Scott Crigler[6]; 6. 74-Mitch McGrath[9]; 7. 7J-Ryan Johnson[7]; 8. 18-Shannon Parker[10]; 9. 14-Reid Millard[11]; 10. (DNF) 25-Chad Simpson[3]; 11. (DNF) 15S-Clay Stuckey[8]

Heat 2 – 1. 97-Cade Dillard[2]; 2. 22D-Daniel Hilsabeck[1]; 3. 11GG-Gordy Gundaker[4]; 4. 7-Cole Wells[8]; 5. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[5]; 6. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[9]; 7. 1/4J-Jaxon Ertel[6]; 8. 82J-Jace Parmley[10]; 9. 1K-Richard Kimberling[11]; 10. (DNF) 32-Chris Simpson[3]; 11. (DNS) 26-Matt Menzie

Heat 3 – 1. 71-Hudson O’Neal[1]; 2. 157-Mike Marlar[2]; 3. 93O-Mason Oberkramer[3]; 4. 98-Justin Wells[4]; 5. 5-Logan Martin[5]; 6. 31C-Cole Henson[7]; 7. 3-Brennon Willard[10]; 8. 2-Tyler Stevens[9]; 9. 96-Dalton Imhoff[6]; 10. 26P-Glen Powell[8]; 11. (DNS) 15-Shane Stephens

Heat 4 – 1. 11-Jeff Herzog[1]; 2. 93-Carson Ferguson[5]; 3. 8K-Tyler Kuykendall[4]; 4. 1X-Aaron Marrant[2]; 5. 11K-Jon Kirby[6]; 6. 50-Kayden Clatt[3]; 7. 77-Jeremy Petty[8]; 8. 128-Kylan Garner[9]; 9. 7W-JC Waller[10]; 10. (DNF) 62-Justin Zeitner[7]

Qualifying Group 1 – 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport, 00:15.549[16]; 2. 22D-Daniel Hilsabeck, 00:15.728[13]; 3. 76-Brandon Overton, 00:15.783[17]; 4. 97-Cade Dillard, 00:15.786[9]; 5. 25-Chad Simpson, 00:15.800[10]; 6. 32-Chris Simpson, 00:15.921[21]; 7. 56-Tony Jackson Jr, 00:16.057[4]; 8. 11GG-Gordy Gundaker, 00:16.152[14]; 9. 8-Dillon McCowan, 00:16.173[2]; 10. 21-Billy Moyer Sr, 00:16.183[22]; 11. 12-Scott Crigler, 00:16.297[8]; 12. 1/4J-Jaxon Ertel, 00:16.427[15]; 13. 7J-Ryan Johnson, 00:16.449[5]; 14. 26-Matt Menzie, 00:16.493[6]; 15. 15S-Clay Stuckey, 00:16.498[3]; 16. 7-Cole Wells, 00:16.533[18]; 17. 74-Mitch McGrath, 00:16.719[19]; 18. 11T-Trevor Gundaker, 00:16.722[11]; 19. 18-Shannon Parker, 00:16.897[7]; 20. 82J-Jace Parmley, 00:16.978[12]; 21. 14-Reid Millard, 00:17.135[20]; 22. 1K-Richard Kimberling, 00:17.266[1]

Qualifying Group 2 – 1. 71-Hudson O’Neal, 00:15.434[15]; 2. 11-Jeff Herzog, 00:15.902[7]; 3. 157-Mike Marlar, 00:15.963[2]; 4. 1X-Aaron Marrant, 00:16.009[3]; 5. 93O-Mason Oberkramer, 00:16.065[20]; 6. 50-Kayden Clatt, 00:16.085[1]; 7. 98-Justin Wells, 00:16.124[6]; 8. 8K-Tyler Kuykendall, 00:16.171[8]; 9. 5-Logan Martin, 00:16.219[19]; 10. 93-Carson Ferguson, 00:16.227[14]; 11. 96-Dalton Imhoff, 00:16.304[17]; 12. 11K-Jon Kirby, 00:16.339[16]; 13. 31C-Cole Henson, 00:16.442[21]; 14. 62-Justin Zeitner, 00:16.446[13]; 15. 26P-Glen Powell, 00:16.558[4]; 16. 77-Jeremy Petty, 00:16.602[9]; 17. 2-Tyler Stevens, 00:16.634[12]; 18. 128-Kylan Garner, 00:16.796[18]; 19. 3-Brennon Willard, 00:16.925[11]; 20. 7W-JC Waller, 00:17.114[10]; 21. (DNS) 15-Shane Stephens

Hickamo Super Stocks
A Feature – 1. 4-Jared Hays[6]; 2. B4-Brian Worley[4]; 3. 10K-Kyle Davis[7]; 4. 111-Tim Brown[9]; 5. 94C-JT Carroll[1]; 6. TG1-Tony Anglin[2]; 7. 04-Blaine Ewing[14]; 8. 69-Brian Brown[5]; 9. 11-Derek Brown[10]; 10. 26M-Donnie Miller[8]; 11. 2-Colton Bourland[11]; 12. 4G-Gary Clark[3]; 13. 164-Michael Muskrat[16]; 14. 21W-Ted Welschmeyer[18]; 15. 21-Darin Porter[20]; 16. 27S-Will Smart[12]; 17. 67-Devin Irvin[24]; 18. 3-Dale Douty III[22]; 19. 22D-Lonnie Duncan[23]; 20. 22-Craig Wiggens[21]; 21. 44-James Nighswonger[13]; 22. (DNF) 35-Johnny Coats[19]; 23. (DNF) 94-Kenny Carroll[17]; 24. (DNF) 27D-Derek Henson[15]

