ONA, WV-Sunny skies following an afternoon thunderstorm cleared the way for a great night of racing at Ona Speedway on Saturday, July 10th for One Way Septic Night. 80 race cars from West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, North Carolina, New York, and Tennessee were in the pit area along with a large crowd of race fans.
The night started with the 20 lap Keaton’s Collision Center Late Model feature. Jake Keaton stormed from third to the lead on lap one while Brad Coons quickly moved into second. For the first several laps, Keaton extended his lead out to around one second. As the race got close to the halfway point, Coons started catching Keaton and by lap 15 was right on Keaton’s bumper. For the next 5 laps, Coons tried every way possible to get around Keaton. He tried to get his nose underneath Keaton and even tried the highside. On the final lap, into turn 3, Coons was right on Keaton’s bumper but Keaton was able to hold on to take his sixth win of the season by only 0.284 tenths over Coons! Kenny Parsons finished third with John Morton fourth.
Jay Dunlap took the lead to start the night’s 20 lap Keaton’s Collision Center INEX Legends Car Semi-Pro feature. Thomas Bailey quickly began working his way through the field from his sixth place starting position and moved into second. On lap 6, Bailey got the run underneath of Dunlap to take the lead. Rookie driver Dale Garrett capitalized on many restarts to move into the second position and engage in a battle for the lead with Bailey. For several laps Garrett ran nose to tail with Bailey. On lap 16 off of turn 2, Garrett looked underneath of Bailey as they battled side by side for the lead down the backstretch and into turn 3! Through turns 3 and 4 the two made contact through the entire corner and wrecked off of turn 4 with Garrett slamming the outside guardrail hard. Both drivers were ok but would retire from the race. This inherited the lead to Matthew Martin who led the remaining four laps after the restart to take his second win of the season! Will Geer finished second with Zach Steele charging from the tail two times to finish third, Brad Bowen fourth, and Jay Dunlap fifth.
Rookie driver Rex Burton took the lead to start an entertaining 20 lap Chandler Auto Performance Crazy Compact feature. 5th place starter Evan Proctor stormed through the field to move into second and engage in a battle for the lead with Burton. Proctor made the pass for the lead on lap 6 and set sail up front. With Proctor pulling away up front, the race for second through fifth was an intense a race as we have ever seen at Ona with side by side racing each and every lap. The battle resembled a NASCAR race at Daytona with side by side racing every single lap. Proctor would continue with the lead to come across the checkers and take his first career win by 8.814 seconds! Rex Burton held on to finish second after an intense battle with Billy Arthur third, Dustin Higginbotham fourth, and Kassidee Bush fifth.
Up next was the race that was 52 years in the making as USAC returned to Ona with the 35 lap USAC Eastern Midget feature. Trouble occurred at the start of the race as contact sent Syracuse, New York’s Eric Lewis spinning and into the turn’s one and two guardrail. Lewis was ok but had to retire from the race. On start #2, Burns, Tennessee driver Sam Mazzo jumped to the lead with Hunter Wise in second and Jessica Bean, the winningest female driver in USAC history, in third. Mazzo started inching away up front while Wise and Bean engaged in an intense battle for the second spot. Wise would almost “dirt track” the car in the corners with his machine drifting, sometimes smoking the tires. Wise would run a little bit higher line with Bean continually looking into his inside. Wise and Bean batted for the second spot for the entire first half of the race with Bean finally getting into second on lap 20.
Bean, from Farmland, Indiana, would then set her sights on race leader Mazzo who had pulled ahead to a 2 second lead. Each lap Bean would cut down Mazzo’s lead and with 5 laps to go would catch Mazzo and be right on his rear nerf bar! The two battled nose to tail for the lead for the next few laps as into turn 3 with 2 laps to go, Bean looked to the inside of Mazzo and took the lead coming to the white flag! The crowd erupted when Bean took the lead as she led the final lap to come across the checkers and take the win in front of the electric crowd! Mazzo finished second with Chris Lamb third, Brady Allum fourth, and Hunter Wise fifth. Besides the caution on the initial race start, the race went 35 laps without caution for an average race speed of 88.390 in what was one of the fastest race average speeds in Ona Speedway history.
