Oh My, it's O'Neill
The runner-up at the 2001 B&M Million Dollar Race,
Jeff O'Neill, has big plans for 2002 and beyond.
Story by Dale Wilson

Jeff O'Neill once wanted to follow in the footsteps of his uncle Charles Snyder and be a Pennsylvania state policeman, but racing changed all that. Now the soon-to-be 21 year-old is a professional bracket racer with many wins to his credit, and his future may lie in something race-related, maybe as a track owner some day, or ownership in a parts store.

His getting runner-up at the 2001 B&M Million Dollar Race at Atlanta Dragway may have helped in the decision-making process.

Perhaps you remember it all. Running Mullis Race Cars' Ed Richardson, a past NHRA world champion, in the final, O'Neill made it a strong go but got out-packaged on the top end. Both racers made the turnaround and came back up the track backwards. O'Neill pulled alongside Richardson and gave him the thumbs up, while Ed just smiled.

It was a race the kid from Pennsdale, Pennsylvania will never forget.

"They were shooting off fireworks and it was real exciting. I was sitting there thinking how amazing it was --- two years ago I was at a local track racing and thinking how awesome it would be to go to one of those big races, and here I am sitting in the final round and coming back down the track … it was incredible. My dad had a smile from ear to ear. Hopefully I get to do it again," O'Neill said

The Pennsdale, Pennsylvania, bracket racer, a pro only since the end of 2000., once had his hopes set on going to school, but a good season of racing changed all that. He was going to major in college in criminal justice, with hopes of being a state policeman. But the various wins at races from Beaver Springs Dragway to points north, south and west changed his mind. Plus father Richard, a retired mobile home manufacturing company owner and modular home businessman, had a little to do with that decision, too.

Even though Richard O'Neill played around the bracket game for only a short time, five years or so, young Jeff fondly remembers the times that dad would load up the whole family --- mom Doris and sister Melissa, and later, brothers Matt and Jason --- and head out to the track, often camping there overnight. Richard raced both a '69 Nova and a '94 Z 34 Lumina that ended up running 8.80s in the quarter-mile.

About the time that Richard was looking for something the whole family could enjoy as a racing experience, along came Jr. Dragsters. Jeff got one and quickly made a name for himself --- a name and the reputation that goes with it. He won five track championships during his Jr. days at Beaver Springs.

"We raced all over the country then," he said. "I remember going to Texas for the Jr. national championships, then to Indianapolis … we went all over the country east of the Mississippi River. Melissa too. I won six championships, and she won one. And I also won a couple of divisional events in Jr.'s."

His total wins in Jr.'s --- 72. Not a bad record to follow.

When he was 16, Richard bought Jeff a Super Pro car, an Ed Quay dragster, and at one of the first big races he went to, the President's Cup nationals at Maryland International Raceway in 1997, an IHRA race, he won Quick Rod. O'Neill was the youngest person ever to win an IHRA national event. He was 16 years and one week old. That race was memorable for another reason --- it was also the "youngest final" in IHRA Quick Rod competition. "I beat Bennie Ulmer Jr. of Orangeburg, South Carolina, in the final, and he was 17," O'Neill said.

He became a semi-pro racer, and capitalizing on the MIR win, the O'Neills hit the big money races hard, often with Melissa racing just for fun (She now has her own Race Tech dragster.) While he was still 16, Jeff won a Bill Mitchell/Computech bracket go in Virginia, again becoming the youngest racer to win one of those races. He then won a $20,000 race put on by good friend Tommy Stalba at Atco Raceway, and kept going. Last year, O'Neill made seven semi-final finishes, 12 quarter finals, five runners-up and got eight wins at races from the Mid Michigan Motorplex to Moroso Motorsports Park to others from the Carolinas to Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee.

Getting runner-up at the 2001 B&M Million sealed his reputation.

He was racing two of the family cars at the Million, two Undercover dragsters. He had both cars going into the sixth round, with about 20 other cars left. "I woke up that morning and I said to dad, 'I feel real good.' I was wide awake and excited, and really focused. Racing later that day, I was really concentrating real hard, and I knew what I had to do. Nothing bothered me, especially who I had to race. Consistency was the main part of it, and I was on the whole day," O'Neill said.

Just before he raced Richardson in the final, he went over to Ed and told him good luck. They didn't talk about the money split because it had earlier been split at 10 cars. O'Neill knew that Richardson, a past NHRA Super Comp world champion and a just-as-good bracket racer, was one of the best in the country, but it didn't bother him. "I knew I had to have my A-game, I knew what I had to do to do it," Jeff said

Ed was a little better than him, hitting a .502 tree and running one high against Jeff's .516 and a little high with some change on the end. That runner-up was worth $75,000 to the O'Neill family, while Richardson got $125,000. With other winnings at the race, including a best-winning package round, Jeff pocketed $85,000. Father Richard got most of it, and Jeff took out his percentage. "Dad foots all the bills to keep the truck going, the cars running. I gave some of the money to my mom for their anniversary," Jeff said. The O'Neills have been married for 32 years.

For 2002, the O'Neills have teamed up with former NHRA Super Gas star Danny Northrup of Pennsylvania. He is getting out of class racing and will race brackets almost exclusively. They will go to all the big ones, starting in February and ending in Florida in November, every week, and they will have three cars at every race and sometimes four if Melissa races. Their mounts will be three 2001 Undercover dragsters with 588 PAR/Scott Duggins Racing Engines from Spartanburg, South Carolina. They will travel in a 2001 Freightliner motorhome-style conversion truck with a 32-foot stacker trailer behind that can hold four dragsters, including Melissa's. "It's a family affair, with dad going most of the time. Mom comes to about 50 percent of the races, plus Melissa, and sometimes Matt and Jason. Matt has raced a little bit. My family really supports my racing," Jeff said.

"And for 2002 and beyond, I'll keep going as long as I am able to."

 

 

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