B Feature 1 – 1. 94-Kenny Carroll[2]; 2. 35-Johnny Coats[4]; 3. 22-Craig Wiggens[5]; 4. 22D-Lonnie Duncan[3]; 5. 15M-Michael Matthews[1]; 6. G1-Nick Gibson[6]; 7. 61R-Randi Goins[7]; 8. 127-Jay Barnett[9]; 9. 69T-Tony Bowman[8]; 10. (DNS) 1T-Bradley Tucker

B Feature 2 – 1. 21W-Ted Welschmeyer[1]; 2. 21-Darin Porter[4]; 3. 3-Dale Douty III[2]; 4. 67-Devin Irvin[6]; 5. 16-Logan Thompson[7]; 6. 112-Kevin Brown[5]; 7. 69C-Caleb Brown[3]; 8. 70-Patrick West[9]; 9. (DNF) 08-Scott Pullen[8]; 10. (DNS) 06-Morgan Campbell

Heat 1 – 1. 4G-Gary Clark[4]; 2. 10K-Kyle Davis[6]; 3. 11-Derek Brown[1]; 4. 164-Michael Muskrat[2]; 5. 94-Kenny Carroll[3]; 6. 22D-Lonnie Duncan[8]; 7. 67-Devin Irvin[7]; 8. 16-Logan Thompson[9]; 9. (DNF) 06-Morgan Campbell[5]

Heat 2 – 1. 26M-Donnie Miller[1]; 2. 69-Brian Brown[7]; 3. 27S-Will Smart[3]; 4. 44-James Nighswonger[6]; 5. 3-Dale Douty III[4]; 6. 21-Darin Porter[5]; 7. 22-Craig Wiggens[8]; 8. 08-Scott Pullen[2]; 9. 70-Patrick West[9]

Heat 3 – 1. B4-Brian Worley[4]; 2. TG1-Tony Anglin[8]; 3. 2-Colton Bourland[1]; 4. 04-Blaine Ewing[6]; 5. 21W-Ted Welschmeyer[2]; 6. 69C-Caleb Brown[7]; 7. G1-Nick Gibson[5]; 8. 69T-Tony Bowman[9]; 9. (DNF) 1T-Bradley Tucker[3]

Heat 4 – 1. 94C-JT Carroll[5]; 2. 4-Jared Hays[7]; 3. 111-Tim Brown[8]; 4. 27D-Derek Henson[6]; 5. 15M-Michael Matthews[1]; 6. 35-Johnny Coats[4]; 7. 112-Kevin Brown[2]; 8. 61R-Randi Goins[9]; 9. 127-Jay Barnett[3]

Show-Me Vintage Racers
A Feature – 1. 6-Damon Clevenger[7]; 2. 09D-Chad Eickleberry[8]; 3. 66-David Isaacs[6]; 4. 63-John Martin[13]; 5. 9D-Bryant Moyer[5]; 6. 5-Ken Brown[15]; 7. 32W-Bob Werkmeister[4]; 8. 14-Mickie Cook[1]; 9. 113-Jim Thorne[9]; 10. 2B-Brian Cox[10]; 11. 76-Kevin Prall[12]; 12. 88-Dan Schmidt[3]; 13. 1A-Rodney Ashworth[11]; 14. 58-Beth Martin[14]; 15. 8X-Gary Proskocil[16]; 16. 3X-Richard Fields[20]; 17. 44-Terry Price[18]; 18. 1-Angela Ashworth[21]; 19. 72-Tim Wies[17]; 20. (DNF) 18-Owen Evinger[22]; 21. (DNF) 3-Eddie Neil[24]; 22. (DNF) C2-Andy Wiles[23]; 23. (DNF) 98-Patrick Adamy[2]; 24. (DNS) 42-Rob Brash

Heat 1 – 1. 6-Damon Clevenger[6]; 2. 66-David Isaacs[5]; 3. 9D-Bryant Moyer[4]; 4. 32W-Bob Werkmeister[3]; 5. 3-Eddie Neil[8]; 6. 98-Patrick Adamy[2]; 7. 88-Dan Schmidt[7]; 8. 14-Mickie Cook[1]

Heat 2 – 1. 09D-Chad Eickleberry[1]; 2. 63-John Martin[6]; 3. 2B-Brian Cox[3]; 4. 76-Kevin Prall[5]; 5. 58-Beth Martin[7]; 6. 1A-Rodney Ashworth[4]; 7. 113-Jim Thorne[2]; 8. 72-Tim Wies[8]

Heat 3 – 1. 5-Ken Brown[6]; 2. C2-Andy Wiles[1]; 3. 18-Owen Evinger[2]; 4. 3X-Richard Fields[8]; 5. 44-Terry Price[4]; 6. 8X-Gary Proskocil[7]; 7. 1-Angela Ashworth[5]; 8. (DNF) 42-Rob Brash[3]

Action resumes Saturday: The Spring Nationals conclude on Saturday as gates open at 4 p.m. with hot laps at 6:30 and opening ceremonies at 7. The Hickamo Super Stocks and Show-Me Vintage Racers also will return for full shows. The first 500 fans through the gate receive a free 2025 Lucas Oil Speedway schedule magnet courtesy of City Magnet.

Saturday admission:
Advance Discount Tickets online only (13 and up) – $27
Adults (13 and up) – $30
Seniors (62 and up)/Military – $27
Youth (6-12) – $10
Kids (5 and under) – FREE
Family Pass – $70
Pit Pass – $45

For information on tickets or camping for any Lucas Oil Speedway event in 2025, contact Admissions Director Nichole McMillan at (417) 295-6043 or email her at nmcmillan@lucasoilspeedway.com for more information.

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