Fast Talk presented by MD3 and Five Star Bodies
Fast Talk: Assessing O'Neal's remarkable run
After a weekend when Hudson O’Neal and Chris Madden were the richest winners, our roundtable checks in for the weekly feature presented by MD3 and Five Star Race Cars Bodies (edited for clarity and length):
Consider Hudson O’Neal’s ability to overcome bumper issues in his World of Outlaws victory at Magnolia.
Todd Turner, DirtonDirt managing editor: When front bumpers begin dragging on the track, it typically sends Dirt Late Model racers to one place — the trailer. That O’Neal managed to manhandle his car the rest of the way and make it to victory lane (albeit with the nose dragging worse than ever) was remarkable. I’m not sure I’ve seen a driver overcome something so difficult since Jonathan Davenport last season won on a rubbered-down track at Volusia by not running in the rubber. That O’Neal came overcome something so difficult only cements the likelihood that he’s on his way to his best-ever season.
Kyle McFadden, DirtonDirt staff reporter: As Todd said, have you seen anything like that remarkable performance? Any sort of bumper and/or nose damage is the kiss of death in Dirt Late Model racing. Apparently not for O’Neal, who can’t be slowed down by much to start the season. Remarkable signs like these usually point toward the remarkable season that’s in the works. Nine victories in 27 races means his win rate is 33 percent, on par with Bobby Pierce’s production in his three straight 30-win campaigns. O’Neal clearly is on a near-unstoppable trajectory.
Kevin Kovac, DirtonDirt senior writer: Superstar drivers do unbelievable things — and O’Neal is most assuredly blossoming into a full-fledged superstar this season. Not that he hadn’t already established himself — he’s a Lucas Oil champion and has won five crown jewels, including a World 100 — but this season, at age 25, he’s hitting another level. He’s on the cusp of double-figures in wins before the end of March, and he has an epic performance like Magnolia on his ledger. Sure, circumstances helped O’Neal in the feature; he could only run the bottom due to his nose damage, and he was handed that lane late as Jonathan Davenport and Bobby Pierce largely stayed high. But O’Neal had to both battle his handling problems and a rough route around the track and he did it with aplomb.
Bryan Ault, contributing DirtonDirt writer: I remember being skeptical about rating O’Neal so highly in our first Top 25 poll of the season with his early-season wins coming in the otherworldly-fast Rumley No. 6, but he’s backed it up with success in his SSI Motorsports car along with more success in that Rumley ride that he won with twice over the weekend. Taking home the checkered flag with a damaged nosepiece, on any car, more than justifies his No. 1 ranking. What’s kind of scary for his competitors is that Huddy, at just 25 years old, still has so many great years ahead of him to the point where he hasn’t peaked yet. The best is yet to come for the youngster, who scratched from Friday’s program at Magnolia with engine trouble and then won Saturday’s $20,000 WoO check and Sunday’s $12,000 Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series feature at Talladega.
Discuss another weekend winner (or non-winner, for that matter).
Ault: How about Brandon Overton bouncing back after his vicious wreck at Smoky Mountain Speedway with a Modoc victory? The Evans, Ga., driver has recovered from his underperforming 2025 season with some solid victories. There were question marks as to whether his hard contact with Dennis Erb Jr. at Smoky Mountain would blunt his momentum. Those concerns were set aside over the weekend with a victory over his younger brother, Cody, and could right the ship back to his winning ways in 2026. A real test will be this weekend’s Lucas Oil Series doubleheader at Atomic and Brownstown (the latter of which I’ll be covering along with Kyle). A confident Brandon Overton is bad news for the rest of the Lucas Oil regulars.
Turner: I’ll go with another driver who, like O’Neal had something to overcome. That’s Rusty Schlenk, the Ohio driver who ventured to Florida’s panhandle for a $7,000 Ultimate Southeast tour victory at the updated Blackwater Speedway (formerly Northwest Florida Speedway). While he had the fastest car (and now owns the track record), the tour’s true double-file restarts gave Schlenk fits in trying to fight off Brody Smith and Joseph Joiner on a surface where the inside and outside grooves weren’t equal on both ends of the track. Schlenk survived some tense moments and made his long haul worthwhile.
