ONA, WV-Night #2 of the 4th Annual Firecracker Extravagana saw another night of intense racing action and ended with one of Cabell County’s biggest fireworks shows, the Yes Chevrolet/Yes Ford Fireworks Show!
The night started with the 20 lap Gumbo Stop Cafe Crazy Compact feature. Evan Strickland, in only his third ever race, jumped out to the early race with Evan Proctor right on his bumper in second! The two battled nose to tail for the lead lap after lap with fourth place starter Stacie Watson charging through the field. Watson would catch the three quickly to make it a three car battle for the lead. Watson would go past Proctor and Strickland to take the lead on lap 7. Strickland would then get passed by Proctor and Andy Ennis and drop back to forth. Up front, Watson would pull away from Proctor with Proctor pulling away from an intense third place battle between Ennis and Strickland. Watson would lead the remaining laps to claim her fourth win of the season and third in a row! Proctor finished second with Ennis third, Strickland fourth, and Rex Burton fifth.
Perhaps the craziest first lap of the season took place in the night’s 25 lap Contempo Trophy & Awards UCAR Feature. The front four cars of Tim Cassidy, Nick Fowler, Joe Workman, and Jay Workman were involved in an intense battle for the lead off of turn four when contact was made, sending Workman head on into the outside guardrail with Fowler, Jay Workman, Cassidy, and Jake Burgoff all collected. All five of those cars were unable to continue on in the race. This left only three cars to contend and would put original 5th and 6th place starters David Adkins and Chris Deskins on the front row with Greg Napier in row two. On the start, Deskins would jump to the lead while Adkins and Napier engaged in an intense battle for second that lasted the entire race. Deskins would lead ever lap to claim the $100 bonus for sweeping the weekend! Adkins finished second with Napier in third.
Getting the first lap in would be a challenge in the nights 20 lap Mays Tire & Service Center INEX Legends Car Pro feature. The first start didn’t get a lap complete due to a Zach Steele spin. The second start saw contact between the front row of Jason Garrett and Will Geer with both cars spinning. As part of Ona’s rule of a caution on the first lap everyone get’s their spots back, both drivers retained their starting position but Garrett would have to pit to repair his car, putting him to the tail. The next two starts saw bad starts by the new front row of Jake Keaton and Will Geer. The next start would finally be a successful one as Keaton and Geer battled side by side with Geer getting the lead into turn one. Keaton got in the second position but was faced with a lot of pressure by Dale Garrett.
Garrett would pass Keaton and set his sights on Geer. During the races first half, Geer and Garrett would have an intense bumper-to-bumper battle for the lead. As the laps wore on, Geer would start to pull away while a wild battle for third ensued between Matthew Martin, Keaton, and Tyler Martin. The three were all nose to tail lap after lap trying to inch underneath of each other. Geer would lead every lap to come across the checkered flag and take his first career Legends Pro class win! Garrett finished second with Matthew Martin fourth and Tyler Martin using a high side pass to get fourth over Keaton in fifth.
Brian Taylor jumped to the lead at the start of the nights One Way Septic 30 for the CRS Super Trucks. With Taylor in the lead, fast qualifier Brad Copen, who started 6th due to the invert, began picking his way through the field and by lap five was right on Taylors bumper in the battle for the lead! Copen would pass Taylor on lap 7 and set sail to lead the remaining laps and take his second career CRS Super Truck win at Ona! Barney Gerber charged up to finish second with Chad Squires third, Carson Lucas fourth, and Jeff Fade Jr. fifth.
Wes Smith jumped out to the lead at the start and dominated the nights 25 lap Patriot Meat Processing Modified feature to claim his first career win! Josh Artis, winner of the last race, finished second while the battle all race long was for third between Jeremy Cooper and Andy Booten. Cooper and Booten have won every Modified track championship at Ona since at least 2019 and were engaged in the most fierce battle we’ve seen between the two. The two were nose to tail lap after lap with Cooper in third and Booten fourth. On the final lap, Booten drove hard into turn three up high and got alongside Cooper to battle side by side, then both cars made heavy contact off of turn four with both cars sideways coming off of turn four and to the checkered flag! Cooper would finish third with Booten fourth and J. R. Adkins fifth.
