October 17th: K&J Demolition Season Championships

Runyon, Webb, France, Carey, Hass, Watson, Graley, Bailey win K&J Demolition Season Championships!

ONA, WV-The 2020 season at the Ona Speedway ended in a big way on Saturday, October 17th with the K&J Demolition & Excavation Season Championship races. 81 race cars from three different states jammed the pit area on a night that would crown 8 new season champions.

The night started with the 20 lap Sport Mod feature. Marty Powers clinched the track championship by starting the feature event. In the feature, Brandon France jumped out to the early race lead with Powers in second. Powers stayed right on France’s bumper during the first 15 laps of the race, trying desperately to find a way to get around France in an intense battle for the lead. During the races final 5 laps, France pulled away to come across the checkers and take his first career Ona Speedway win! Powers finished second with Chris Smith in third.

The most dramatic race of the night was the 20 lap Legends Car feature. Cameron Gue came into the season finale with a slim 3 point lead over Scott Martin. With Gue holding the tiebreaker, Martin would have to finish four spots ahead of Gue to win the championship. When the race started, Mark Bias took the lead with Jerry Graley quickly moving into the second position. On lap 3, Graley passed Bias to take the race lead as Bias did not give up and stayed right on his bumper.

During the first half of the race, Scott Martin ran consistently in the fourth position and held the championship lead. On lap 11, drama occurred that effected the championship as Crockett Reed and Newton Moore spun in turn’s one and two. The spots gained from the accident allowed Gue to take the points lead back. On lap 14, major drama occurred as an accident collected the championship leader Gue! The right front was severely damaged and Gue had to go into the pits. The Greg Chandler Motorsports Team worked quickly and was able to get Gue’s car repaired and back in the race, keeping his championship hopes alive.

On the restart, Graley continued to lead with Bias in second, Tyler Martin third, and Scott Martin fourth. Gue restarted in 8th, giving Martin the five point spread he needed to win the championship the way they ran. On lap 16, Scott Martin was passed by Tyler Martin, moving Scott into the fourth spot, narrowing his point spread now to where if Gue passed one more car, Gue would take back over the points lead.

With Gue putting a tremendous amount of pressure on Wylie Jeffrey to get the spot needed to take back the championship, Tyler Martin caught Mark Bias in the battle for second. With only 2 laps to go, Tyler Martin and Mark Bias made contact in turns 3 and 4 with Tyler Martin having to pull off with damage. When Tyler Martin pulled off, it allowed Gue to make up the one position needed to regain the championship points lead over Scott Martin! Gue was able to get by Jeffrey as well to now have a 2 point spread.

When the checkered flag flew, Graley came across the line to take his first win of the season by less than a second over Bias in second, Scott Martin third, Crockett Reed fourth, and Gue in fifth. Gue, the 21 year old rookie, claimed the track championship by one point!

Drama occurred in the championship battle early on in the 25 lap Classic Car feature. Brad Cooper and Cam McKinney came into the finale tied for the championship lead. On the initial start, the two made contact into turn one with both spinning around. Track rules state any caution on the first lap the cars all get their spots back and it is a complete restart. When the race restarted, Hass jumped to the race lead while McKinney and Cooper battled for second with McKinney making the pass.

As the laps went on, Hass increased his lead up front and McKinney increased his gap on Cooper. As the checkered flag flew, Hass took his fourth win of the season while McKinney finished second and claimed the track championship! Corey Steinbrecher finished third with Kenny McCallister fourth and Cooper in fifth.

Kenny Fletcher jumped to the lead in the 30 lap Contempo Trophy & Award U Car feature as championship drama occurred early on when second place points runner Michael Hughart pulled off with mechanical problems on lap one. This clinched the track championship for Keith Watson.

During the feature, Watson moved his way through the field and quickly into second where he put pressure on Fletcher in a great battle for the lead. Watson made the pass for the lead on Fletcher on lap 15 to lead the remaining laps and take his fourth win of the season! Fletcher finished second with Reuben Fetty third, Kyle Snodgrass fourth, and Tim Cassidy fifth.

The Late Model division also saw a great championship battle as Kenny Parsons and Joe Fihe came into the race tied for the championship. When the race started, former ARCA/CRA Super Series Champion Logan Runyon jumped to the race lead with Jake Keaton on his bumper in second. Parsons settled into the fourth position with Joe Fihe on his bumper in fifth. For the next 15 laps, Parsons and Fihe went to war battling for the championship in a close bumper to bumper battle!

On lap 18, drama occurred as Parsons spun! This put Fihe in position to win the championship. With only 5 cars on the lead lap, Parsons restarted a position behind Fihe. On the restart, Parsons was able to pass FIhe in a side by side battle and reclaim the championship battle. Fihe wasn’t going away though as he stayed right on Parsons bumper! As the race reached its closing laps, Parsons started to pull away from Fihe and came across the checkers to win the championship! Up front, Logan Runyon came to the checkers to take his second win of the season by 1.068 seconds over Jake Keaton in second, Brad Coons in third, Parsons fourth, and Fihe fifth.

