October 3rd: Finish Line Concrete Night

Keaton, Artis, Webb, Carey, Hass, Workman, Ridenhour, Bailey win Finish Line Concrete Night

ONA, WV-74 cars from as far away as North Carolina filled the pits at the historic Ona Speedway on Saturday, October 3rd for Finish Line Concrete Night. The temperatures outside were cool, but the racing on the track was hot as this was the next to last points race of the season.

The night started with the 20 lap Sport Mod feature. Marty Powers jumped out to the early race lead and by the races midway point had stretched his lead out by over 2 seconds over J. R. Webb. The entire complexion of the race changed on lap 24 when a Justin Shanteau spin brought out the races first caution. On the restart, J. R. Webb charged on the high side and off of turn two made the pass to take the lead on lap 13! The following lap, the races second and final caution flew as Chris Smith and Shanteau made hard contact into the turn three guardrail. Both drivers were ok.

On the restart, Webb continued with the lead with Powers right on his bumper. As the laps continued to tick down, Powers stayed right on Webb’s bumper, giving him no breathing room at all. On the final lap of the race, charging down the backstretch, Powers drove in hard in turn three and locked the tires up, but quickly rebounded to get right on Webb’s bumper in the middle of the corner. Off of turn four Powers stayed right on Webb’s bumper and looked to his inside in a drag race to the checkered flag with Webb winning by less than a car length! Powers finished second with Smith third and Shanteau fourth.

Joe Workman stormed to the lead to start the night’s 25 lap Contempo Trophy & Award U Car feature. Workman began to stretch his lead up front as all eyes were on Keith Watson and Michael Hughart, the top two in points who started the race in fifth and ninth respectively. Both drivers began to move through the field after good side by side battles with Watson moving into the second position by lap 10. Watson set his sights on Workman, but would never be able to catch him in a race that went caution free as Joe Workman came to the checkers to take his second win of the season! Watson finished second with Kenny Fletcher third, Reuben Fetty fourth, and Michael Hughart in fifth.

The Hobby Stock division has put on a show each and every race and did not disappoint on this night. Brett Carey and Clinton Thompson battled side by side for the lead the entire opening lap until Thompson went a little too high and hit the guardrail on the frontstretch, bringing out a caution. Thompson would have to go to the pits for repairs, setting up a second attempt at the race start with Carey and his championship rival Kenny Chapman on the front row.

Carey and Chapman then battled side by side for the lead for several laps with J. R. Webb joining the duo to make it a three car battle for the lead! Carey would hold on to the lead with Chapman and Webb all bumper to bumper in an intense battle. On lap 8, Webb would get by Chapman for second and battle for the lead with Carey. For the next 8 laps, Webb would ride right on Carey’s bumper, giving him a few taps to let him know he was there.

On lap 16, Webb put this #5 machine on the high side and battled side by side for the lead with Carey! The two battled side by side the next two laps with Webb taking the lead at the finish line on lap 18! Carey did not give up on the inside though as the two continued to battle side by side. On lap 19, going into turn one, Carey drove hard into the corner and his car got loose, sliding into Webb. Both Carey and Webb were completely sideways after the contact but they both saved it and Carey took the lead!

The contact allowed third place runner Chapman to close back up on the duo as we once again had a three car battle for the lead! The three stayed bumper to bumper for several laps and by the final five laps Carey and Webb put a little distance on Chapman. Carey and Webb remained bumper to bumper and on the final lap, going into turn three, Webb drove in hard on the high side and got alongside Carey! Battling side by side for the win, Webb got a little loose off of turn four and then tried the crossover move on Carey for the drag race to the checkers. Carey would hang on to take his second win of the season by less than a car length! Webb finished second with Chapman third, Gary Queen fourth, and Anthony Thompson fifth.

Thomas Bailey and Dustin Higginbotham battled side by side for the lead to start the night’s 25 lap Crazy Compact feature. The two battled side by side the opening three laps with Bailey leading lap one, Higginbotham lap two, and then Higginbotham clearing Bailey on lap three. On a lap 6 restart, Bailey charged strong on the high side and made the pass on Higginbotham to regain the lead. With Bailey up front, all eyes were on a three car battle for second between Higginbotham, Evan Proctor, and Stacie Watson. Nobody would be able to catch Bailey though as he came across the checkers to get his sixth win of the season! Proctor finished second with Watson third, Higginbotham fourth, and Preston Hysell fifth.

Brad Coons jumped to the lead in the night’s 30 lap Late Model feature with fourth place starter Jake Keaton quickly moving into second and setting his sights on Coons. Coons and Keaton would battle bumper to bumper for the lead for several laps with Keaton getting underneath of Coons on lap 8 to take the lead. With Keaton up front, the battle then turned to second between Coons and North Carolina driver Jerick Johnson. Johnson would make the pass on Coons and set his sights on Keaton. Nobody would catch Keaton though as he came to the checkers to take the win in only his third race back since returning to action at Ona! Johnson finished second with Coons third, Joe Fihe fourth, and Bobby Fihe fifth.

