ONA, WV-The 2022 season got underway at the Ona Speedway on Saturday, May 14th. The pit area was packed with 83 race cars from as far as Wisconsin and a big crowd in the grandstands. Before the races got underway, skydivers skydived into the speedway during the opening ceremony with the American flag.
The night started with the 20 lap B-Main for the Vores Compact Touring Series. The Vores Series was the headline show of the night, bringing in 37 cars. The B-Main would see only the top 4 finishers transfer into the main event, the Freedom Used Autos Fly By 40 that would take place later in the evening. New Castle, Indiana’s Derek Morris jumped out to the early race lead and would go untouched the entire race distance to claim the win. All eyes for most of the race were on Ona Speedway regular Stephen Kuhn who started the race deep in the field. Kuhn began a methodical charge through the field and with 6 laps to go was right on the bumper of Bill Honius for the final transfer spot. With 5 laps to go, Kuhn would put the bumper to Honius and make the pass. A lap later, the caution flag flew, setting up a restart. On the restart, Kuhn dropped back outside the transfer spot but would retake the position with 2 laps to go and eventually move up to third. Joseph Jennings finished second while Curtis Finlayson took the final transfer spot in fourth.
Cam McKinney took the lead at the start of the nights 15 lap McCam Builders Classic Car feature while Kenny McCallister moved past Rick Keaton to take the second position. McCallister then set his sights on McKinney in what was a race long, bumper to bumper battle for the lead. McCallister looked high and low trying to get past McKinney, but was never able to get past McKinney who drove a perfect race to score his first career Ona Speedway win! McCallister finished second with Danny McGowan third, Rick Keaton fourth, and Mark Cazid fifth.
The next race up was the 20 lap Greg Chandler Frame & Body Sport Mod feature that saw the largest field for the class since it returned to Ona in 2020. Trouble occurred at the start of the race as Rick Watson and Justin Shanteau made contact with Samantha Watson and Brad Cooper crashing behind them as they checked up. Samantha Watson would be done for the night and Cooper would continue on. On the second start Tyler Brown took the lead with Shanteau in second and Marty Powers in third. Shanteau and Powers would battle for second in the races early stages with Powers getting the position. Powers would then set his sights on Brown for the lead. Powers would get close to brown during the races middle stages, but Brown pulled away later in the race to come across the checkers and claim his first Sport Mod win in his first Sport Mod start! Powers finished second with Rick Watson third, Shanteau fourth, and Evan Proctor fifth.
The Geer Brothers Body Shop INEX Legends Car Semi-Pro feature saw Will Hass take the lead with Dale Garrett and Will Geer right behind him. The three cars all stayed close as Garrett would battle Hass for the lead. Garrett looked both high and low trying to get a run on Hass but was never able too. As the race got in it’s later stages, Hass extended his lead while Garrett and Geer battled for third. Coming to the white flag, Geer would get loose off of turn four while battling Garrett and spin but would keep the car off the guardrails. This setup a green-white-checkered restart. Hass nailed the restart perfect and would lead the final two laps to take his first Legends Car win in his first Legends Car start. Garrett came across second with Adam Jeffrey scoring his best career finish in third. Jeremy Dosier finished fourth while Will Geer would drop back to fifth after spinning on the final lap of the green-white-checkered.
Up next was the main event, the Freedom Used Autos Fly By 40 for the Vores Compact Touring Series. The race would start with polesitter Kyle Frame taking the lead. The first and only caution of the race would occur on lap 2 as 14 year old Karter Stark had a blown engine in turn 2. On the restart, Frame would continue with the lead while all eyes were on Ona UCAR regulars Nick Fowler and Keith Watson who were charging through the field. On lap 8, Fowler would take the second position with Watson now right behind him in third. Those two would then begin to battle for second as Watson would take that position on lap 17 and set his sights on Frame. Watson would get to the back bumper of frame as they battled nose to tail for the lead! On lap 20, Watson gave Frame a shot to the bumper, loosening up both cars and allowing Fowler to get back by Watson for second. Frame was able to pull away by several car lengths until lap 26 when Frame slowed with mechanical problems, allowing Fowler to inherit the lead. The next lap, Bo Hoelscher would pass Watson and take second while Watson then began to slow.
