ONA, WV-It was a perfect night for racing on Saturday, May 22nd for Southern Ohio Speed Night at Ona Speedway. 63 race cars and another big crowd gathered for what was a thrilling night of racing.
The night started with an exciting 8 lap heat race for the CRS Super Trucks that saw Matt Wilson win by just over a half second over a hard charging Brad Copen. The exciting heat race was a sign of what was to come later in the night when the CRS Super Trucks took to the track for their 35 lap feature.
The first feature race to take the track was the 20 lap feature for the McCam Builders Classic Cars. Brad Cooper stormed to the early race lead with Will Hass right behind Cooper in second. The two then battled side by side for the lead for several laps with Hass leading from the outside on lap 7 and then Cooper regaining the lead on lap 8. As the laps wore on, Cooper pulled out to a 4-5 car length lead as Hass now faced pressure from Tyler Brown for the second spot. Brown made the pass for second on lap 13 while Hass slowed with mechanical problems and pulled off the track on lap 14. By lap 15, Brown caught Cooper and looked to the high side to battle side by side for the lead! The two battled side by side for the lead for the remaining 5 laps with Cooper down low and Brown up high. On the final lap, the two were still side by side and were side by side coming off of turn four to the checkered flag! In a drag race to the finish line, Tyler Brown won by 0.037 hundreths of a second over Cooper in a photo finish! Cooper finished second with Cam McKinney third, Kenny McCallister fourth, and Hass in fifth. The race impressively had 5 lead changes in 20 laps.
The next race to hit the track was the 20 lap Keaton’s Collision Center Late Model feature. Defending track champion Kenny Parsons took the lead from the outside pole to lead lap one with Jake Keaton right on his bumper. The two battled nose to tail for the lead through turns one and two with Keaton looking to the inside of Parsons in turn 3. Off of turn 4 Keaton would take the race lead and dominate the rest of the race, taking his third Late Model feature win in a row! Jacob Bell finished second with Kenny Parsons third, Mike Burcham fourth, and John Morton in fifth.
Rookie driver Zach Steele took the lead to start the night’s 20 lap Keaton’s Collision Center INEX Legends Car Semi-Pro feature with Matthew Martin quickly moving into the second position to battle Steele for the lead. Martin would make the pass on lap 2 to take the lead while Steele stayed within a few car length of Martin. Behind Steele, an intense battle raged on for third between Thomas Bailey and Newton Moore. As the laps wore on, Martin and Steele stayed close in the battle for the lead with Bailey and Moore right behind Steele. With 3 laps to go, things got intense as Steele got slowed up passing a lap car, allowing Moore and Bailey to split Steele in a hair raising three wide moment! Moore moved into second with the daring three wide pass and set his sights on Martin. Martin would hold on to take his first career Ona Speedway win with Newton Moore only 0.319 tenths of a second behind in second! Bailey finished third with Steele fourth and Will Geer rounding out the top five in fifth.
Marty Powers and Chad Bailey had a thrilling battle for the lead for the first half of the 20 lap Greg Chandler Frame & Body Sport Mod feature. Powers took the lead at the start with Bailey right on Powers bumper. The two battled nose to tail for the lead for the first 9 laps with Bailey giving some bumps to Powers letting him know he was there. On lap 9, off of turn two, Bailey got the run he was looking for on Powers and looked to his inside in turn 3. Bailey would clear Powers and take the lead off of turn four and lead the races remaining laps to take his first win of the season! Powers finished second with Chris Smith third, Rick Watson fourth, and Jacob Parsons fifth.
The CRS Super Trucks then took back to the track for their exciting feature with Brandon Huff taking the lead at the start after a couple laps of side by side racing with Matt Wilson. Wilson didn’t let Huff get too far away though as only 1-2 car lengths separated the two in the battle for the lead during the first 10 laps. A lap 10 caution would setup a double file restart with Huff and Wilson battling side by side for the lead! After a couple laps of side by side racing Wilson cleared Huff and jumped to the lead. Mike Brooks then looked to battle Huff for second as he would take that spot. Huff would then face pressure from Brad Copen for third with Copen taking the third spot and setting his sights on Brooks for second. On lap 23, Copen made the pass for second and quickly set his sights on Wilson. Copen would get there a few laps later and battle Wilson for the lead! After a few laps of battling, Copen would take the lead on lap 27 to be the races third different leader! Wilson didn’t go away as he stayed close to Copen, but wouldn’t have enough to pass him as Copen came to the checkered flag to take the big win! Wilson finished second with Brooks third, Huff fourth, and Brian Taylor rounding out the top five in fifth. The top 3 finishers were separated by less than a second at the finish.
Chris Jividen stormed to the early race lead in the Rocky Top’s Pizza Street Stock feature with fast qualifier J. R. Webb quickly moving into second. Jividen and Webb would battle for the lead for the first several laps of the race with Webb making the pass for the lead on lap 6. Webb would lead the races remaining laps to come to the checkers and claim his first feature win of the season! James Jones finished second with Josh Ferrell third, Mike Moses fourth, and Clark Perry fifth.
Corey Steinbrecher and Jerry Graley battled side by side for the lead during the first three laps of the night’s 20 lap Southern Ohio Speed INEX Legends Car Pro feature with Graley clearing Steinbrecher to take the lead on lap 4. Steve Swann quickly passed Steinbrecher to move into second and caught right up to the bumper of Graley. Graley and Swann engaged in an intense battle for the lead for the remaining laps with Graley holding off Swann to take his first feature win of the season! Swann finished second with Steinbrecher third, Tyler Scott fourth, and Thomas Crabtree rounding out the top 5 in fifth. In what was a close, thrilling race all the way through, Graley’s margin of victory over Swann was 0.247 tenths of a second.
