PORT ROYAL, Pa. — Hudson O'Neal was good enough Thursday at Port Royal Speedway to capture the $10,000 Rumble by the River opener. And good enough to survive a miscue when he got into the wall with three laps remaining.

Thanking his Double Down Motorsports crew in victory lane, the 20-year-old Martinsville, Ind., driver figures he might owe them one after his fifth Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory of the season.

"We've got a little bit of work to do to the spoiler — they'll probably make me fix that — but that's no big deal, I'm more than happy," a smiling O'Neal said in victory lane. "I just can't tell you how happy I am for these guys."

O'Neal led all but the first of 30 laps in the first of three nights of Lucas Oil action at the half-mile oval, staying safely ahead of polesitter and fellow front-row starter Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., throughout the main event.

Winning back-to-back series races for the first time in his career — O'Neal earned $40,000 Saturday at Batesville (Ark.) Motor Speedway's Comp Cams Topless 100 — he took the checkers 0.961 of a second ahead of Davenport, who also finished second at Batesville.

Ricky Thornton Jr. of Chandler, Ariz., was third followed by Shane Clanton of Zebulon, Ga., and 16th-starting Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., the Lucas Oil tour's points leader.

Davenport edged O'Neal at the line to lead the first lap, but O'Neal took control when Davenport got too high between turns one and two on the second circuit. O'Neal kept Davenport in check the rest of the way, including after a lap-22 restart when Davenport tried to slide under him in turn two.

O'Neal's only real scare came just before a lap-28 caution for debris, but he survived without incident.

"I made a huge mistake getting off into (turn) one before that last caution and planted it into the wall. I didn't get the right front, but I got the right rear pretty hard," O'Neal said. "I knew we were knocking the spoilers of 'em, I just didn't know how much. Once I stopped down there to get some sheetmetal pulled in (turn) four, I seen almost everybody's was knocked out, so that made me feel a little better about the situation."

O'Neal gave "a big shoutout to my guys. They've been working hard and they haven't gave up, and at times, I feel like they have a better mindset than I do, and that's what it's all about. I'm so happy I can deliver this for 'em and take home a little bit of money back to East Tennessee."

His 12th career series victory continues to build confidence in his first season in his Roger Sellers-owned ride.

"Any time you can go to a place like Batesville and win, and then come here, which is a place totally different, banking and size, just everything about it's completely different. To be able to win here, too, gives us a huge confidence," O'Neal said. "Maybe we found something that can propel us here at the end of the year. We just gotta keep winning races. The only thing we can ask is to be competitive and we have been recently. We're very, very fortunate to have this opportunity, and blessed to be able to run on the podium consistently."

Davenport knew he had his hands full when O'Neal took the early lead.

"I just need to get the lead there. I knew he'd be really good in clean air. That top was probably was not going to leave us all night. It finally started slowing down the last five laps where I could almost run with him through the middle in (turns) three and four, but I didn't have nothing through one and two," Davenport said. "But congratulations to him. He only messed up one time and it was when I was moving around and I wasn't close enough to him to capitalize."

Davenport made up a little ground on McCreadie in the title chase but fell shy of his series-leading seventh victory.

"If we just keep staying consistent and finishing, we'll get us another win," Davenport said, wishing two cautions in the final nine laps hadn't erased lapped traffic as he chased O'Neal. "I throwed another slider, but I know I wasn't close enough to him the caution before last. But no, we was finally and getting racy and getting a little dicey in lapped traffic, and I'd like to to have raced that out."

Three cautions slowed the action. Rick Eckert slowed with a flat right-rear tire on the 13th lap, fifth-running Chris Ferguson slowed on the 22nd lap and the final yellow appeared on lap 28 for debris.

The Rumble by the River continues Friday with a $12,000-to-win program followed by Saturday's finale of $30,000-to-win at the half-mile oval.

Notes: O'Neal's five 2021 victories have come in five states. ... Port Royal marked his first series victory in Pennsylvania. ... Twenty-one drivers completed 30 laps. ... Kyle Bronson of Brandon, Fla., started 23rd and finished 11th in a backup car. ... Chad Julius of York, Pa., rolled over in turn two during heat action. His left hand was sore but he was otherwise OK.

Feature lineup

Row 1: Jonathan Davenport, Hudson O’Neal
Row 2: Mike Marlar, Shane Clanton
Row 3: Kyle Hardy, Ricky Thornton Jr.
Row 4: Jason Covert, Spencer Hughes
Row 5: Michael Norris, Chris Ferguson
Row 6: Gregg Satterlee, Tyler Erb
Row 7: Colton Flinner, Dan Stone
Row 8: Jeff Rine, Tim McCreadie
Row 9: Andy Haus, Jimmy Owens
Row 10: Austin Berry, Stormy Scott
Row 11: Rick Eckert, Johnny Scott
Row 12: Kyle Bronson, Josh Richards
Row 13: Earl Pearson Jr., Matt Cosner
Row 14: Dylan Yoder

Consolation results

(10 laps; top three transfer)

First consolation: Andy Haus, Austin Berry, Rick Eckert, Tyler Bare, Gary Stuhler, Dillan Stake, Tim Smith Jr., Matt Cosner, Jason Miller, Chris Casner, Logan Zarin, Earl Pearson Jr. (DNS) Shaun Jones.