Kovac: I wouldn’t have been surprised to see Josh Rice or Jason Jameson win Saturday’s Spring 50 at Florence Speedway for JRR Motorsports. But the team’s third entry — Justin Rattliff, the son of team owner James Rattliff — emerging victorious? I don’t think anyone had that forecast. Maybe we should have considered the possibility. Rattliff has only raced on a limited basis for quite some time now, but last year he showed some notable flashes at Florence, especially during the North-South 100 weekend. Big congrats to him for overtaking his teammate Rice, who was battling a wicked vibration from a mud-packed right-rear wheel, late in the 50-lapper for the $10,000 win, Rattliff’s first five-figure score since May 2007 when he captured a Lucas Oil Series race worth 10-grand at La Salle (Ill.) Speedway as a 20-year-old upstart.
McFadden: I’ll highlight Trever Feathers’s victory Saturday at Port Royal Speedway over Gregg Satterlee. First, the 18-car field is the lowest for an opener at Port Royal that I can remember. Only a few years ago, opening day at the Speed Palace drew close to 30 cars — if not more. I hope car counts in the teens won’t be the norm for Port Royal, one of the dwindling weekly Super Late Model tracks in the country. It is nice, though, to see a regional stalwart like Feathers able to improve his program during a time where regional drivers are fading out in the sport. Saturday for Feathers is his fifth victory over his last 12 races since last September.
Detail another news item, development or happening.
Kovac: The WoO championship battle looks like it might already be a two-driver race between Bobby Pierce and Nick Hoffman. The pair has separated themselves from the pack in the four post-Speedweeks event with Pierce leading Hoffman by a slim 14 points and their three most likely challengers — Tim McCreadie, Tyler Erb and Ryan Gustin — over 100 points in arrears of Pierce. The top-five totals for Hoffman (10) and Pierce (nine) through 12 races are more than double any other series regular, so it’s clear than currently performing on another level. They’ve also accounted for half the tour’s wins this year. Making up over 100 points to win a WoO title would be unprecedented. It’s an even taller task considering how strong and consistent Pierce and Hoffman appear to be.
Ault: In the past it didn’t really bother me, but it seems there’s more parity on the national tours this season to spice up conversation about the series titles. Don’t get me wrong: Ricky Thornton Jr. and Bobby Pierce could get on winning streaks and still dominate like they have on the Lucas Oil and WoO tours in recent years, but based on the first quarter, neither points chase will be a runaway. Nick Hoffman trails Pierce by just 14 points and Hudson O’Neal, while staking his claim as the No. 1 driver in the country, holds just a 20-point edge on Devin Moran. It’s been refreshing to see O’Neal and Overton as the season’s most prolific winners so far. Will it last?
McFadden: Modoc Speedway’s reopening Friday night looked like a huge success. I feel like the South Carolina track’s return after a four-year, $2 million transformation under Ronnie Powell’s management hasn’t been talked about enough. Honestly, I didn’t understand just how much work has gone into the place until I talked with Powell and promotor Kelly Carlton for a story I wrote last week. From the outside, it doesn’t seem like hyperbole to say Modoc has transformed into one of the nicest facilities in the Southeast. I saw numerous comments on social media from fans lauding the revamped track. Another takeaway that struck me is that Powell is eager to host his own unsanctioned $50,000-to-win, $3,500-to-start Super Late Model event there as soon as next year. Based on how much he’s invested into the property, money doesn’t seem to be an issue for him. There’s few better stories in our sport than a racetrack rising from the ashes.
Turner: At the risk of jinxing this weekend’s events (I apologize in advance), we’re in the midst of a rare March where rain and cold weather hasn’t played havoc with race schedules. As a matter of fact, just a half-dozen events on DirtonDirt’s special event schedule have been rained out or rescheduled, far below the average of 22 postponements or cancellations in March over the last five seasons. It’s been a boon for national tours that scheduled six races apiece in March and for regional tours to get their seasons off to a solid start.
What’s a promising sign for Dirt Late Model racing through the first quarter of 2026?
McFadden: That Hudson O’Neal, Brandon Overton, Brandon Sheppard and Clay Harris have upped their game. You could throw Tim McCreadie into that mix, with T-Mac on a steady climb since the middle of last year. The sport is far more intriguing when its superstars are performing at a high level, and even more intriguing when a guy like Harris could be amid a breakout season. A healthy number of full-time campaigners on each tour is notable as well. Jake Timm dropping of the World of Outlaws can be a cause for concern, but there’s still 18 full-time drivers on the Lucas Oil tour and (if my math is right) 16 on the WoO circuit. There’s still more teams than ever following a national tour, and that’s at least a promising sign.
