August 29th: Freedom Used Autos Night

Coons, Booten, C. Bailey, Chapman, McCallister, Workman, Swann, T. Bailey win Freedom Used Autos Night!

ONA, WV-It was a perfect, late summer night of racing as 79 cars filled the pit area to do battle in front of another great crowd on Saturday, August 29th for Freedom Used Autos Night at the historic Ona Speedway.

The first race to hit the track was the 30 lap Classic Car feature. Polesitter Jeff Taylor jumped to the early race lead with Will Hass and Corey Steinbrecher right behind Taylor in an intense, three car battle for the lead. You could throw a blanket over the top three during the races first three laps until trouble hit the track on lap four. Ethan Ramey, with an apparent stuck throttle, slammed the turn one guardrail hard in a very scary accident. As leader Taylor slowed for the caution, the field checked up behind him resulting in Taylor, Hass, Steinbrecher, and Brad Cooper all getting in in accident. All drivers were ok after the accident, but Ramey and Hass would not be able to continue on.

When the race resumed after an extended red flag for guardrail repair, Kenny McCallister jumped to the lead with Cam McKinney in second. McKinney was bound and determined to make the high side work, getting alongside of McCallister several times to battle side by side for the lead. McCallister and McKinney stayed nose to tail or side by side for literally the next 15 laps, with defending track champion Brad Cooper joining the mix. Cooper was able to make the pass on McKinney on lap 21 and set his sights on McCallister.

On lap 23, McKinney would get loose battling for third with Corey Steinbrecher and spun into Rob Morrison. The caution would fly the next lap for Morrison who slowed with mechanical issues after the wreck. McKinney would continue on. This setup a 6 lap dash to the checkers. On the restart, McCallister held off several challenges from Cooper to take this first win of the season by 0.410 seconds! Cooper finished second with Steinbrecher third, McKinney fourth, and Taylor in fifth.

The next race up was the 25 lap Sport Mod feature. Chad Bailey would jump to the lead from the pole with J. R. Webb quickly passing Marty Powers and move into second. Webb would get right up to the bumper of Bailey to set up what was an incredible bumper to bumper battle between the two for nearly the entire race. The two battled nose to tail lap after lap for the lead. On lap 20, as the two leaders came off of turn two, they would make contact with Bailey spinning. Webb was charged with the caution and Bailey got his spot back. On the restart, new second place runner Marty Powers stayed right on the bumper of Bailey. On the final lap, the two were nose to tail for the win in the final corner as Bailey would come across the checkers to win in his first race out this season by 0.343 seconds! Powers finished second with Chris Jividen third, J. R. Webb fourth, and Chris Smith fifth.

Drama occurred before the green flag flew in the night’s 25 lap Late Model feature as fast qualifier Jake Keaton was on track on the pace laps, but pulled off before the green flag flew. On the start, Brad Coons stormed into the lead and opened up a 2 second lead over a great battle for second between Kenny Parsons and Jacob Bell. Parsons and Bell battled lap after lap until lap 21 when Bell got a run under Parsons to battle side by side for second. Bell was able to make the pass, but as soon as the pass was made, slowed with mechanical issues and was done for the night. Coons was able to lead every lap and take his second win of the season by 1.949 seconds! Parsons finished second with Joe Fihe third, Bobby Fihe fourth, and Bell in fifth.

Donna Bush and Thomas Bailey battled side by side for the lead in the opening lap of the night’s 20 lap Crazy Compact feature. Bailey would take the lead while the battle raged for second. Fourth place starter Jimmy McElfresh was able to move into second with Lexi Jividen moving around Bush to get into third. Bailey had established a 1.5 second lead, but McElfresh was cutting into it each lap. On lap 16, a caution flew to setup a 4 lap dash for the checkers. On the restart, Bailey was able to hold off charges by McElfresh to remain perfect on the season and win his fifth feature! McElfresh finished in second, 0.605 seconds back, with Jividen in third, Evan Proctor fourth, and Dustin Higginbotham fifth.