Brett Carey came into the Hobby Stock feature with a slim three point lead over Kenny Chapman. Carey did everything he was supposed to do in the early stages, jumping to the early race lead. Carey had a hornet’s nest behind him though with Clinton Thompson and J. R. Webb as it was a three car battle for the lead! You could put a blanket over the top three as they thrilled the large crowd in attendance in an intense battle for the lead. As the race reached it’s final 10 laps, Carey started to pull away and came across the checkers to win the race and the championship! Thompson finished second with Webb third, Kenny Chapman fourth, and James Jones fifth.

Thomas Bailey took the lead at the start of the 25 lap Crazy Compact feature. Mayhem ensued on lap 3 when Lexi Jividen spun around off of turn four and hit the guardrail hard, collecting several cars. Jividen and all other drivers involved were thankfully ok. On the restart, Bailey continued with the lead with Evan Proctor in second.

Bailey pulled away to a 1.5 second lead in the first half of the race. With 10 laps to go, the leaders hit lapped traffic. Bailey had trouble passing the #19 car of Kassidee Bush, allowing Proctor to eventually close right to his bumper to battle for the lead! Bailey was eventually able to pass Bush and pulled away in the final laps to claim his seventh feature win of the season and the track championship! Proctor finished second with Donna Bush third, Dillon Higginbotham fourth, and Stacie Watson fifth.

The final feature of the night and the season was the 30 lap Modified feature. Jason Garrett jumped to the early race lead as a battle ensued early on for second between J. R. Webb and Andy Booten. The two made contact on lap 2 with Webb spinning. Booten was charged with the caution and Webb got his spot back.

On the restart, Garrett continued with the lead while Jamie Womack moved into second after a few laps of battling with Webb and set his sights on Garrett. Womack caught Garrett and by lap 15 was right on his bumper. The two battled bumper to bumper lap after lap. On lap 21, Garrett and Womack made contact with Garrett spinning and Steve Hass collected in the accident. Garrett was unable to continue with damage while Womack was charged with the caution and went to the tail.

This allowed J. R. Webb to inherit the lead with Jeremy Cooper in second to set the front row for the restart. On the restart, Webb and Cooper battled side by side for the lead with Webb able to hold off and clear Cooper to stay in the lead. Webb would lead the remaining laps to take his first Modified win of the season with Cooper in second, Greg Chandler third, Jake Keaton fourth, and Womack in fifth. Cooper was also the 

 Hard Charger. Andy Booten clinched the 2020 track championship by starting the feature.

That will conclude the 2020 season at Ona Speedway. We want to thank all of the race fans, race teams, and sponsors for their tremendous support during the 2020 season! It was a monumental season for the track with 2021 looking even bigger and better. Please follow the Ona Speedway Facebook page during the winter for content and all of the updates on 2021!

Complete Results

Late Models
Fast Qualifier-Logan Runyon, 18.239
25 lap Feature-Logan Runyon, Jake Keaton, Brad Coons, Kenny Parsons, Joe Fihe, Bobby Fihe, Rob Dunlap
Car Count-7

Modifieds
Fast Qualifier-Jason Garrett, 18.455
30 lap Feature-J. R. Webb, Jeremy Cooper, Greg Chandler, Jake Keaton, Jamie Womack, Marty Powers, Wes Smith, Jason Garrett, Steve Hass, Andy Booten
Dynamic Shock Service Hard Charger-Jeremy Cooper
Car Count-10

Sport Mods
Fast Qualifier-Marty Powers, 18.790
20 lap Feature-Brandon France, Marty Powers, Chris Smith
Car Count-3

Hobby Stocks
Fast Qualifier-Chris Jividen, 19.581
30 lap Feature-Brett Carey, Clinton Thompson, J. R. Webb, Kenny Chapman, James Jones, Anthony Thompson, Jason Thompson, Gary Queen (DNS: Chris Jividen)
Car Count-9

Classic Cars
Fast Qualifier-Will Hass, 20.269
25 lap Feature-Will Hass, Cam McKinney, Corey Steinbrecher, Kenny McCallister, Brad Cooper, Timmy Cooper (DNS: Tyler Brown)
Car Count-7

U Cars
Fast Qualifier-Jay Workman, 20.258
30 lap Feature-Keith Watson, Kenny Fletcher, Reuben Fetty, Kyle Snodgrass, Tim Cassidy, David Adkins, Evan Adkins, Nathan Higginbotham, Danny Keyser, Jay Workman, Chris Wheeler, Michael Hughart (DNS: Joe Workman, Marcus Esch)
Car Count-14

Legends Cars
Fast Qualifier-Tyler Martin, 19.885
20 lap Feature-Jerry Graley, Mike Bias, Scott Martin, Crockett Reed, Cameron Gue, Thomas Crabtree, Wylie Jeffrey, Tyler Martin, Brad Bowen, Evan Proctor, Will Geer, Tommy Rowe, Matthew Martin, Newton Moore, Chase Malone
Car Count-15

Crazy Compacts
Fast Qualifier-Thomas Bailey, 21.514
25 lap Feature-Thomas Bailey, Evan Proctor, Donna Bush, Dillon Higginbotham, Stacie Watson, Tyler Bailey, Preston Hysell, Kassidee Bush, Chris Prater, Bill Brady, Stephanie Smith, Lexi Jividen, Dustin Higginbotham, Bryan Temple, Janet Harris, Dean Adams
Car Count-16