ONA, WV-Night #1 of the 3rd Annual J. R.’s Frame & Body Firecracker Extravaganza is now complete. A fast field of 39 cars from three different states came to race on what turned out to be one of the most exciting race nights of the season.
The first race to hit the speedway was the 30 lap Keaton’s Collision Center Late Model feature. Brad Coons and Jake Keaton battled side by side for the lead at the start with Coons clearing Keaton after a couple of laps of side by side racing. Coons maintained a 3-4 car length lead in the races early stages while the racing for 4th-6th was intense between Bobby Fihe, Kenny Parsons, and Jacob Bell. The trio battled hard for those positions with a lot of side by side racing for much of the first 10 laps of the race. As the race reached it’s halfway mark, Coons stretched his lead on Keaton out to up to eight-tenths of a second. Over the next five laps, the leaders would start to hit lap traffic in Mike Burcham and John Morton as that is when the race really started to get interesting.
Coons put his #012 machine on the high side to try to pass the lap cars and slipped up, allowing Keaton to close and look to his inside to battled side by side for the lead! Coons was able to hold off Keaton as Keaton was blocked in by the lap cars while Coons still wasn’t able to pass the lap cars, keeping Keaton on his inside. The two leaders eventually cleared lap cars with Coons maintaining the lead and Keaton now right on Coons bumper. The two stayed bumper-to-bumper the next couple of laps as with 4 laps to go, Coons and Keaton made contact battling for the lead with Coons spinning off of turn four! Keaton was charged with the caution and would have to go to the tail while Coons maintained the lead. This set up a 4 lap dash to the checkers as Coons was able to hold off Keaton and take his first win of the season! Gregg Carby scored his best finish of the season in second with Jacob Bell third, Jake Keaton fourth, and Kenny Parsons fifth.
The win by Coons snapped a 12 race winning streak by Jake Keaton that started all the way back on May 1st, 2021. It was the first time a driver other than Jake Keaton won a Late Model race at Ona since October 17th, 2020 when then ARCA/CRA Super Series competitor Logan Runyon took the win. It also snapped a 14 race streak for Keaton finishing on the podium in the class as the last time he finished outside of the top three was a fourth place finish on September 12th, 2020.
Bradly Workman jumped to the lead to start the night’s 25 lap Snap Lawn & Handyman Crazy Compact feature with Evan Proctor and Stacie Watson engaged in an intense battle for the second position. Workman grew his lead all the way to 2.7 seconds before a caution flag flew on lap 10. On the restart, Workman continued with the lead while Watson was able to get by Proctor and set her sights on Workman. The two stayed close in a tight battle for the lead for the next several laps. As the race wore on, Workman started to stretch his lead and came to the checkers to claim his first career win! Watson finished second after a hard charge on the last lap to really cut into Workman’s lead while Proctor finished third, David Harris fourth, and Bill Arthur fifth.
A big twist was put on the night’s Contempo Trophy & Awards UCAR feature. The race distance was increased to 50 laps, making it the longest race in over 3 years for the class, and the entire field was inverted from their qualifying results. This put Dustin Higginbotham on pole to lead the fast 14 car field to the green. Higginbotham jumped to the lead at the start and led the races first two laps until Madison, WV’s David Adkins used the high side to pass Higginbotham and take the lead on lap three. 11 time track champion Keith Watson quickly made his way through the pack and passed Higginbotham to move into second and set his sights on Adkins. Watson caught Adkins and after several laps of battling for the lead finally made the pass on lap 11.
While Watson was leading, he quickly had company up front as fast qualifier Joe Workman, who started the race in 13th, now moved into the second position. A caution flag on lap 13 for debris then setup a double file restart with Watson and Workman on the front row. On the restart, Workman and Watson battled side by side with Workman finally able to make the pass on lap 16 to the roar of the crowd as it only took Workman 16 laps to pass 13 cars. As the laps wore on in the race, Workman began to stretch out his lead as Chris Deskins was now able to get by Watson and move into the second position. On lap 43, Deskins began cutting into Workman’s lead little by little. On lap 46, in a dramatic turn of events, Workman’s car slowed on track with a broken axle, allowing Deskins to pass him to take the lead! At the same time Workman slowed and Deskins took the lead, a caution flew for Jake Burdoff who hit the guardrail in turns 3 and 4, setting up a 4 lap dash to the checkered flag.