The final race of the night was the 30 lap McCam Builders Modified feature. Defending track champion Andy Booten took the lead from the outside pole with fast qualifier Hubie Hatfield quickly moving into the second position. Hatfield stayed right on Booten’s bumper during the races early stages with teammates Jake Keaton and Jason Garrett engaging in a battle for third. Garrett would make the pass on Keaton to move into third with Womack following Garrett on the inside to move into fourth and shuffle Keaton back to fifth. As the race reached the halfway mark, the top 5 cars were all nose to tail with each other with Hatfield right on the bumper of Booten for the lead! Hatfield gave the bumper to Booten several times to let him know he was there as the two stayed nose to tail lap after lap in a thrilling race!
With 7 laps to go, Booten and Hatfield made slight contact battling hard for the lead with both cars getting crossed up. Both drivers saved the cars and stayed in their spots as Hatfield rallied another charge on Booten. Hatfield caught right back up to Booten with 3 laps to go. Hatfield looked to make his move underneath of Booten off of turn four but just barely clipped the infield grass, getting his car loose. This allowed Booten to get away by a few car lengths with Garrett now right on the bumper of Hatfield for second. Coming to the white flag, Garrett looked low coming of turn four on Hatfield as the two battled side by side for the spot into turn one with Garrett making the pass. Garrett charged hard on Booten on the final lap but wouldn’t have enough to get to him as Booten came across the checkers to take his first win of the season! Garrett finished second with Hatfield third, Womack fourth, and Keaton fifth. Booten’s margin of victory was 0.283 tenths of a second in what was a close, thrilling race all the way through.
The Ona Speedway will be in action next on Saturday, June 5th for Throwback Night featuring Keaton’s Collision Center Late Models, McCam Builders Modifieds, Greg Chandler Frame & Body Sport Mods, 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. General admission is only $10 for ages 15 and up, $5 for ages 11-14, and free for ages 10 and under. Pit passes are $30 for ages 15 and up, $15 for ages 11-14, and free for ages 10 and under. The track will host an open practice night on Thursday, June 3rd from 5:00 pm until dark with pit passes for that only $5 and the cost to practice a race car $20. For more information visit www.onaspeedway.com.
Complete Results
CRS Super Trucks
Fast Qualifier-Brad Copen, 18.598
Heat-Matt Wilson, Brad Copen, Mike Brooks, Brandon Huff, Brian Taylor, Bernie Gerber (DNS: Jason Tolliver)
35 lap Feature-Brad Copen, Matt Wilson, Mike Brooks, Brandon Huff, Brian Taylor, Jason Tolliver, Bernie Gerber
Lap Leaders-Brandon Huff (1-11), Matt Wilson (12-26), Brad Copen (27-35)
Car Count-7
Keaton’s Collison Center Late Models
20 lap Feature-Jake Keaton, Jacob Bell, Kenny Parsons, Mike Burcham, John Morton
Lap Leaders-Kenny Parsons (1), Jake Keaton (2-20)
Car Count-5
McCam Builders Modifieds
Fast Qualifier-Hubie Hatfield, 18.413
30 lap Feature-Andy Booten, Jason Garrett, Hubie Hatfield, Jamie Womack, Jake Keaton, Steve Hass, Jeremy Cooper, Greg Chandler, Marty Powers, Wes Smith (DNS: Charles Grass)
Lap Leaders-Andy Booten (1-30)
Car Count-11
Greg Chandler Frame & Body Sport Mods
20 lap Feature-Chad Bailey, Marty Powers, Chris Smith, Rick Watson, Jacob Parsons
Lap Leaders-Marty Powers (1-8), Chad Bailey (9-20)
Rocky Top’s Pizza Street Stocks
Fast Qualifier-J. R. Webb, 19.284
25 lap Feature-J. R. Webb, James Jones, Josh Ferrell, Mike Moses, Clark Perry, Tommy Rowe, Chris Jividen
Lap Leaders-Chris Jividen (1-5), J. R. Webb (6-25)
Car Count-7
McCam Builders Classic Cars
20 lap Feature-Tyler Brown, Brad Cooper, Cam McKinney, Kenny McCallister, Will Hass
Lap Leaders-Brad Cooper (1-6), Will Hass (7), Brad Cooper (8-16), Tyler Brown (17), Brad Cooper (18), Tyler Brown (19-20)
Car Count-5
Southern Ohio Speed INEX Legends Car Pro
Fast Qualifier-Steve Swann, 19.823
20 lap Feature-Jerry Graley, Steve Swann, Corey Steinbrecher, Tyler Scott, Thomas Crabtree, Jason Tolliver, Tyler Martin, Joe Workman, Scott Martin, Evan Proctor, Steven Partin (DNS: Cameron Gue)
Lap Leaders-Corey Steinbrecher (1-3), Jerry Graley (4-20)
Car Count-12
Keaton’s Collision Center INEX Legends Car Semi-Pro
Fast Qualifier-Newton Moore, 20.498
20 lap Feature-Matthew Martin, Newton Moore, Thomas Bailey, Zach Steele, Will Geer, Brad Bowen, Dale Garrett, Chad Watson, Jay Dunlap, Adam Jeffrey, Mike Hall (DNS: Wylie Jeffrey)
Lap Leaders-Zach Steele (1), Matthew Martin (2-20)
Car Count-12