Championship rivals Josh Artis and Andy Booten battled side by side during the opening lap of the 30 lap Modified feature with Artis taking the lead on lap one. Artis then began to pull away to a one second lead on Booten. By the races halfway point, Booten started to reel in Artis and got to within a few car lengths of him. Artis was able to stretch his lead back going through lapped traffic though and would come across the checkers to claim his second win of the season! Booten finished second with Greg Chandler third, Jake Keaton fourth, and Jeremy Cooper fifth. J. R. Webb was the Dynamic Shock Service hard charger.

The final race of the night was the 20 lap Legends Car feature which saw a fast field of 18 cars from four different states take the green. Thomas Crabtree would jump to the lead on the opening lap. Crabtree would experience bad luck on a lap two restart as his #23 machine broke from the lead, allowing North Carolina’s Wille Ridenhour to take the lead. Jerry Graley then moved into the second position and looked under Ridenhour to battle side by side for the lead!

Graley would take the lead on lap four but Ridenhour would not go away as the two battled side by side for the lead for literally the next 10 laps in one of the most exciting, clean battles for the lead in recent memory. On lap 15, Ridenhour would make the pass for the lead on Graley but Graley wasn’t giving up as he got right on Ridenhour’s bumper. On the final lap, Ridenhour and Graley were bumper to bumper for the lead and off of turn four in a drag race to the checkers, Ridenhour would take the win in his first ever race at Ona! Graley finished second with Tyler Martin third, Cameron Gue fourth, and Tyler Scott fifth.

The stage is set for the final points race of the season on Saturday, October 17th for the K&J Demolition & Excavation Season Championships. All 8 weekly divisions will be in action as the track champions will be crowned. The racing will be intense as the battles for the track championships are really close. We will also be having Trick or Treat Night for the kids as well as a Halloween Costume Contest for adults and kids. Racing will start earlier on October 17th as the first feature will hit the track at 5:00 pm. General admission is only $10 (ages 15 and up), $5 (ages 11-14), and FREE (ages 10 and under). Pit passes are $30 (ages 15 and up), $15 (ages 11-14), and FREE (ages 10 and under).

Complete Results

Late Models
Fast Qualifier-Jake Keaton, 18.108
30 lap Feature-Jake Keaton, Jerick Johnson, Brad Coons, Joe Fihe, Bobby Fihe, Kenny Parsons, Rob Dunlap, Sam Osburn
Car Count-8

Modifieds
Fast Qualifier-Andy Booten, 18.478
30 lap Feature-Josh Artis, Andy Booten, Greg Chandler, Jake Keaton, Jeremy Cooper, Steve Hass, J. R. Webb, Andy Shutts

 Hard Charger-J. R. Webb
Car Count-8

Sport Mods
Fast Qualifier-J. R. Webb, 18.685
20 lap Feature-J. R. Webb, Marty Powers, Chris Smith, Justin Shanteau (DQ)
Car Count-4

Hobby Stocks
Fast Qualifier-J. R. Webb, 19.559
30 lap Feature-Brett Carey, J. R. Webb, Kenny Chapman, Gary Queen, Anthony Thompson, Clinton Thompson, James Jones (DNS: Jason Thompson)
Car Count-8

Classic Cars
Fast Qualifier-Will Hass, 20.263
25 lap Feature-Will Hass, Cam McKinney, Kenny McCallister, Brad Cooper (DNS: Stevie Brown, Jeff Taylor)
Car Count-6

U Cars
Fast Qualifier-Keith Watson, 20.421
30 lap Feature-Joe Workman, Keith Watson, Kenny Fletcher, Reuben Fetty, Michael Hughart, Chris Wheeler, Nathan Higginbotham, David Adkins, Marcus Esch, Evan Adkins, Tim Cassidy
Car Count-11

Legends Cars
Fast Qualifier-Willie Ridenhour, 20.057
20 lap Feature-Willie Ridenhour, Jerry Graley, Tyler Martin, Cameron Gue, Tyler Scott, Wiley Jeffrey, Scott Martin, Brad Bowen, Tommy Rowe, Wade Reed, Newt Moore, Will Geer, Crockett Reed, Thomas Crabtree, Mike Bias, Matthew Martin, Jerry Inbody, Evan Proctor
Car Count-18

Crazy Compacts
Fast Qualifier-Thomas Bailey, 21.664
25 lap Feature-Thomas Bailey, Evan Proctor, Stacie Watson, Dustin Higginbotham, Preston Hysell, Kassidee Bush, Donna Bush, Samantha Watson, Tyler Bailey, James Saylor, Tim Cassidy
Car Count-11