ONA, WV-For the first time in history, the Vores Compact Touring Series invaded Ona Speedway on Saturday, August 21st for the Freedom Used Autos Fly By 40. 41 cars with the Vores Series and an overall car count of 87 cars from 7 different states packed the pit area in what was the largest overall car count of the past 2 seasons. The cameras of Speed51 TV were at the track to capture all of the action.
The night started with the 20 lap Vores B-Main to determine the final two starting spots in the Freedom Used Autos Fly By 40. Yogi Metz took the lead at the start with all eyes on Milton, WV driver Jay Workman who quickly stormed into the third position. As the laps wore on, second place runner Tony Barcus began to catch Metz with Workman right on the bumper of Barcus in a three car battle for the lead. On lap 9, Metz suddenly slowed from the lead and pulled off the track with Barcus the new race leader and Workman in second. Workman, who debuted a PT cruiser race car, put his machine up top and battled side by side for the lead with Barcus. Workman took the lead on lap 11 and set sail the final 9 laps to take the B-Main win and transfer into the Freedom Used Autos Fly By 40! Barcus held off challenges from Danny Cascioli to take the second and final transfer position.
In the first feature race of the night, Marty Powers took the lead at the start of the 15 lap Greg Chandler Frame & Body Sport Mod feature with Rick Watson ducking behind him in second. The two stayed tucked nose to tail for the first half of the race in a great battle for the lead. As the race wore on, Powers car began to get loose as he started to have problems keeping the low line. On lap 10, Powers slipped up the track a little in turn one, allowing Watson to look underneath of him and battle side by side for the lead! Watson made the pass and set sail the final 6 laps of the race to claim his third win of the season. Powers finished second with Jacob Parsons third. With the win, Watson will now have a 2 point lead over Powers in the battle for the track championship heading into the Greg Chandler Frame & Body Season Championships on Saturday, September 11th.
Zach Steele took the lead at the start of the nights 20 lap Keaton’s Collision Center INEX Legends Car Semi-Pro feature with Matthew Martin moving into second and Will Geer third. While the top three separated themselves, the racing was intense throughout the field between Jay Dunlap, Dale Garrett, and Newton Moore. As the race wore on, Steele kept inching away up front and would lead every lap to come across the checkers and take his second win in a row! Matthew Martin finished in second 2.091 seconds behind. A great battle in the closing laps of the race was between Will Geer and Dale Garrett for the third position with Geer finishing third and Garrett fourth. Newton Moore rounded out the top 5 in fifth. Steele and Martin are now tied for the points lead heading into the Greg Chandler Frame & Body Season Championships on September 11th.
Chris Jividen took the lead to start the 20 lap Rocky Top’s Pizza Street Stock feature with Kenny Chapman moving into the second position. The battle for the lead throughout the race between Jividen and Chapman was like a rubber band effect. During the first 8 laps of the race, Jividen maintained a one second lead over Chapman. As the race reached it’s halfway point Chapman started to close in on Jividen and with 5 laps to go the two were nose to tail for the lead! Jividen would start to inch back away in the final few laps and come across the checkers to take his first win of the season by 0.717 over Chapman! Clark Perry charged from deep in the field to finish third with Tommy Rowe fourth and James Jones fifth. With the win, Jividen became the 6th different winner this year in the class. Coming into the Greg Chandler Frame & Body Season Championships on September 11th, Clark Perry will have a 5 point lead over Jividen in the battle for the track championship.
Next up was the moment the fans had been waiting for, the Freedom Used Autos Fly By 40 for the Vores Compact Touring Series. A field of 41 cars was narrowed down to 27 started. With drivers giving away backpacks to kids, on track driver introductions, and the crowd doing the gentlemen start your engines, it was an electric atmosphere before the race even went green. Chris Jennings and Tim Cassidy paced the field to the green flag as fireworks went off behind turn four when the green flag flew! Jennings would jump out to the race lead with Cassidy falling back to third. For the first several laps of the race, over half of the field was nose to tail in a race that resembled a pack of cars at Daytona or Talladega. On lap 9, Cassidy made the move to second and set his sights on Jennings. One lap later, a scary accident would occur when Kyle Frame slowed in front of the field on the backstretch. Frame tried to get off the track but was hit by a car and sent spinning in front of the field. The ensuing pile-up would take out fast runners Kyle Frame, Josh Fults, Brandon Barcus, and Jay Workman.
