Eldora Speedway
MasterSbilt house car program reaches zenith
By Todd Turner
DirtonDirt.com managing editor
Well-wishers congratulate Tader Masters of MasterSbilt Race Cars. (DirtonDirt.com)
ROSSBURG, Ohio (June 11) — Clearly at the top of the list of Dirt Late Model racers without one of the sport's crown jewels, Don O'Neal's dogged pursuit of a signature victory became an albatross the past few seasons.
The 46-year-old driver from Martinsville, Ind., led most of 2010's Dart Show-Me 100 at Lucas Oil Speedway but settled for second. He was in command most of last season's Hillbilly 100 at West Virginia Motor but finished fourth. Again at Memorial Day weekend's Show-Me he led most of the way in Wheatland, Mo., only to fade to sixth in the final laps. | Complete Dream XVII coverage
And in the most bitter loss, the MasterSbilt house car driver led 76 laps of last year's North-South 100 at Florence (Ky.) Speedway before losing the lead at the white flag and ending up with a runner-up finish to Jimmy Mars that left O'Neal slack-jawed in disbelief.
Car owner Tader Masters couldn't help but hear the critics of the team that follows the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series.
"At the start of the year we gave a few races away, and I think everybody expected, 'Well, their car, or Don, isn't good enough to get it done in a 100-lapper," Masters said.
No one's saying that after Saturday's Dream XVII at Eldora Speedway.
Capturing the most lucrative 100-lapper in the sport, O'Neal marched from his 12th starting spot to the front, wrestling the point from race-long leader Billy Moyer on the 87th lap and finally breaking through for a crown jewel.
"The guy showed tonight he's a 100-lap racer," a proud Masters said while supporters lingered around the yellow No. 71 car in victory lane at the historic half-mile oval.
"I drove the wheels off this thing for 100 laps and finally we got it done at the end," said O'Neal, whose upraised arm as he took the checkers was greeted by a huge roar from the Eldora crowd. "It's about time."
Even beaten competitors were glad to see O'Neal get the monkey off his back on one of dirt racing's biggest stages.
"That was good for him, because he'd been getting told he couldn't win 100-lappers," said fifth-place finisher Eddie Carrier Jr. "I guess he showed 'em tonight."
O'Neal's Late Model career of more than 20 years has seen hundreds of victories and hundreds of thousands of dollars in purse money, but now he's got an questioned crown jewel that gives MasterSbilt the biggest-ever victory for the house car based in Crothersville, Ind.
"There's been a lot of other guys who've won the World (100) and the Dream and a lot of the big races (driving MasterSbilts), but they haven't really been our cars out of our shop. Well, when we take this one home, it belongs to us," Tader Masters said. "So it's a whole lot different win. Which, don't get me wrong, I like to see the other guys race our cars, run good and win, but there's nothing like carrying that trophy home to Crothersville, I'll tell you that."
O'Neal is glad for his three-year connection with a MasterSbilt team that has rejuvenated his career after a few seasons of bouncing around from team to team and enjoying a dropoff in the success of 10 years ago, when he regularly reeled off 20-victory seasons.
But even though his yellow MasterSbilt put O'Neal back on track, the team couldn't dial in the right combination for the sport's biggest victories. Masters says it's been partly the team's inability to provide the best setups for O'Neal, and partly that the driver's throttle-stomping charges wore tires out too quickly in long-distance events.
"We couldn't get a combination that was good for him to drive. It's a learning curve like anything," Masters said. "A lot of 'em was our fault too, because we didn't have the car where it needed to be for him to finish the race.
Regarding tire management, "I think he was so aggressive, and wanted to win so bad, is what it was," Masters added. "And now I think he's matured now ... and it's a whole lot easier."
Crew member Cody Mahoney admitted some of the near-misses in crown jewel events were "real tough on everybody" with the team. "When I started helping him back a year ago, he would just keep burning those tires up, burning them up, and we wouldn't have enough left for the end of the race," he said.
A key moment for the team came at Memorial Day weekend's Show-Me 100 when O'Neal was in control late in the race before losing the lead to eventual winner Jimmy Owens amid lapped traffic. Instead of battling back, O'Neal faded out of the top five in a major disappointment.
"I think the big turnaround when we gave that race away at Wheatland," Masters said. "We all came to the consensus that, 'O'Neal, you're going to have to maintain and take care of them tires.' A little bit of it was setup, and a little bit of it was knowledge in working together on what we needed to do."
O'Neal built momentum the previous Saturday with a victory at Florence's Ralph Latham Memorial — holding off Owens in a 50-lapper — and came to Eldora determined to grab a major-race victory that had eluded him.
"I knew we'd eventually get it," Masters said. "He did a heckuva job driving tonight.
"I knew he was going to get it done. Whether he stayed in front of him, I didn't know. But I knew he was going to lead it, I knew he was going to lead the race."
Still standing in victory lane Masters continued to soak up the victory, confident the team would grab another crown jewel sooner rather than later.
"If you get one," Masters said, "it's easier to get another one."
