ONA, WV-87 race cars flooded the pits at Ona Speedway on Saturday, September 11th for the Greg Chandler Frame & Body Season Championships! Track champions were crowned in what was the final points race of the season.
The night started with the 15 lap Greg Chandler Frame & Body Sport Mod feature. Marty Powers, who was in a must win situation to keep his championship hopes alive, took the lead at the start with championship rival Rick Watson right on his bumper in second. On lap 3, Watson would look underneath of Powers and take the lead. Once up front, Watson began to inch away from Powers as he led the remaining laps to take his fourth win of the season and clinch the track championship! Powers finished second with James Jones third and Jacob Parsons fourth.
Next up was the 20 lap Keaton’s Collision Center INEX Legends Car Semi-Pro feature that saw Zach Steele and Matthew Martin tied for the championship. Steele took the lead at the start with his championship rival Matthew Martin a few car lengths behind him in second. The man on the move early on was Thomas Bailey as he quickly caught Martin to battle him for second. On lap 4, Bailey made the pass on Martin with Martin right behind him. Coming off of turn 4, Martin bumped Bailey, causing Bailey to get sideways and then spin in front of oncoming traffic. Bailey was then hit hard by Rob Dunlap. Dunlap was ok while Bailey was evaluated by paramedics and would thankfully eventually walk away under his own power.
This incident had major championship implications as Martin was charged with the caution and sent to the tail of the field on the restart. On the restart, Steele continued to lead while Martin charged back through the field, getting all the way up to the fifth position by the time the races next caution would fly on lap 12. On the restart, Martin wouldn’t be able to make up anymore positions as Steele cruised away up front to come across the checkered flag and take his third win in a row and the track championship! Will Geer charged through the field to finish second with Aaron Auffant third, Dale Garrett fourth, and Martin in fifth.
Brad Cooper clinched the McCam Builders Classic Car track championship by starting the night’s 20 lap feature event. At the start, Tyler Brown took the lead while the best battle early on was between Cam McKinney and Cooper for the third position. The two battled for several laps until contact was made on lap 6 with McKinney spinning and Cooper going to the tail. On the restart, Brown continued with the lead and would lead the remaining laps to take his second win of the season! Kenny McCallister finished second with McKinney third, Cooper fourth, and Alvie Deal fifth.
Jake Keaton stormed to the lead at the start of the night’s 25 lap Keaton’s Collision Center Late Model A-Main and put on perhaps his most dominating performance of the season, leading every lap to win his 8th feature of the season by 10.559 seconds. Brad Coons finished in second with Kenny Parsons third, Bobby Fihe fourth, and Mike Burcham outdueling John Morton to finish fifth.
Clark Perry and Chris Jividen came into the night’s 25 lap Rocky Top’s Pizza Street Stock feature in a tight championship battle. A finish of 4th or better would get Perry the title while Jividen needed to win and hope Perry finished 5th or worse. At the start, Brett Carey took the lead with Jividen in the second position. A lap 2 Clinton Thompson spin setup a restart that would spell bad luck for Jividen. Jividen restarted outside front row but would drop back to the fourth position, allowing both Jason Parsons and Perry to get around him. The following lap, another caution would fall for Kenny Chapman. On that restart, Carey and Parsons battled hard for the lead with three laps of side by side racing with Carey down low and Parsons up high. Parsons wouldn’t be able to make the pass up high so would settle into the second position with Perry right on his bumper in third. Carey would start to inch away up front while Parsons and Perry had an intense battle for second. Carey would come across the checkers to take the win in his first race back since last season and Perry would finish third to win the track championship! Parsons finished in second with Chris Jividen in fourth and Clinton Thompson fifth.
Next up was the 30 lap Contempo Trophy & Awards U Car feature that saw Keith Watson needing to finish 4 positions ahead of Chris Deskins to clinch. On the race start, Nick Fowler stormed to the lead while Jay Workman and Chris Deskins had an intense side by side battle for second with Deskins taking the spot. In the races early laps, Deskins was in position to win the championship as Watson was mired outside of the top 5. A caution flew on lap 8, setting up Fowler and Deskins on the front row for the restart with Watson having the opportunity now to make up positions. On the restart, Fowler continued with the lead while Deskins car appeared to be down a little on power as he would lose several positions over the next few laps, relegating him back to fourth while his championship rival Watson moved up to sixth, in position now to win the title. As the laps wore on, Fowler continued to stretch his lead while Deskins stayed stuck in fourth and unable to advance the positions needed to outpoint Watson. Fowler would come across the checkers to take his second win of the season while Watson finished in sixth, enough positions to hold the points lead and claim his 11th career track championship! Jay Workman finished second with Joe Workman third, Deskins fourth, and David Adkins fifth.
Steve Swann took the lead to start the night’s 20 lap Southern Ohio Speed INEX Legends Car Pro feature with Tyler Martin in second and Jake Keaton in third. Swann inched out to around a one second lead while Martin and Keaton had a great nose to tail battle for second much of the race. Swann looked destined for victory until a caution flew on the final lap for contact between Cameron Gue and Joe Workman, resulting in a green-white-checkered finish. On the restart, Swann led but had Martin right on his bumper. On the final corner, Martin drove it in hard cut just couldn’t get to Swann’s bumper as Swann came across the checkered flag to take his sixth win of the season. Martin finished second with Keaton third, Gue fourth, and Thomas Crabtree fifth.
