BY BROOKE JOHNPIER, SPORTS STAFFER
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series: On Tuesday, Hudson O’Neal took the 30-lap A-Main win over Daulton Wilson and Jonathan Davenport by taking the lead away from Tyler Erb. O’Neal ended up leading the rest of the race, not letting Wilson get by him.
“I knew that if I could just stay patient enough eventually that top was going to go away,” said O’Neal. “Tyler [Erb] went down there in front of me one time and it came down to a crucial pass coming off of two. We rubbed some doors, but I knew that was probably going to be the only chance I had to get back by him.”
Erb came back to win the 40-lap A-Main over Mike Marlar and Davenport on Wednesday. Erb had a hard-fought victory after taking the lead from Davenport on Lap 12. Erb pulled away with a 2.653-second advantage.
“I chased JD [Davenport] and was really patient and finally got by him,” said Erb. “On the restart they obviously started running the top or something to get such a really good run. I just had to hunker down and fight back. I have got an awesome car and an awesome group of people helping me. I love East Bay it produces some of the greatest racing and it was a really good race.”
Thursday had Brandon Sheppard take the win after becoming the fourth leader of the 30-lap A-Main. Garrett Smith led the first two laps, with Devin Moran taking over for 13 laps. Brian Shirley took over the 1st-place position and would battle with Sheppard for five laps until Sheppard would take the lead fully on lap twenty, winning Monday night’s make-up race. “Man, you just never know, the competition is so tough right now, all these guys do such a good job, and the racetrack is so much different each night,” said Sheppard. “Hats off to everyone here at East Bay for giving us such a good racetrack again here tonight. When you have highs and lows like this it takes a lot of good people being together to be able to stick it through. Man, I hate it that I had to pass my old buddy, Shirley for the win. I know he’s needed a good run this week too. It feels really good.”
Jimmy Owens won Thursday’s scheduled race after a side-by-side battle with Garrett Smith. Owens took the lead on Lap 13, making it his 81st career victory.
“I don’t even remember the last time I won a race at East Bay,” said Owens. “I never did win one here in these conditions. The car has been flawless all night and you know it was good from qualifying to the heat race to the feature. Me and Garrett [Smith] had a heck of a race that was fun. It was a good night.”
Davenport won over O’Neal and Wilson in the 50-lap A-Main on Friday. Davenport jumped out to an early lead, only to give it up to Erb by going too high in turn two. For 16 laps, Erb led until Davenport caught up to him again.
“I thought I gave it away when I messed up in one and two. We made one little shock adjustment before the feature that made this thing a bear to handle,” said Davenport. “We know not to do that no more. I just kept trying to be patient when I lost the lead, I just tried to stay in his [Tyler Erb’s] tire tracks and just know that I was probably running a little wide on the throttle.”
Wilson took home his first career win over Sheppard and Erb on Saturday. Erb stayed in the lead for 16 laps, with Wilson overpowering him. After a late race caution, Sheppard had a three-lap shootout, but pulled away with a 1.454-second lead.
“I don’t know what to say. This is a dream come true,” said Wilson. “My whole family is right here. [T]hey sacrificed everything for me, they believed in me 100%, my guys, my car owners, just everybody who believed in me and gave me an opportunity and everybody at home who gave me a chance. I can’t thank everyone enough.”
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series: The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series opened up at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Florida. Reigning series champion Brad Sweet took home the 25-lap A-Main over Tyler Courtney and David Gravel. Sweet led all 25 laps.
“It’s just a lot of fun to come here and start out so strong,” said Sweet. “We’ve had a lot of success here at Volusia over the years. It’s going to be a long week, so hopefully we can keep celebrating in Victory Lane.”
Thursday had Gravel follow in Sweet’s footsteps by also leading all 25 laps of his feature event. Gravel battled with Giovanni Scelzi and Rico Abreu but never wavered from the top position.
“I figured Rico probably had a good car late in the race,” said Gravel. “I was just hoping I got a really good launch. I felt like I got a good enough launch, and I wanted to get down that backstretch really, really strong. I knew it would pay off.”
Tyler Courtney took home the win on Friday after a drag-race-like finish over Rico Abreu and Brad Sweet. For most of the race, Abreu led. But coming off Turn 4, Abreu tripped on the cushion, allowing Courtney to get side-by-side with Abreu.
“I didn’t know it was that exciting until I realized what we did there at the end,” said Courtney. “That was fun. It was non-stop the whole time. Even though we were just running around the top, it’s a lot harder than people think. That top was real treacherous. You get your right-rear (tire) just over it a little bit, it sucks you over.”
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