The final race of the night was the Summer Sizzler 35 for the Haunted Majestic Street Stocks. In this race, Kenny Chapman would be eligible for a $850 bonus if he won courtesy of The Fly In Cafe, The King of Karaoke Larry Adkins, Dalton Parsons, and T. J. Layne. In another twist, Jeffers Trucking & Transportation put up a $250 bonus to any driver that could beat Chapman, meaning the winner would take home a minimum of $850. On the race start, Chris Jividen and Thomas Mays battled side by side for the lead for the races first two laps! Jividen would clear Mays to take the lead while Mays would also get passed by Chapman with Chapman moving into second. Chapman and Mays would then engage in an intense battle with contact being made on lap 4 resulting in both cars spinning. Both cars would be sent to the tail as part of the spinnner-spinnee rule, but Chapman would have to take his car to the hot pit. Chapman wasn’t able to get the pit stop complete in the 2 minute time frame and would have to retire from the race, a tough break to end his run at the $850 bonus.
On the restart, Jividen continued with the lead with Tommy Rowe now in the second position. Jividen and Rowe would battle nose to tail for the lead for a few laps with Jividen pulling away the longer the laps wore on. Jividen appeared destined for victory until the caution flew with four laps to go for a spin by Mays who lost brakes. On the single file restart, Jividen and Rowe would battle bumper-to-bumper for the lead for the first lap. Jividen would pull away and come across the checkered flag and take the $850 win! Rowe finished second with Mike Christy third, Clinton Thompson fourth, and Melinda Spurlock fifth.
Ona Speedway will return to action with another big night of racing on Saturday, August 19th with the 3rd Annual Freedom Used Autos Fly By 40 featuring America’s premier compact touring series, the Vores Compact Touring Series! The previous two Vores races at Ona have averaged 39 entries! All Seasons Powersports Late Models, Patriot Meat Processing Modifieds, Haunted Majestic Street Stocks, Contempo Trophy & Awards UCAR’s, Mays Tire & Service Center INEX Legends Car Pro, Jeffrey Trucking INEX Legends Car Semi-Pro, and Gumbo Stop Cafe Crazy Compacts will all be in action. The speedway will also host the Freedom Used Autos Practice Night on Friday, August 18th. Racing on August 19th will start at 6:30 pm. Track management will not be raising admission prices for this special event as general admission is only $15 for ages 13 and up and free for ages 12 and under. All access pit passes are $35 for ages 13 and up and free for ages 12 and under.
Complete Results
CRS Super Trucks
Fast Qualifier: Brad Copen, 18.480
One Way Septic 30: Brad Copen, Barney Gerber, Chad Squires, Carson Lucas, Jeff Fade Jr., Brian Taylor, Mario Kelly, Lindsey Lemmerman, Dave Vargo
Lap Leaders: Brian Taylor (1-6), Brad Copen (7-30)
Car Count-9
Haunted Majestic Street Stocks
Fast Qualifier: Chris Jividen, 19.697
Summer Sizzler 35: Chris Jividen, Tommy Rowe, Mike Christy, Clinton Thompson, Melinda Spurlock, Amanda Gollihue, Thomas Mays, Chris Wheeler, Kenny Chapman (DNS: Joe Erwin)
Lap Leaders: Chris Jividen (1-35)
Car Count-10
Patriot Meat Processing Modifieds
Fast Qualifier: Andy Booten, 18.397
25 lap Feature: Wes Smith, Josh Artis, Jeremy Cooper, Andy Booten, J. R. Adkins, Dusty Wheeler, Benny Hickle
Lap Leaders: Wes Smith (1-25)
Car Count-7
Mays Tire & Service Center INEX Legends Car Pro
Fast Qualifier: Dale Garrett, 19.666
20 lap Feature: Will Geer, Dale Garrett, Matthew Martin, Tyler Martin, Jake Keaton, Scott Martin, Adam Jeffrey, Marty Powers, Jason Garrett, Zach Steele
Lap Leaders: Will Geer (1-20)
Car Count-10
Contempo Trophy & Awards UCAR’s
Fast Qualifier: Joe Workman, 20.022
25 lap Feature: Chris Deskins, David Adkins, Greg Napier, Tim Cassidy, Nick Fowler, Jay Workman, Joe Workman, Jake Burgoff (DNS; Jayson Adams)
Lap Leaders: Chris Deskins (1-25)
Car Count-9
Gumbo Stop Cafe Crazy Compacts
Fast Qualifier: Stacie Watson, 22.159
20 lap Feature: Stacie Watson, Evan Proctor, Andy Ennis, Evan Strickland, Rex Burton, Tommy Ross
Lap Leaders: Evan Strickland (1-6), Stacie Watson (7-20)
Car Count-6
