CONCORD, N.C. — Jonathan Davenport and Hudson O’Neal have been the men to beat throughout the 2025 edition of World of Outlaws World Finals, so it was only fitting that the finale came down to a one-on-one duel between them.
After a back-and-forth battle through traffic in the closing stages of the 50-lapper, Davenport came out on top for his second win in as many nights at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, and his third win of the year with the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision.
“We love coming to Charlotte,” Davenport said following his eighth victory at the facility, breaking a tie with Jimmy Owens for the most all-time. “This is almost a home race for me now. This is about the closest I get to race to the house. Just really excited, and man, that was a lot of fun.”
As soon as the green flag dropped, Davenport immediately began to set sail, and it looked like the field was in for their second beatdown from “Superman” in as many nights. But second-starting O’Neal never let him get too far out of reach, and once traffic came into play, the race was on.
With 32 laps on the board, Davenport got company entering Turn 3 when O’Neal stuck his nose to the inside. The Rumley No. 6 found some grip on the low lane and used it to get side-by-side with Davenport down the frontstretch, clearing him into Turn 1.
However, a poor exit off Turn 2 allowed Davenport to get right back on O’Neal’s outside, but the lap car of Bobby Pierce impeded Davenport’s progress through the middle.
That forced Davenport to formulate a new plan, and he immediately switched to the low lane O’Neal had been running to power off Turn 2 and slide back in front. That stint out front only lasted one straightaway, as O’Neal quickly threw a short slider in Turn 2 to grab the lead back.
Time was running out for the No. 49 to get back in front, and with six laps left, a strong run off Turn 4 put Davenport in position to go to O’Neal’s inside and take the lead back. That turned out to be the winning move, as Davenport held on the rest of the way to take the checkers.
“I just kind of got stalled out behind those lap cars,” Davenport said. “I could hear somebody under me, and finally I saw Hudson there. He got by me, and I’m like, ‘Well, just try to stay calm here, try to stay patient with him if I could.’ I saw he was pushing it pretty hard through the lap cars and everything. He got tailed out a couple times off of four here, so I knew that got his tires hot. Gave me a great opportunity, and we were just playing chess through the lap cars there from then on.”
O’Neal held on for second, while Drake Troutman finished third for his third podium of the weekend to put an exclamation point on his MD3 Rookie of the Year campaign.
Pierce’s weekend at Charlotte didn’t go to plan with finishes of 12th, 16th and 23rd, but nevertheless, it ended with his coronation as the 2025 World of Outlaws champion.
“It feels just awesome,” Pierce said. “We worked very hard this year, it’s been a long year. I think this weekend’s felt longer than the year has though. Can’t thank my team enough and everybody that supports me. Sponsors, fans, my family, crew, friends, just everybody that helps out. Just a long season, we got her done.”
The inaugural Coltman Farms Racing Cup was also awarded at World Finals to Nick Hoffman, who picked up two wins and nine top fives in the 14 Cup races over the course of the year. Hoffman took home $7,500 and a one-of-a-kind safe, while Pierce collected $2,500 for his runner-up efforts.
The finish:
Feature (50 Laps): 1. 49D-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 2. 6-Hudson O’Neal[1]; 3. 22*-Drake Troutman[4]; 4. 1-Brandon Sheppard[3]; 5. 1T-Tyler Erb[6]; 6. 9-Nick Hoffman[5]; 7. 76-Brandon Overton[10]; 8. 44-Chris Madden[8]; 9. 9M-Tim McCreadie[12]; 10. 2-Cody Overton[21]; 11. 19-Dustin Sorensen[11]; 12. 58-Daulton Wilson[18]; 13. 19R-Ryan Gustin[25]; 14. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[7]; 15. 20-Jimmy Owens[20]; 16. 3S-Brian Shirley[14]; 17. 96-Tanner English[26]; 18. 74X-Ethan Dotson[27]; 19. 22-Chris Ferguson[22]; 20. 23-Beckham Malone[13]; 21. 157-Mike Marlar[19]; 22. 16-Ben Watkins[24]; 23. 32-Bobby Pierce[15]; 24. 09-Michael Leach[17]; 25. 114-Jordan Koehler[23]; 26. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[29]; 27. 49-Jake Timm[28]; 28. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[9]; 29. 17M-Dale McDowell[16]
