RPW Exclusive: New Deal, New Winner; Hudson O’Neal Wins Night #2 of Sunshine Nationals
Column By: JACOB DOVE / RPW – BARBERVILLE, FL – The DIRTcar Sunshine Nationals put on another great show Friday night at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Florida. Coming off Thursday’s victory, Chris Madden set his sights on another $12,000 to win payday. If you asked many of the race fans or crew members, majority would say that Madden and the Infinity by Wells house car team were the odds on favorite. However, that was until “The New Deal” was back in full force after a strong start in 2026.
Martinsville, Indiana’s Hudson O’Neal had a rough and unfortunate Thursday night after shredding a right rear tire. The driver of the K&L Rumley Enterprises #6 Longhorn Chassis machine quickly turned that bad luck around by qualifying 4th, winning his heat race, starting 2nd outside of Brandon Overton, and holding on to win the 35 lap A-main feature. It wasn’t an easy task after a late race charge by Tyler Erb made it very interesting with only a couple of laps left. Keep an eye on the Hudson O’Neal and Kevin Rumley pairing as they continue to show speed and consistency before O’Neal returns to his SSI Motorsports #71 ride.
Tyler Erb out of New Waverly, Texas once again flexed his muscles Friday night as a full time World of Outlaws points contender in his Best Performance Motorsports machine. “Terbo” started out his night by qualifying 2nd in his group, winning his heat race, and going 4th to almost winning before ultimately finishing 2nd behind O’Neal. Erb showed he was capable of competing for the win and it will be interesting to see if he can continue these consistent runs up front.
Charging from 11th to 3rd in the 35 lap feature was Watertown, New York’s Tim McCreadie who had to be the biggest surprise of the night. After struggling on Thursday, some may have written off “T-Mac” as one of the favorites to win. However, never count out the 51 year old veteran driver. The Briggs Transport #9M team rolled out a great car that just needed a little more speed in qualifying that would’ve set them up better for the rest of the night. McCreadie had a very strong ending to his 2025 racing season and we expect to see that carry over into 2026.
The good, the bad, and the ugly. Some other notable events that took place revolved around the #32 car of Bobby Pierce. The good part was that Pierce was able to hard charge 23rd to 10th improving 13 spots in the feature. The bad was him having to take a provisional to get into the show. The ugly was the on-track incident between himself and Cory Hedgecock that took place in Last Chance Showdown 1. With the aggressive maneuvers that the #79 was making, it seemed to rub Pierce the wrong way. It resulted in Hedgecock facing the wrong way in Turn 3. After some choice words between the duo, it will be intriguing to see if any feuds carry into the final night of the Sunshine Nationals.