When the race went back green, it continued to be a battle for the lead between Vores points leader Chris Jennings and Ona driver Tim Cassidy. With Cassidy right on Jennings bumper, Jennings would break on lap 16, giving the lead to Cassidy. Cassidy would then maintain a 3 car length lead over new second place runner Mark Mason for the next several laps until a caution flew on lap 24. On the restart, Cassidy and Mason would battle side by side for the lead with Cassidy holding off the challenge to maintain the lead. Cassidy kept a 3-4 car length lead over Mason as the leaders approached heavy lap traffic with 3 laps to go. The traffic forced Cassidy to go high, allowing Mason to get side by side with him for the lead in a frantic final few circuits. Lap traffic down low forced Mason up high, right on the bumper of Cassidy. The two were nose to tail for the lead coming to the white flag! Mason stayed within a car length of Cassidy, but wouldn’t be able to make a run as Tim Cassidy came across the checkered flag to take the win by 0.279 tenths of a second! Cassidy’s win saw the crowd erupt as the hometown driver beat the travelers with the Vores Series to take his first career Vores win. Mason finished in second with Trent Gossar third, Bo Hoelscher fourth, and Jake Albright fifth.
The Southern Ohio Speed INEX Legends Car Pro class took the track next for their 20 lap feature. Corey Steinbrecher and Cameron Gue battled side by side for the lead at the start with Steinbrecher taking the lead. Steve Swann would then get by Gue to move into second with Jerry Graley in third. The first caution flew on lap 7 for a Scott Martin spin. On the restart, things got wild for Thomas Crabtree as his car went hard into the turn one guardrail. Thankfully, Crabtree was ok. On the restart, Steinbrecher and Swann battled side by side for the lead with Swann making the pass on lap 8. A good battle then ensued between Steinbrecher and Graley for the second position. On lap 14, while battling side by side with Graley, Steinbrecher’s car wouldn’t turn heading into turn one as he went straight into the guardrail in a vicious accident that saw his car go airborne and nearly flip over. Thankfully, Steinbrecher was ok. On the restart, Swann held off a challenge from Jerry Graley for the first few laps and pulled away in the final laps to take his 5th win of the season and clinch the track championship! Graley finished second with Tyler Martin third, Cameron Gue fourth, and Joe Workman fifth.
Drama occurred before the race even started in the 25 lap Keaton’s Collision Center Late Model feature as 16 year old Laci Minton’s car caught fire on the final pace lap. Minton would pull into the infield as fire crews extinguished the flames, but Minton would be done for the night. On the start, Kenny Parsons took the lead with Brad Coons quickly moving into second. Drama would then occur with Coons as he pulled off the track coming off of turn 4 before lap one could be complete with mechanical problems. On track, Jake Keaton quickly passed New York driver Rick Giannano to move into second and set his sights on Parsons. On lap 4, Keaton passed Parsons and pulled away up front to lead the remaining laps and take his seventh win of the season and clinch the track championship! Parsons finished second with Giannano third, Mike Burcham fourth, and John Morton fifth.
The final race of the night was the 25 lap McCam Builders Modified feature. Andy Booten took the lead at the start with Steve Hass in second. The top 2 battled nose to tail for the lead with Jeremy Cooper and Jason Garrett two cars on the move with Cooper moving into third and Garrett fourth. As the laps wore on, Cooper caught up to Booten and Hass to make it a 3 car battle for the lead! The top 3 drivers were all nose to tail for the lead, giving each other slight bumps to try to make the other driver loose. Jason Garrett then caught up to the battle to make it a four car, nose to tail battle for the lead! On lap 21, things got wild as with the front four drivers all pushing each other, Booten and Hass would spin, bringing out the caution. With it impossible to charge the caution to one driver, track officials made the call to give all drivers their spots back and do a complete restart. On the restart, Booten would hold off more strong challenges from Hass to lead the remaining laps and claim his third win of the season! Hass finished second with Cooper third, Wes Smith fourth, and Jamie Womack fifth.