Both Frame and Watson were able to pull off the track as the race stayed green. Fowler was able to hold a steady 5-6 car length lead over Hoelscher as he approached lap traffic with 5 laps to go. The lap traffic would set up a frantic finish as it allowed Hoelscher to now be right on the bumper of Fowler with 4 laps to go! Going down the backstretch with 3 laps to go, Hoelscher made his move on Fowler as they battled side by side! Into turn three side by side, Fowler used the lap car of Jeff Vore as a pick and would maintain his lead using the high side of the speedway. This would allow Fowler to pull away by about a half second as he would lead the final two laps to come across the checkers and earn his biggest career win! With the win, it made the Ona Speedway UCAR drivers 2-2 against the Vores drivers at their home track. Hoelscher would finish second with Joe Workman charging to finish third, Kyle Stark charging to finish fourth, and Tim Cassidy charging to finish fifth.
Steve Swann took the lead to start the Southern Ohio Speed INEX Legends Car Pro feature and would lead lap one as a caution flew for a Scott Martin spin. On the restart, Swann and Jake Keaton would battle side by side for the lead with Swann down low and Keaton up high. The two battled side by side with Keaton taking the lead at the line. As they went into turn 1, Keaton cut down low and Swann locked up his brakes, dropping Swann back to the fourth position. Over the next several laps, Swann would pick off Steve Hass to get third and Tyler Martin to get back in second and set his sights on Keaton. By lap 8, Swann was back to second as the two battled for the lead! On lap 10, while battling for the lead, Swann got loose in turns 1 and 2 and spun, causing him to go to the rear.
On the restart, Keaton would continue with the lead while Hass moved into the second position. Swann would pick off several cars to move through the field and get back up to fourth quickly . As the laps wore on in the race, Keaton would pull away a little up front while Hass and Martin would have a strong battle for second. Keaton would lead the remaining laps to take the race win! Hass finished second with Martin third, Swann fourth, and Matthew Martin fifth.
Andy Booten wrestled the lead away from polesitter Jason Garrett on the start of the nights 25 lap McCam Builders Modiifed feature. Booten would set sail up front in a dominating performance and looked destined for victory until a caution flag flew on lap 19 for a spinning Andy Shutts. On the restart, Booten and Garrett would battle side by side for the lead for an entire lap with Booten hanging onto the lead and Garrett ducking back down low. Garrett would hang with Booten in a nose to tail battle for a few laps, but Booten would pull away in the end to come across the checkers and take the win! Garrett finished second with Jeremy Cooper third, Wes Smith fourth, and Marty Powers fifth.
The final race of the night was the 25 lap Bumper Pounding Street Stock feature. Polesitter Chris Jividen took the lead at the start with Brett Carey in second. Tommy Rowe and Tyler Bailey would then engage in a strong battle for third while a lot of eyes in the early part of the race were on Clark Perry. Perry blew a motor in Friday practice and arrived at the speedway late Saturday after the crew had to do a motor change. This made Perry have to start the race from the tail in 10th as he missed qualifying. Perry would pick off cars one at a time and by lap 8 moved into the fifth position and set himself in a battle with Bailey for fourth. On lap 13, Bailey would spin as he got loose on the backstretch, causing the races first caution.
On the restart, Jividen would continue with the lead as Perry would then moved himself all the way up to second! Perry set his sights on Jividen and stayed close to him for a few laps. As the laps wore on Jividen started to pull away from Perry. With 2 laps to go, Perry’s car began to smoke heavily but Perry stayed in the throttle. Jividen would come across the line to take the feature win while Perry held onto second with a heavily smoking car that left off a loud bang as it crossed the checkered flag. Carey finished third with Kenny Chapman fourth and Rowe in fifth.