Turner: This is my annual public service announcement that because you’ve heard of this or that track closing — and to be fair, maybe it’s your home track — it doesn’t mean the sky is falling everywhere. We saw over the weekend the revival of a much improved Modoc (S.C.) Speedway and there are reopenings around the country including Oak Level Raceway in Bassett, Va., Thunder Valley Speedway in Glenmora, La., Dakota State Fair Speedway in Huron, S.D., and Winston Speedway in Rothbury, Mich. Certainly, racetracks face headwinds, particularly those in areas where development is ripe, but the sport has long proven that tracks that are properly promoted and managed by enthusiastic folks often succeed.
Ault: We talk about how sad it is when tracks such as East Bay close down, but we often don’t discuss the positives enough when a track opens up or undergoes big upgrades. Ronnie Powell purchasing Modoc Speedway and making wholesale changes, as Kyle reported last week, is definitely a good thing. The same is true for the Hunt the Front gang purchasing and upgrading Southern Raceway in their hometown of Milton, Fla. At a time when tracks are closing their gates or struggling to stay afloat, you really have to respect those who are willing to roll the dice and make changes at neglected ovals. For me, an obvious question is whether established tracks around the country that host national events would be willing to follow suit. At so many places, facilities, lighting and (especially) restrooms could use upgrades.
Kovac: The division is in the midst of arguably its best stretch of March racing in recent memory. Weather conditions have not only been largely dry but also unseasonably warm wherever there’s been action this month, and there’s been more memorable March moments, especially on the national touring level, than we’re accustomed to seeing. The dramatic Golden Isles finale with Trey Mills flipping and Devin Moran winning from deep in the field. Brandon Overton’s heartbreaking two-to-go crash while leading at Smoky Mountain. Hudson O’Neal’s rally at Magnolia. Maybe this unusually active — and action-packed — March is boding well for the rest of the season.
And what’s an issue early this season that might be a future concern?
Ault: After covering Florence’s Spring 50, and during the trip listening to a podcast about the current Middle East conflicts, I glanced up at the price of gas — specifically diesel — at so many exits and shook my head, partly out of admiration for so many car owners who are willing to pay the cost of keeping our sport alive and also sadness at how high costs are hurting racing at the local and regional level for drivers who pinch pennies to race. It’s truly not worth it for an ordinary local or regional racer without significant backing and top equipment to compete at some of these events. I realize we can’t control world events and the sport isn’t cheap, but would it be possible to ask the sport’s big movers and shakers to have a summit of some sort to discuss ways to cut costs for drivers and teams, so more racers could compete on weekends?
McFadden: Obviously this isn’t news, but the rising costs of racing. Increasing gas prices continue to stretch travel budgets, especially for teams crisscrossing regional and national schedules, while tires, parts and maintenance only compound the strain. It’s nothing new, but it’s more pronounced than ever. Completely honest, trying to plan a wedding and position myself to buy a house has shown just how expensive and stressful everything feels in today’s financial climate. At the same time, many teams face crew shortages, leaving fewer hands to handle demanding weekends — a combination that’s bound to wear down teams as the season grinds on.
Kovac: The soaring price of diesel fuel bears watching. We’re talking about a major jump in the cost of diesel with the national average per gallon going from $3.53 just before the start of Speedweeks in January to $5.28 when I checked this morning. We’re closing in on a $2-per-gallon increase over a two-month span, which adds some significant travel costs for teams that have very large tanks to fill in their haulers. Will it lead some teams to bypass longer trips? And, for that matter, will fans perhaps pull back from some planned traveling as the national average for a gallon of regular gas is now approaching $4? It’s a development that’s very concerning.
Turner: This is arguably not an issue specific to this season, but in monitoring what tracks are running what divisions for the upcoming season, I’m reminded that, below the Super Late Model level, there’s a mind-boggling mish-mash of engine rules among divisions for cars with steel-block motors, various spec engines, Crate engines of multiple sorts and more. There’s harmony among multiple engine styles in some regions, but various engine rules often appear to be divisive for certain areas, plaguing car counts. I’ll be interested to see how Kankakee County Speedway does drawing competitors this season in returning to what the Illinois track’s promoters tout as “Super Late Model” weekly racing that in actuality is a hybrid division with rules intended to equalize all engine types.