The Ona Speedway will be back in action on Saturday, September 11th for the Greg Chandler Frame & Body Season Championships. This will be the final points race of the season as the Keaton’s Collision Center Late Models, McCam Builders Modifieds, Greg Chandler Frame & Body Sport Mods, Rocky Top’s Pizza Street Stocks, McCam Builders Classic Cars, Southern Ohio Speed INEX Legends Car Pro, Keaton’s Collision Center INEX Legends Car Semi-Pro, and Chandler Auto Performance Crazy Compacts will all be in action. With all classes running, earlier start times will be utilized with pit gates opening at 1:00 pm, practice from 1:00 pm until 4:00 pm, general admission gates opening at 4:00 pm, qualifying at 5:00 pm, and racing at 6:00 pm. General admission is only $10 for ages 15 and up, $5 for ages 11-14, and free for ages 10 and under. All access pit passes are $30 for ages 15 and up, $15 for ages 11-14, and free for ages 10 and under. There will be an open practice night on Thursday, September 9th from 5:00 pm until dark.
For more information visit www.onaspeedway.com.
Complete Results
Vores Compact Touring Series
Fast Qualifier-Brandon Barcus, 20.272
B-Main-Jay Workman, Tony Barcus, Danny Cascioli, Shane Reed, T. J. Fannin, Nicholas Meade, Jeff Vore, Aaron Teegarden, Brett Smith, Phil Iliff, Bubba Kincaid, Will Jennings, Yogi Metz (DNS: Joe Workman, Danny Keyser) (B-Main Lap Leaders: Yogi Metz 1-8, Tony Barcus 9-10, Jay Workman 11-20)
Freedom Used Autos Fly By 40-Tim Cassidy, Mark Mason, Trent Gossar, Bo Hoelscher, Jake Albright, Brent Sheffler, Terry Eaton Jr., Jacob Bell, Ron Sagers, Keith Watson, Shawn Frederick, Tony Barcus, Nick Fowler, Michael Hughart, Chris Wheeler, Danny Cascioli, Tom Gossar, Harvey Yoder, Stephen Kuhn, Chris Jennings, Chris Deskins, Derek Morris, Kyle Frame, Josh Fults, Brandon Barcus, Jay Workman, Reuben Fetty
Lap Leaders-Chris Jenning (1-15), Tim Cassidy (16-40)
Car Count-41
Keaton’s Collision Center Late Models
25 lap Feature-Jake Keaton, Kenny Parsons, Rick Giannano, Mike Burcham, John Morton, Brad Coons (DNS: Laci Minton)
Lap Leaders-Kenny Parsons (1-3), Jake Keaton (4-25)
Car Count-7
McCam Builders Modifieds
25 lap Feature-Andy Booten, Steve Hass, Jeremy Cooper, Wes Smith, Jamie Womack, Jason Garrett, Jacob Bell, Joseph Pequrgnot (DNS: Benny Hickle)
Lap Leaders-Andy Booten (1-25)
Car Count-9
Greg Chandler Frame & Body Sport Mods
15 lap Feature-Rick Watson, Marty Powers, Jacob Parsons
Lap Leaders-Marty Powers (1-9), Rick Watson (10-15)
Car Count-3
Rocky Top’s Pizza Street Stocks
20 lap Feature-Chris Jividen, Kenny Chapman, Clark Perry, Tommy Rowe, James Jones, Jason Thompson, Randall Harvey, Justin Carter
Lap Leaders-Chris Jividen (1-20)
Car Count-8
Southern Ohio Speed INEX Legends Car Pro
20 lap Feature-Steve Swann, Jerry Graley, Tyler Martin, Cameron Gue, Joe Workman, Scott Martin, Corey Steinbrecher, Thomas Crabtree (DNS: Jake Keaton)
Lap Leaders-Corey Steinbrecher (1-7), Steve Swann (8-20)
Car Count-9
Keaton’s Collision Center INEX Legends Car Semi-Pro
20 lap Feature-Zach Steele, Matthew Martin, Will Geer, Dale Garrett, Newton Moore, Jay Dunlap, Adam Jeffrey, Rob Dunlap, Brad Bowen, Teddy Berry
Lap Leaders-Zach Steele (1-20)
Car Count-10
