Devin Gilpin of Columbus scored the biggest win of his racing career Sept. 6 at Atomic Speedway in Chillicothe, Ohio, winning the $6,700 late model feature event.
Gilpin inherited the top spot on Lap 18 when race leader Devin Moran suffered a flat tire. Gilpin then pulled away despite several cautions to pick up the win.
Freddie Carpenter was second, followed by Jared Hawkins, Andy Bond and Moran.
“I think we hit on something right there,” said Gilpin, 29, a third-generation racer. “We’ve just been throwing stuff at it, and the car finally reacted to it. It took off real well. We haven’t raced as much as would have liked to. This car has been hit or miss. I’ve run good and won a couple of races. Hopefully, this will give us some momentum heading into the Jackson 100 in a few weeks.”
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The 41st Jackson 100 with its $15,000 prize is scheduled for Sept. 26 at Brownstown Speedway.
Gilpin’s car is owned by his grandfather, Don Fleetwood of Brownstown. The Rocket Chassis No. 1G is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by Ind-Sol-Tech, Jason Clarkson Logging, Freedom Fireworks, South Central Roofing, Dasco Race Supply, Tom Cat Performance and Accuforce Dynos and Testers.
Gilpin’s next local appearance will be Sept. 25 and 26 at Brownstown with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. For information, visit brownstownspeedway.com.
O’Neal wins on
birthday for local team
On the day he celebrated his 20th birthday, Hudson O’Neal drove to victory Sept. 5 at Portsmouth Raceway Park in Portsmouth, Ohio, taking the win in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series sanctioned Bob Miller Memorial. O’Neal of Martinsville drives for Craig and Shannon Sims of Hope.
O’Neal started eighth, grabbed the lead from Jimmy Owens on Lap 37 and then withstood a caution with one lap to go to become the 18th different winner this season. He notched his first win of 2020.
Owens finished second, followed by the series’ top rookie, Tanner English, Jared Hawkins and Shane Clanton.
Jonathan Davenport and Owens started on the front row with Owens taking the lead on the opening lap. Owens and Davenport ran 1-2 for the first 10 laps until Devin Moran moved into the second spot and started challenging Owens for the race lead.
Moran was pressuring Owens for the lead when he suffered a left rear flat tire with 32 laps scored. On the restart, Tim McCreadie moved into second, but a few laps later, he lost a left rear wheel heading down the backstretch.
O’Neal then became the new second-place runner. He made his move for the lead on Lap 37, passing Owens.
In Lucas Oil victory lane for the seventh time in his career, the former series Rookie of the Year was relieved and excited to get his inaugural win for his new team that started just last month.
“We were fortunate enough to win at Eldora last year on my birthday,” O’Neal said. “I knew I had a good race car coming into tonight.”
He thanked the Simses, his girlfriend, Tessa, and Dustin Nobbe for their help.
“It has been along seven or eight months,” he said. “I didn’t think I was ever going to do it again. That one late restart helped me. I was able to capitalize. It’s hard to lead these races, especially when it’s easier to run second and especially when you can pick a line out there. That’s what I wanted to do with Jimmy. I don’t think I had the best race car there. I just think I found a line that worked for me.”
The winner’s PCC Motorsports Rocket Chassis was powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and sponsored by Professional Concrete Cutting and Drilling, Tarpy Trucking, O’Neal’s Salvage, Bob and Tammy Burton, WR1 Sim Chassis, Roth Heating and Cooling and Slicker Graphics.
Completing the top 10 were Kyle Bronson, Jonathan Davenport, Josh Richards, Kody Evans and Tyler Bruening.
O’Neal and the PCC Motorsports team’s next local appearance will be Sept. 25 and 26 at Brownstown Speedway. O’Neal is the defending Jackson 100 champion.
This week in racing history
From 1970 at Brownstown Speedway, Jim Curry won a special Monday night race over Dennis Boknecht, Ira Bastin, Kenny Simpson and Luther Burton.
Also from 50 years ago tonight, at Brownstown, Teako Ray won the feature race over Kenny Simpson, John Warner, Gene Sutton and Dennis Boknecht.
From 1980 at Brownstown, Russ Petro won the late model feature over Kenny Simpson, Bubby James, Jim Elliott and Gerald Dixon. Steve Trabue won the hobby stock feature over Bobby Carrier Sr., Gary Barrow, Charlie Sentman and Tony Moore. Millard Moore took the street stock feature over Steve Niemoeller and Troy Burton.
From 2000 at Brownstown, Steve Barnett won the late model feature over Ernie Barrow, Doug Ault, Steven Godsey and Jim Curry. Randy Petro won the modified feature over Adam Sasser, John DeMoss, Alan Magner and Todd Gilpin. Bubba Woods won the bomber feature over Robert Walters, Ernie Niemoeller, Ray Godsey Jr. and Charlie Stevens Jr.
James Essex writes a motorsports notebook for The Tribune. Send comments to [email protected].