ZANESVILLE, Ohio — Max Blair charged from the 15th starting position to take the lead with three laps remaining and, despite two caution flags in the closing laps, held off Devin Moran and Hudson O’Neal to earn the biggest victory of his career.
Blair collected $25,000 for winning the Freedom 50 on Saturday night at Muskingum County Speedway.
It was Blair’s second victory with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series as the third-generation racer returned to the series full time in 2026.
Moran slipped past O’Neal at the checkered flag to finish second, while O’Neal completed the Big River Steel Podium in third. Clay Harris, who led the opening lap and spent much of the race running second, finished fourth. Ricky Thornton Jr. rounded out the top five.
Blair climbed to fourth with 14 laps remaining and then reeled in O’Neal, Harris, and Moran without the benefit of a caution. Asked in his post-race interview whether he believed he had a chance to win after starting 15th, Blair laughed.
“Not a chance. That was a heck of a run. Going from 15th to fourth was pretty cool, and I was thinking maybe we’d get a yellow and have a shot at it. Then we went three laps, and I’m thinking, ‘Holy cow,’ even in lapped traffic I’m running them down. I can’t believe it. It’s awesome,” said the 36-year-old racer.
“I have won another race that paid the same amount, but this is by far the biggest win of my career. I’m sure my wife and kids were screaming at the TV during those final laps, and then all of those cautions kept coming out. I’m out of breath and speechless.”
“When I took the lead, I knew I was a little better than they were, and I didn’t want to catch those lapped cars because I felt like I didn’t need to. Then I saw Shirley break or have a flat, and I thought, ‘There’s no way this is happening.’ I’ve got to thank my dad. This is what we’ve been trying to do for 20 years, and we finally did it.”
Moran, coming off his Firecracker 100 victory at Lernerville last weekend, continued his strong points surge by taking second from O’Neal at the finish.
“I used to love coming here because it was my home track. Now I love coming here because it’s a badass race track. My dad and those guys do a great job, and we always have an amazing crowd here. I thought I had a chance,” Moran said. “Congratulations to Max Blair. He’s been really close all year and has had a really good race car. He got the job done. I thought it was Clay underneath me because I had just gotten by him, but it was Max, and I knew there was no way I was beating him tonight.”
O’Neal will head to 34 Raceway in Iowa on Thursday night with a 45-point lead over Brandon Sheppard, who finished seventh in the feature. O’Neal led 46 of the race’s 50 laps.
“I was fading pretty hard at the end,” O’Neal acknowledged. “I knew somebody had to be coming. There’s always one guy who comes on late, and I became a sitting duck. We went too soft on tires, and I didn’t have much left. We just weren’t balanced at the end, and that’s something we need to work on.”
Freedom 50 | Feature Finish (50 Laps):
Pos – Start – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Earnings
1 – 15 – 111 – Max Blair – Centerville, PA – $25,800
2 – 5 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – $11,200
3 – 1 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – $7,300
4 – 2 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – $4,800
5 – 6 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – $4,700
6 – 9 – 1Z – Logan Zarin – Hookstown, PA – $2,700
7 – 4 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – $3,300
8 – 8 – 8 – Dillon McCowan – Urbana, MO – $3,200
9 – 17 – 58 – Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – $3,000
10 – 18 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – $2,900
11 – 7 – 60 – Dan Ebert – Lake Shore, MN – $2,800
12 – 11 – 93 – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – $2,700
13 – 14 – 31 – Lincoln Smith – Belmont, OH – $1,800
14 – 3 – 3S – Brian Shirley – Chatham, IL – $2,500
15 – 12 – 11 – Josh Rice – Crittenden, KY – $2,400
16 – 16 – 93J – Donovan Jackson – Hope Mills, NC – $1,500
17 – 13 – 22 – Daniel Hilsabeck – Earlham, IA – $2,300
18 – 25 – 57 – Caiden Black – New Concord, OH – $1,500
19 – 23 – 0 – Stephen Prince – Newark, OH – $1,500
20 – 19 – 20 – Todd Brennan – Zanesville, OH – $1,500
21 – 10 – 40B – Kyle Bronson – Brandon, FL – $2,300
22 – 21 – 93L – Cory Lawler – Hanover, PA – $1,500
23 – 20 – 17SS – Brenden Smith – Dade City, FL – $1,500
24 – 24 – 59 – Larry Bellman – Wooster, OH – $1,500
25 – 22 – 156 – James Dennis – Lower Salem, OH – $1,500