Points leader Brett Carey stormed to the lead to start the nights 30 lap Hobby Stock feature. Carey opened his lead up to 1.5 seconds over second place runner Mike Christy in the races early stages. By lap 10, Christy starting cutting into Carey’s lead drastically and within a few laps was right on his bumper. Coming to complete lap 14, Christy made the pass on Carey to take the lead! Christy then jumped out to a lead of over one second.

Just like Christy was able to do on Carey, Carey began reeling in Christy and by lap 21 was right on Christy’s bumper. On lap 22, off of turn two the two made contact battling for the lead with Christy spinning wildly through the infield grass. Both drivers were charged with the caution and went to the tail. On the restart, new race leader Kenny Chapman jumped out to the lead while Carey was immediately putting pressure on new second place runner Chris Jividen.

Carey was able to make the pass on Jividen and set his sights on Chapman. Carey kept catching Chapman as coming to the white flag Carey was right on Chapmans bumper! The two battled nose to tail through turns one and two and down the backstretch! Into turn three, Carey was still right on Chapmans bumper. Off of turn four, the two drag raced to the checkers with Chapman taking his first win of the season by 0.289 seconds! Carey finished second with Jividen third, Christy fourth, and Anthony Thompson fifth.

Polesitter Steve Swann quickly jumped out to a big lead in the night’s Legends Car feature with Scott Martin in second. With Swann up front, sixth place starter Crockett Reed, in his first ever race, charged through the pack and got right on the bumper of Martin to battle for second. The two battled for several laps with Reed making the pass on lap 15. Nobody would be able to touch Swann up front as he came across the checkers to win his second feature in a row! Reed finished second with Scott Martin third, Tyler Martin fourth, and Tommy Rowe fifth.

Points leader Michael Hughart jumped to the lead in the night’s 30 lap Contempo Trophy & Award U Car feature with Keith Watson in second. The field was full of hard chargers in the opening laps with sixth place starter Joe Workman moving into second, 12th place starter Tim Cassidy moving into sixth, and last place starter Stephen Kuhn right behind Cassidy in seventh. The first caution of the race fell on lap 10, putting hard charging Workman right beside Hughart.

On the restart, Hughart would maintain the lead with Workman right on his bumper. The two battled nose to tail for the lead for several laps with Workman making the pass on lap 16 to take the lead. Workman then extended his lead with the battle on for second between Watson and Hughart. Watson was able to make the pass for second on lap 22 and set his sights on Workman. Workman would lead the remaining laps and come across the checkers to win his first feature of the season by 0.920 seconds! Watson finished in second with Kenny Fletcher third, Stephen Kuhn fourth, and David Adkins fifth.

The final race of the night was the 30 lap Modified feature that saw 3 former Mountaineer 100 winners in the starting field. One of those former Mountaineer 100 winners, Jamie Womack, jumped to the lead at the start with Andy Booten in second. Booten was able to stick within a second of Womack for most of the first third of the race, but as the race neared its halfway mark, Booten started to reel in Womack. By the halfway mark, Booten was right behind Womack and put his machine on the high side. Booten got alongside Womack as the two battled side by side for the lead! The two battled side by side for two laps with Booten able to complete the high side pass to take the lead on lap 17.

Booten would then extend his lead with Womack settling in second, several seconds ahead of the third place battle. The third place battle was a good one between Greg Chandler and Jeremy Cooper as they battled bumper to bumper. With around 5 laps to go, Chandler would get loose off of turn four, giving Cooper no choice but to check up, with fifth place runner Josh Artis going around both of them on the frontstretch to move into third. Booten would lead the remaining laps to take this third win of the season by 3.576 seconds! Womack finished second with Artis third, Cooper fourth, and Chandler fifth. JR Webb was the 

 hard charger.