Andy Booten clinched the McCam Builders Modified track championship when he started the night’s 25 lap feature. On the race start, Jason Garrett stormed to the lead with Jacob Bell behind him in second. Garrett would lead the races first 6 laps until the first caution flew for a James Jones spin. On the restart, Bell made a power move on the outside and took the race lead from Garrett. Garrett would then tuck right behind Bell and battle him back for the lead until another caution flew on lap 9 for a Jamie Womack spin. On the restart, Garrett said “anything you can do I can do better” and made the same power move Bell did from the outside to retake the race lead. A few laps later another caution flew for Steve Hass with Bell now having the opportunity to try tore-take the lead a second time on the restart. Bell would not be able too as Garrett kept the lead while Bell would get freight trained up high with Andy Booten and Josh Artis both getting by him. Garrett would inch away up front while the best battle the rest of the race was between Booten and Artis for second. Garrett would come across the checkers to take his first win of the season with Booten second, Artis third, Bell fourth, and Wes Smith fifth.
The final race of the night was the 20 lapper for the Chandler Auto Performance Crazy Compacts. Kassidee Bush came into the race needing to finish 5 positions ahead of Evan Proctor to clinch the track championship. Tyler Bailey stormed to the lead on the race start with Stacie Watson right on his bumper in a battle for the lead. Proctor ran in the fourth position while Bush was mired back in the field and seemingly stuck in a hornet’s nest with cars side by side in front of her. Proctor was in position to win the championship early on until lap 8 changed the course of the entire race. On lap 8, Thomas Bailey looked to the inside of Watson for the second position and the two made contact with Watson spinning and several cars piling in. Bailey would be charged with the caution and go to the tail while Watson had to go off for a tire change, putting her to the tail. This would reset the running order with Proctor in second and Bush in sixth, giving Bush enough points to now be in position to win the championship. The pressure was now on Proctor who would need to win to gain the extra bonus point and win the tiebreaker based on wins.
On the restart, Tyler Bailey would continue with the lead as Proctor just would not have enough to catch him. From the tail, Thomas Bailey stormed back through the field and would pass Proctor for second, seemingly ending Proctor’s championship run with Bush riding safely in fifth. Tyler Bailey would lead the remaining laps to claim his first career win while Bush finished fifth to clinch the track championship! Thomas Bailey finished second with Proctor third and Preston Hysell fourth.
Complete Results
Keaton’s Collision Center Late Models
Fast Qualifier-Jake Keaton, 18.155
25 lap Feature-Jake Keaton, Brad Coons, Kenny Parsons, Bobby Fihe, Mike Burcham, John Morton
Lap Leaders-Jake Keaton (1-25)
Car Count-6
McCam Builders Modifieds
Fast Qualifier-Jason Garrett, 18.371
25 lap Feature-Jason Garrett, Andy Booten, Josh Artis, Jacob Bell, Wes Smith, Jamie Womack, Marty Powers, Steve Hass, James Jones, Jeremy Cooper
Lap Leaders-Jason Garrett (1-6), Jacob Bell (7-9), Jason Garrett (10-25)
Car Count-10
Greg Chandler Frame & Body Sport Mods
Fast Qualifier-Marty Powers, 18.844
15 lap Feature-Rick Watson, Marty Powers, James Jones, Jacob Parsons
Lap Leaders-Marty Powers (1-2), Rick Watson (3-15)
Car Count-4
Rocky Top’s Pizza Street Stocks
Fast Qualifier-Chris Jividen, 19.606
25 lap Feature-Brett Carey, Jason Parsons, Clark Perry, Chris Jividen, Clinton Thompson, Gary Queen, Josh Ferrell, Tommy Rowe, Kenny Parsons, Randall Harvey
Lap Leaders-Brett Carey (1-25)
Car Count-10
McCam Builders Classic Cars
Fast Qualifier-Tyler Brown, 20.394
20 lap Feature-Tyler Brown, Kenny McCallister, Cam McKinney, Brad Cooper, Alvie Deal, Rob Morrison
Lap Leaders-Tyler Brown (1-20)
Car Count-6
Contempo Trophy & Awards U Cars
Fast Qualifier-Jay Workman, 20.227
30 lap Feature-Nick Fowler, Jay Workman, Joe Workman, Chris Deskins, David Adkins, Keith Watson, Michael Hughart, Reuben Fetty, Jason Price, Stephen Kuhn, Cole Sigler, Tim Cassidy, Danny Keyser, John Trimble
Lap Leaders-Nick Fowler (1-30)
Car Count-14
Southern Ohio Speed INEX Legends Car Pro
Fast Qualifier-Steve Swann, 19.543
20 lap Feature-Steve Swann, Tyler Martin, Jake Keaton, Cameron Gue, Thomas Crabtree, Scott Martin, Joe Workman, Evan Proctor, Corey Steinbrecher
Lap Leaders-Steve Swann (1-20)
Car Count-9
Keaton’s Collision Center INEX Legends Car Semi-Pro
Fast Qualifier-Zach Steele, 19.814
20 lap Feature-Zach Steele, Will Geer, Aaron Auffant, Dale Garrett, Matthew Martin, Adam Jeffrey, Jay Dunlap, Newton Moore, Chris Bishop, Aiden Coons, Thomas Bailey, Rob Dunlap, Chauncey Darling, Teddy Berry
Lap Leaders-Zach Steele (1-20)
Car Count-14
Chandler Auto Performance Crazy Compacts
Fast Qualifier-Stacie Watson, 21.751
20 lap Feature-Tyler Bailey, Thomas Bailey, Evan Proctor, Preston Hysell, Kassidee Bush, Billy Arthur, Rex Burton, Tommy Ross, Lauren Summers, Stacie Watson, Dustin Higginbotham, Shane Summers, James Saylor (DNS: Michael Baldridge)
Lap Leaders-Tyler Bailey (1-20)
Car Count-14