Josh Ferrell and Tommy Rowe battled at the start of the nights 25 lap Rocky Top’s Pizza Street Stock feature with Ferrell leading lap one. Clark Perry quickly moved into second and then took the lead from Ferrell to lead lap two. Early on, all eyes were on 8th place starter Thomas Mays as he quickly moved into the second position. Mays, the Ona Speedway track promoter, made his first start at the track since 2019 and first Street Stock start in over 20 years. On a lap 7 restart, Mays took the lead from Perry into turn one. For the rest of the race, Perry stayed close to Mays, but wasn’t able to mount a challenge as Mays came across the checkered flag to take the win! Perry finished second with James Jones third, Josh Ferrell fourth, and Chris Jividen fifth.
Will Hass took the lead to start a wild 25 lap McCam Builders Classic Car feature with Kenny McCallister in second. In the early race stages an intense battle occurred for second between McCallister, Tyler Brown, and Jason Garrett. Contact on lap 2 sent McCallister spinning wildly through the infield. Brown was charged with the caution and McCallister given his spot back. On the restart, Hass continued with the lead while McCallister stayed within a few car length of Hass. On lap 15, McCallister had the opening he needed and made the pass on Hass to take the lead. On lap 20, intense racing for third saw Cam McKinney and Brad Cooper make contact and spin with Cooper being charged with the caution and McKinney retiring from the race. On the restart, McCallister continued with the lead while Cooper worked his way from the tail to the second position as he came to the white flag. Cooper made a charge on McCallister on the final lap but would come up 0.202 tenths of a second short as McCallister came across the checkers to claim his first win of the season! Cooper finished second with Tyler Brown third, Will Hass fourth, and Cam McKinney fifth.
Charlotte, North Carolina’s Tyler Lester took the lead to start the nights 20 lap Southern Ohio Speed INEX Legends Car Pro feature. Sixth place starter Steve Swann quickly moved into second with Jake Keaton in third. A lap 11 restart for an accident with Corey Steinbrecher and Tyler Scott would put Swann starting right beside Lester. On that restart, Lester and Swann battled side by side for a lap with Lester maintaining the lead and Swann diving back down low to be on his bumper. On lap 12, as the two were nose to tail for the lead, Swann and Lester made contact in turns 3 and 4 with Lester spinning and Swann charged with the caution. On the restart, Lester continued with the lead with Jake Keaton running second. Swann worked through the field to pass several cars, but wouldn’t make it back up to challenge Lester as Lester came to the checkers to take the win in his first career start at Ona! Keaton finished second with Tyler Martin third, Swann fourth, and Joe Workman fifth.
Drama occured with the Contempo Trophy & Awards U Cars before the feature even started. During the drivers meeting, Keith Watson challenged track promoter Thomas Mays to a “come from the back challenge” as he stated himself, Chris Deskins, and Tim Cassidy, the three winners in the class this year, would start from the tail if Thomas would add an extra $150 to the winners payout. Mays agreed and the three drivers started the feature from the tail. Polesitter Danny Keyser took the lead to start the 30 lap feature as Chris Deskins quickly stormed through the field. Deskins would make it all the up to third by lap 10 and would challenge David Adkins for the second spot. After several laps of side by side racing, Deskins settled into third right on Adkins tail.
Keyser had opened up to a 3 second lead in the races early stages but by the halfway mark started to fade some as Adkins and Deskins began chipping away at his lead. By lap 24, Adkins was within a few car lengths of Keyser. On lap 25, Adkins was making a run on Keyser and got loose in turns 3 and 4, spinning down in front of Deskins which sent Adkins completely around. Adkins would be charged with the caution and go to the tail while Deskins would restart the race in second. On the restart, Deskins slowed and pulled off the track as Tim Cassidy moved into second. On the final lap of the race, into turns 3 and 4, Cassidy drove in hard and mounted a charge on Keyser. Off of turn 4, Cassidy was right on Keyser’s bumper and looked underneath of him in a drag race to the finish line with Keyser taking the lead over Cassidy as the two were side by side at the finish line! Nick Fowler finished third with J. R. Adkins fourth and Reuben Fetty fifth.
