CASA GRANDE, Ariz. — Rolling into round two of the Rio Grande Waste Services Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts, all three divisions delivered exciting racing throughout Sunday evening at FK Rod Ends Central Arizona Raceway.
Hudson O’Neal, Blake Adams and Tyler Wolff were winners on night two.
After finishing second on opening night, O’Neal found redemption in Sunday’s $10,000-to-win feature, fending off a hard-charging Mike Marlar in the closing laps. Starting from the outside of the second row, O’Neal tracked down Bobby Pierce and grabbed the lead on lap 10. He then withstood multiple challenges from Marlar to secure his first Wild West Shootout victory.
O’Neal admitted he had concerns after the heat race, noting, “I was a little worried after that heat race because Kevin (Rumley) told me we’ve got to change something because we’re not good enough to win right now.” He credited the turnaround to his crew chief, adding, “He made some changes, and they were definitely spot on.”
O’Neal’s win came behind the wheel of the Rumley Enterprises No. 6 machine.
Marlar, who made a strong challenge for the top spot multiple times, ran second to O’Neal after pulling off fifth on the starting grid. Bobby Pierce rounded out the podium in third while Garrett Alberson and Jonathan Davenport completed the Top-5.
Sam Mars won the Pro Power Super Late Model dash and chose to start at the tail of the field, a move that would earn him hard charger honors in the 40-lap feature.
The Wisconsin driver charged from 25th-to-14th, claiming the $500 Rio Grande Waste Services Hard Charger Award. His crew also collected an additional $1,000, courtesy of the Low Voltage Solutions Hard Chargin’ Crew Award.
Blake Adams took the checkers in the Shocker Hitch X-Modifieds feature presented by Border Tire for the second consecutive night. He put on a show on Sunday evening, charging from sixth to first in the 20-lap event. Ken Schrader and Jake Smith rounded out the podium in the $1,000-to-win main event.
Cade Dillard initially appeared to secure his second checkered flag of the event but was disqualified during technical inspection for a muffler infraction. Tyler Wolff inherited the $2,000 victory, while Blake Adams and Jason Noll rounded out the podium. Dustin Sorensen, who had originally finished third, was also disqualified for a muffler infraction.
The finish:
Feature (40 Laps): 1. 6-Hudson O’Neal[4]; 2. 157-Mike Marlar[5]; 3. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 4. 58-Garrett Alberson[8]; 5. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 6. 74X-Ethan Dotson[10]; 7. 1-Tyler Erb[7]; 8. 19R-Ryan Gustin[3]; 9. 15D-Justin Duty[12]; 10. 49T-Jake Timm[9]; 11. B5-Brandon Sheppard[18]; 12. 19-Dustin Sorensen[14]; 13. 8-Dillon McCowan[16]; 14. 28-Sam Mars[25]; 15. 86-Kyle Beard[21]; 16. 15S-Clay Stuckey[17]; 17. 21F-Gunner Frank[23]; 18. 66-Eli Ross[22]; 19. 22*-Drake Troutman[6]; 20. 0-Jake O’Neil[13]; 21. 48-Billy Moyer Sr[20]; 22. 75A-Daniel Adam[11]; 23. 96-RC Whitwell[19]; 24. 9T-Tim Isenberg[24]; 25. 13-Bricen James[15]