The Ona Speedway will be right back in action next Saturday, May 21st for K&J Demolition & Excavation Night headlined by the return of the USAC Eastern Midget Series and zMax Pro Grand National Series. Keaton’s Collision Center Late Models, Bumper Pounding Street Stocks, McCam Builders Classic Cars, Contempo Trophy & Awards UCAR’s, Southern Ohio Speed INEX Legends Car Pro, Geer Brothers Body Shop INEX Legends Car Semi-Pro, and SNAP Lawn & Handyman Service Crazy Compacts will also be in action. General admission on Saturday is only $15 for ages 15 and up, $10 for ages 11-14, and free for ages 10 and under. All access pit passes are only $30 for ages 15 and up, $15 for ages 11-14, and free for ages 10 and under. Pit gates open at noon with general admission gates opening at 4:00 pm. Racing will start at 6:00 pm. There will be open practice Friday, May 20th from 5:00 pm until dark. Pit passes for practice are only $5 while the cost to practice a race car is only $20.
For more information visit www.onaspeedway.com.
Complete Results
Vores Compact Touring Series
Fast Qualifier-Karter Stark, 20.731
B-Main-Derek Morris, Joseph Jennings, Stephen Kuhn, Curtis Finlayson, Zach Morris, Shawn Lawson, Tony Newman, Aaron Teegarden, Phil Iliff, Scott Huffman, Bill Honius (DNS: Will Jennings, Danny Keyser, Yogi Metz)
Freedom Used Autos Fly By 40-Nick Fowler, Bo Hoelscher, Joe Workman, Kyle Stark, Tim Cassidy, Trent Gossar, Tom Gossar, Chris Deskins, Ron Sagers, Derek Morris, Aaron Tatman, Stephen Kuhn, Curtis Finlayson, Jeff Vore, Brett Smith, Terry Eaton Jr., Keith Watson, Kyle Frame, Nicholas Meade, Reuben Fetty, TJ Fannin, Karter Stark, Bradly Winters, Jay Workman, Chris Jennings
Lap Leaders-Kyle Frame (1-25), Nick Fowler (26-40)
Car Count-37
McCam Builders Modifieds
Fast Qualifier-Jason Garrett, 18.523
25 lap Feature-Andy Booten, Jason Garrett, Jeremy Cooper, Wes Smith, Marty Powers, Andy Shutts, Justin Shanteau, Rick Watson
Lap Leaders-Andy Booten (1-25)
Car Count-8
Bumper Pounding Street Stocks
Fast Qualifier-Chris Jividen, 19.537
25 lap Feature-Chris Jividen, Clark Perry, Brett Carey, Kenny Chapman, Tommy Rowe, Mike Christy, Lexy Lambert, Tyler Bailey, Clinton Thompson (DNS: Jason Skeens)
Lap Leaders-Chris Jividen (1-25)
Car Count-10
Greg Chandler Frame & Body Sport Mods
Fast Qualifier-Tyler Brown, 18.920
20 lap Feature-Tyler Brown, Marty Powers, Rick Watson, Justin Shanteau, Evan Proctor, Brad Cooper, James Jones, J. R. Adkins, Samantha Watson
Lap Leaders-Tyler Brown (1-20)
Car Count-9
McCam Builders Classic Cars
15 lap Feature-Cam McKinney, Kenny McCallister, Danny McGowan, Rick Keaton, Mark Cazid
Lap Leaders-Cam McKinney (1-15)
Car Count-5
Southern Ohio Speed INEX Legends Car Pro
Fast Qualifier-Steve Swann, 19.827
20 lap Feature-Jake Keaton, Steve Hass, Tyler Martin, Steve Swann, Matthew Martin, Thomas Crabtree, Zach Steele, Marty Powers, Scott Martin, Rob Dunlap, Jay Dunlap
Lap Leaders-Steve Swann (1), Jake Keaton (2-20)
Car Count-11
Geer Brothers Body Shop INEX Legends Car Semi-Pro
Fast Qualifier-Will Hass, 20.326
20 lap Feature-Will Hass, Dale Garrett, Adam Jeffrey, Jeremy Dosier, Will Geer, Dean Brotherton
Lap Leaders-Will Hass (1-20)
Car Count-6