The Ona Speedway will be off for a one month summer break but will return to action on Saturday, August 7th for Jeffers Transportation & Excavating Night featuring McCam Builders Modifieds, Greg Chandler Frame & Body Sport Mods, Rocky Top’s Pizza Street Stocks, McCam Builders Classic Cars, Contempo Trophy & Awards U Cars, Southern Ohio Speed INEX Legends Car Pro, Keaton’s Collision Center INEX Legends Car Semi Pro, and Chandler Auto Performance Crazy Compacts. Racing will start at 7:00 pm with adult general admission only $10 and adult pit passes only $30. There will be a practice night on Thursday, August 5th from 5:00 pm until dark. For more information visit www.onaspeedway.com.
Complete Results
USAC Eastern Midgets
Fast Qualifier-Brady Allum, 17.349 (90.783 mph)
35 lap Feature-Jessica Bean, Sam Mazzo, Chris Lamb, Brady Alumm, Hunter Wise, Bradley Swift, Eric Lewis
Lap Leaders-Sam Mazzo (1-33), Jessica Bean (34-35)
Car Count-7
Keaton’s Collision Center Late Models
20 lap Feature-Jake Keaton, Brad Coons, Kenny Parsons, John Morton (DNS: Chris Cremeans)
Lap Leaders-Jake Keaton (1-20)
Car Count-5
Rocky Top’s Pizza Street Stocks
25 lap Feature-Thomas Mays, Clark Perry, James Jones, Josh Ferrell, Chris Jividen, Tommy Rowe, Kenny Chapman, Randall Harvey, Jason Thompson, Stephen Kuhn
Lap Leaders-Josh Ferrell (1), Clark Perry 2-7), Thomas Mays (8-25)
Car Count-10
McCam Builders Classic Cars
25 lap Feature-Kenny McCallister, Brad Cooper, Tyler Brown, Will Hass, Cam McKinney, Jason Garrett, Jeff Taylor
Lap Leaders-Will Hass (1-14), Kenny McCallister (15-25)
Car Count-7
Contempo Trophy & Awards U Cars
30 lap Feature-Danny Keyser, Tim Cassidy, Nick Fowler, J. R. Adkins, Reuben Fetty, Marcus Esch, Keith Watson, Jason Price, Lexy Jividen, Chris Deskins, David Adkins, Chris Wheeler, Chris Jividen
Lap Leaders-Danny Keyser (1-30)
Car Count-13
Southern Ohio Speed INEX Legends Car Pro
Fast Qualifier-Steve Swann, 19.818 (79.472 mph)
20 lap Feature-Tyler Lester, Jake Keaton, Tyler Martin, Steve Swann, Joe Workman, Tyler Scott, Cameron Gue, Evan Proctor, Mike Bias, Corey Steinbrecher, Scott Martin, Thomas Crabtree
Lap Leaders-Tyler Lester (1-20)
Car Count-12
Keaton’s Collision Center INEX Legends Car Semi-Pro
Fast Qualifier-Aaron Auffant, 20.174 (78.071 mph)
20 lap Feature-Matthew Martin, Will Geer, Zach Steele, Brad Bowen, Jay Dunlap, Newton Moore, Colton Davis, Aiden Coons, Thomas Bailey, Dale Garrett, Marty Powers, Aaron Auffant
Lap Leaders-Jay Dunlap (1-5), Thomas Bailey (6-16), Matthew Martin (17-20)
Car Count-12
Chandler Auto Performance Crazy Compacts
20 lap Feature- Evan Proctor, Rex Burton, Billy Arthur, Dustin Higginbotham, Kassidee Bush, Stacie Watson, Tyler Bailey, Preston Hysell, James Saylor, Donna Bush, Tony Fletcher, Tommy Ross, Jay Workman, Cassie Saylor
Lap Leaders-Rex Burton (1-5), Evan Proctor (6-20)
Car Count-14