Up next at Ona Speedway will be the biggest racing weekend at the track in well over 20 years with the Yes Chevrolet & Yes Ford Mountaineer 100 presented by Geer Brothers Body Shop on Friday, September 11th and Saturday, September 12th. Over $30,000 in purse money will be paid out over the course of the 2 days. Friday’s show will feature special races for the Sport Mods, Hobby Stock, Classic Car, and Crazy Compact division. Saturday’s show will feature the 100 lap Mountaineer 100 for the Modifieds presented by Burkett-Nester Race Cars, JR’s Frame & Body, and Ferrell Automotive, the Mountain Climber 50 for the CRS Super Trucks, the Keaton’s Collision Center 50 for Late Models, a U Car special, and a Legends Car special. There will be open practice during the day both days as well as on Thursday, September 10th from 4:00 pm-dark.

Friday’s races will start at 7:00 pm with Saturday’s races starting at 6:30 pm. Friday’s general admission prices are $10 (ages 15 and up), $5 (ages 11-14), and free (ages 10 and under). Friday’s pit pass prices are $30 (ages 15 and up), $15 (ages 11-14), and free (ages 10 and under). Saturday’s general admission prices are $15 (ages 15 and up), $10 (ages 11-14), and free (ages 10 and under). Saturday’s pit pass prices are $35 (ages 15 and up), $20 (ages 11-14), and free (ages 10 and under).

Be sure to follow Ona Speedway on Facebook for daily postings about the Yes Chevrolet & Yes Ford Mountaineer 100 presented by Geer Brothers Body Shop weekend. You can also visit us online at www.onaspeedway.com.

Complete Results

Late Models
Fast Qualifier-Jake Keaton, 18.765
25 lap Feature-Brad Coons, Kenny Parsons, Joe Fihe, Bobby Fihe, Jacob Bell, Rob Dunlap, Jake Keaton
Car Count-7

Modifieds
Fast Qualifier-Greg Chandler, 18.470
30 lap Feature-Andy Booten, Jamie Womack, Josh Artis, Jeremy Cooper, Greg Chandler, J. R. Webb, Jason Garrett, Marty Powers, Steve Hass (DNS: Jake Keaton)
Car Count-10

Sport Mods
Fast Qualifier-J. R. Webb, 18.795
25 lap Feature-Chad Bailey, Marty Powers, Chris Jividen, J. R. Webb, Chris Smith, Marty Lamm, Justin Shanteau
Car Count-7

Hobby Stocks
Fast Qualifier-Brett Carey, 19.657
30 lap Feature-Kenny Chapman, Brett Carey, Chris Jividen, Mike Christy, Anthony Thompson, Clinton Thompson, Clark Perry, Steve Hursey (DNS: James Jones)
Car Count-9

Classic Cars
Fast Qualifier-Jeff Taylor, 20.375
30 lap Feature-Kenny McCallister, Brad Cooper, Corey Steinbrecher, Cam McKinney, Jeff Taylor, Rob Morrison, Will Hass, Ethan Ramey (DNS: Shawn Kauffer)
Car Count-9

Contempo Trophy & Award U Cars
Fast Qualifier-Joe Workman, 20.560
30 lap Feature-Joe Workman, Keith Watson, Kenny Fletcher, Stephen Kuhn, David Adkins, Reuben Fetty, Evan Adkins, Michael Hughart, Tim Cassidy, Dusty Harding, Danny Keyser, Marcus Esch, Chris Wheeler
Car Count-13

Legends Cars
Fast Qualifier-Steve Swann, 19.905
20 lap Feature-Steve Swann, Crockett Reed, Scott Martin, Tyler Martin, Tommy Rowe, Wylie Jeffrey, Brad Bowen, Will Geer, Cameron Gue (DNS: Chad Woodrum, Jeremy Fisher)
Car Count-11

Crazy Compacts
Fast Qualifier-Jimmy McElfresh
20 lap Feature-Thomas Bailey, Jimmy McElfresh, Lexi Jividen, Evan Proctor, Dustin Higginbotham, Donna Bush, Samantha Watson, James Jones, Preston Hysell, Stacy Watson, Bryan Temple, Tyler Bailey, James Saylor
Car Count-13