On the restart, Deskins was able to hold on the final four laps and come to the checkered flag to take his first win of the season in what was one of the most exciting races of the season! Watson finished second with Tim Cassidy third, Nick Fowler fourth, and Danny Keyser fifth. The race officially had four lead changes and five different leaders, meaning over 1/3 of the field led a lap during the race.
The final race of the night was the 30 lap Greg Chandler Frame & Body Sport Mod feature. Rick Watson and Tyler Brown engaged in a side by side battle for the lead at the start that lasted for multiple laps. Watson led lap one from the pole while Brown stayed side by side with him using the high side. High side momentum allowed Brown to lead lap two and after a couple more laps of side by side racing, Brown cleared Watson on lap four. Brown stretched out his lead to about 6 tenths of a second until a caution flew on lap 13. On the restart, Brown and Watson battled side by side for a couple laps with Brown clearing Watson and maintaining the lead while Justin Shanteau and J. R. Adkins had a great side by side battle for the third position.
Brown looked poised to take the race win as he stretched his lead out to about a second until the caution flag flew again on lap 23, setting up a 7 lap dash for the checkered flag. On the restart, Brown and Watson again battled side by side for a lap with Brown able to clear Watson. In the battle for third, Brad Cooper was able to get by Shanteau and take the position, setting up a good battle for those two for the final spot on the podium. Brown would lead the remaining laps to remain perfect on the season and win his third feature in a row! Watson finished second with Cooper third, Shanteau fourth, and James Jones fifth.
The Ona Speedway will be back in action tonight for Night #2 of the J. R.’s Frame & Body Firecracker Extravaganza and the Yes Chevrolet/Yes Ford Fireworks Show presented by Shaffer’s Drive-In and Bill & Lynn Bauer. McCam Builders Modifieds, Bumper Pounding Street Stocks, McCam Builders Classic Cars, Southern Ohio Speed Legends Car Pro, and Geer Brother’s Body Shop Legends Car Semi-Pro will make up the exciting racing card with the fireworks show following the races. Pit gates will open at 3 pm while general admission gates will open at 5 pm. Practice is at 4 pm with qualifying at 5:15 pm and racing at 7 pm. General admission 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 $30 for ages 15 and up, $15 for ages 11-14, and free for ages 10 and under.
For more information visit www.onaspeedway.com.
Complete Results
Keaton’s Collision Center Late Models
Fast Qualifier-Brad Coons, 18.186
30 lap Feature-Brad Coons, Gregg Carby, Jacob Bell, Jake Keaton, Kenny Parsons, Mike Burcham, John Morton, Bobby Fihe
Car Count-8
Lap Leaders-Brad Coons (1-30)
Greg Chandler Frame & Body Sport Mods
Fast Qualifier-Tyler Brown, 18.874
30 lap Feature-Tyler Brown, Rick Watson, Brad Cooper, Justin Shanteau, James Jones, Kassidee Bush, J. R. Adkins (DNS: Evan Proctor)
Lap Leaders-Rick Watson (1), Tyler Brown (2-30)
Car Count-8
Contempo Trophy & Awards UCAR’s
Fast Qualifier-Joe Workman, 20.200
50 lap Feature-Chris Deskins, Keith Watson, Tim Cassidy, Nick Fowler, Danny Keyser, David Adkins, Dustin Higginbotham, Jason Price, Joe Workman, Jay Workman, Jacob Burgoff, Reuben Fetty, Michael Hughart, Stephen Kuhn
Lap Leaders-Dustin Higginbotham (1-2), David Adkins (3-10), Keith Watson (11-15), Joe Workman (16-46), Chris Deskins (46-50)
Car Count-14
Snap Lawn & Handyman Crazy Compacts
Fast Qualifier-Bradly Workman, 21.606
30 lap Feature-Bradly Workman, Stacie Watson, Evan Proctor, David Harris, Bill Arthur, Rex Burton, Tommy Ross, James Saylor, Preston Hysell
Lap Leaders-Bradly Workman (1-25)
