ONA, WV-The Contempo Trophy & Awards U Car division is one of the most competitive classes at Ona Speedway. The class has some of Ona’s most experienced drivers as well as a great group of young drivers. The class looks to boast one of the highest car counts of all of the weekly classes at Ona and more great competition heading into the 2021 season. Here are the storylines heading into the season for the U Cars.
Watson looks for championship #11
Salt Rock, WV’s Keith Watson added another milestone in his storied career last season by winning his 10th career Ona Speedway track championship. Watson outdueled veterans Reuben Fetty and Michael Hughart in a competitive championship battle that lasted all season. Watson shows no signs of slowing down and heads into the 2021 season poised to win an 11th career track championship.
Tough competition all season long
When you look at the 2021 U Car roster, the field is absolutely loaded with fast cars and drivers. With such a stacked field, winning a U Car feature at Ona this season will be tougher than ever. While last years top finishers behind Keith Watson such as Reuben Fetty, Michael Hughart, Kenny Fletcher, and Evan Adkins will all be fast this year, there are 17 additional fast drivers that could shake up the top points spots this season. With a large field and the opportunity to lose more points on a bad night, the battle for the track championship could come down too who finishes the most races without mechanical difficulties or being involved in an accident.
VORES changes it all
The announcement last fall of the first ever VORES Compact Touring Series race at Ona on August 21st, 2021, gives the entire season for the U Cars a different feel. The VORES Series is the premier compact series in the United States with nationally televised races at some of America’s top short tracks. All of the drivers in the U Car division won’t just be racing for a track championship, they will all be tuning their cars all season long to be ready for the Freedom Used Autos Fly By 40 VORES event at Ona in August. On the other side, could we see some VORES drivers enter races throughout the year at Ona to get laps for the VORES event at the track?
Ona Speedway drivers Tim Cassidy, Keith Watson, Reuben Fetty, and Chris Wheeler all competed in VORES events at other tracks last season and ran competitive against the VORES cars. With the VORES series coming onto home turf, the Ona Speedway U Car drivers see this as their best opportunity to get a VORES win. The battle of the VORES stars vs the “Ona Posse” will undoubtedly be the most intense compact races in the history of the speedway.
New drivers enter the class
A theme of the 2021 season for all classes at Ona has been new entries. The U Car division will have some new entries coming from other classes as well as the return of several drivers who didn’t race in 2020. The father and daughter duo of Chris and Lexy Jividen are all entered in the U Car class as Lexy moves up from the Crazy Compact division and Chris will do double duty racing a Street Stock as well. Bryan Temple is set to move up from the Crazy Compact to the U Car division. Veteran drivers Doug Harvey and Chris Deskins are entered for 2021 as well as Russell, KY driver Cole Sigler for his sophomore season. Urbana, OH’s Jason Price will be a new entrant to the class along with Scott Depot, WV’s John Trimble.
2021 Ona Speedway Registered U Cars
- Chris Deskins
- Michael Hughart
- Joe Workman
- Reuben Fetty
- James Suggs
- Keith Watson
- Bryan Temple
- Danny Keyser
- Kyle Snodgrass
- Cole Sigler
- Jacob Bell
- Tim Cassidy
- Jared Cassidy
- Lexy Jividen
- Doug Harvey
- Jason Price
- Kenny Fletcher
- Nathan Higginbotham
- Stephen Kuhn
- Marcus Esch
- Chris Wheeler
- Chris Jividen
- John Trimble
*This is a list only of drivers who have pre-registered. More cars that are not pre-registered could compete in 2021.