Second consolation: Jimmy Owens, Stormy Scott, Johnny Scott, Josh Richards, Ross Robinson, Michael Brown, Dale Hollidge, Kyle Bronson, Dylan Yoder, Mike Lupfer, Deshawn Gingerich, Kyle Lee (DNS) Chad Julius, Brian Booze.

Heat race results

(Eight laps; top four transfer)

First heat: Jonathan Davenport, Kyle Hardy, Michael Norris, Colton Flinner, Andy Haus, Tim Smith Jr., Matt Cosner, Earl Pearson Jr., Dillan Stake, Logan Zarin. Scratched: Shaun Jones.

Second heat: Mike Marlar, Jason Covert, Gregg Satterlee, Jeff Rine, Austin Berry, Tyler Bare, Rick Eckert, Gary Stuhler, Jason Miller, Chris Casner.

Third heat: Hudson O’Neal, Ricky Thornton Jr., Chris Ferguson, Dan Stone, Jimmy Owens, Josh Richards, Johnny Scott, Ross Robinson, Dylan Yoder, Chad Julius. Scratched: Brian Booze.

Fourth heat: Shane Clanton, Spencer Hughes, Tyler Erb, Tim McCreadie, Stormy Scott, Dale Hollidge, Michael Brown, Mike Lupfer, Kyle Lee, DeShawn Gingerish, Kyle Bronson.

Time trials

First group

1. Jonathan Davenport (49), Blairsville, Ga., 18.879
2. Austin Berry (86B), South Mifflin, Pa., 18.958
3. Colton Flinner (48), Allison Park, Pa., 19.067
4. Mike Marlar (157), Winfield, Tenn., 19.193
5. Michael Norris (72), Sarver, Pa., 19.256
6. Jason Covert (72), York Haven, Pa., 19.286
7. Tim Smith Jr. (39T), Long Hollow, Pa., 19.287
8. Tyler Bare (43A), Rockbridge Baths, Va., 19.304
9. Kyle Hardy (45), Stephens City, Va., 19.377
10. Rick Eckert (0E), York, Pa., 19.381`
11. Andy Haus (76), Hamburg, Pa., 19.399
12. Jeff Rine (2J), Danville, Pa., 19.571
13. Logan Zarin (1z), Moon Township, Pa., 19.579
14. Gregg Satterlee (22), Indiana, Pa., 19.630
15. Matt Cosner (66C), Ridgeley, W.Va., 19.765
16. Gary Stuhler (4s), Greencastle, Pa., 19.768
17. Dillan Stake (D19), Mapleton, Pa., 19.801
18. Jason Miller (94), Winchester, Va., 19.924
19. Earl Pearson Jr. (1), Jacksonville, Fla., 20.061
20. Chris Casner (C33), Mifflintown, Pa., 20.104
21. Shaun Jones (32J), Shermans Dale, Pa., 20.279

Second group   

1. Jimmy Owens (20), Newport, Tenn., 18.546
2. Tim McCreadie (39), Watertown, N.Y., 18.748
3. Hudson O’Neal (71), Martinsville, Ind., 18.761
4. Spencer Hughes (11H), Meridian, Miss., 18.783
5. Ricky Thornton Jr. (20rt), Chandler, Ariz., 18.981
6. Shane Clanton (25), Zebulon, Ga., 19.025
7. Chris Ferguson (22), Mount Holly, N.C., 19.171
8. Kyle Bronson (40B), Brandon, Fla., 19.185
9. Dan Stone (2), Thompson, Pa., 19.246
10. Tyler Erb (1), New Waverly, Texas, 19.317
11. Johnny Scott (1st), Las Cruces, N.M., 19.408
12. Dale Hollidge (0), Mechanicsville, Md., 19.420
13. Josh Richards (14), Shinnston, W.Va., 19.426
14. Michael Brown (24D), Lancaster, S.C., 19.463
15. Dylan Yoder (24), Selinsgrove, Pa., 19.628
16. Kyle Lee (2T), Mercersburg, Pa., 19.723
17. Brian Booze (11B), Greencastle, Pa., 19.779
18. Stormy Scott (2), Las Cruces, N.M., 19.851
19. Ross Robinson (7R), Georgetown, Del., 19.910
20. Mike Lupfer (06), Shermans Dale, Pa., 19.934
21. Chad Julius (59), York, Pa., 20.135
22. DeShawn Gingerich (0g), Dover, Pa., 20.576

Thursday's schedule

3:30 p.m. - Pit gates closed
4 p.m. - Pit gate reopens
4 p.m. - General admission gate opens
6 p.m. - Drivers’ meeting
6:30 p.m. - On-track activity
- Super Late Model hot laps
- Limited Late Model hot laps
- Super Late Model time trials
Opening ceremonies
- Super Late Models heats (8 laps)
- Limited Late Model heats (8 laps)
- Super Late Model consolations (10 laps)
- Limited Late Model consolations (10 laps)
- Super Late Model feature (30 laps)
- Limited Late Model feature (25 laps)