ONA, WV-Coming off one of the biggest weekend’s of the season with the 3rd Annual Yes Chevrolet/Yes Ford Cabin Fever Bash, the Ona Speedway near Huntington, WV will be back in action this Saturday, July 23rd for the One Way Septic Mid-Season Championships. This night will feature a super show with all 9 Ona Speedway weekly divisions in action for feature races only. Those divisions include the Keaton’s Collision Center Late Models, McCam Builders Modifieds, Bumper Pounding Street Stocks, Greg Chandler Frame & Body Sport Mods, Contempo Trophy & Awards UCAR’s, Southern Ohio Speed INEX Legends Car Pro, Geer Brother’s Body Shop INEX Legends Car Semi-Pro, and Snap Lawn & Handyman Crazy Compacts.
The One Way Septic Mid-Season Championships will focus heavily on the battles for the track championships as we inch closer towards the season championship races on Saturday, September 10th. With the dog days of summer upon us and points battles extremely close, there’s no doubt that how drivers finish on Saturday will set them up for the final summer stretch heading into September. Let’s take a look at how the points battles are shaping up in each class heading into Saturday’s mega night of racing:
Points System Explained
Before we go into the points battles for each class, let’s take a look at how the Ona Speedway points system works. First, drivers are only awarded points based upon their finish in their feature races. The winner receives 25 points while second place receives 23 points. From second on through the field, the points you receive decreases by 1 point per position. This essentially gives drivers 1 bonus point on each win while all other positions are worth 1 point between them.
Keaton’s Collision Center Late Model Preview
Jake Keaton has sat atop the Late Model point standings since April of 2021 and maintains his points lead heading into Saturday. Last season, Keaton’s points lead was a massive 16 points heading into the One Way Septic Mid-Season Championships which occurred on the same weekend as this year. This season, however, Keaton’s points lead is a narrow 5 points. Lexington, KY’s Gregg Carby, who is returning to racing after nearly 6 years, has been impressive in his return as he sits second in points. Carby, while chasing Keaton, is also engaged in a strong points battle for second with Jacob Bell only one point behind Carby and 6 points behind Keaton. 4 points races remain for the Late Models.
McCam Builders Modified Preview
The last points race back on June 25th saw a change at the top of the Modified point standings for the first time this season. With his second feature win in a row on June 25th, Jeremy Cooper has jumped atop the point standings by a narrow 2 points over Andy Booten. Both Cooper and Booten are the only two drivers to win races in the class this season . Booten has won the last two track championships in a row while Cooper won the 2019 track championship. This is setting up to be an intense battle between these two drivers the rest of the season that could easily come down to which driver ends up with the most race wins. Booten comes into Saturday with a lot of momentum after leading 39 of the 50 laps and finishing 3rd with the Midwest Modiifeds Tour at Ona last Saturday. Jason Garrett and Wes Smith both sit within 10 points of Cooper as Garrett is third 9 points back and Smith is fourth 10 points back. 4 points races remain for the Modifieds.
Bumper Pounding Street Stock Preview
Chris Jividen and Brett Carey have established themselves as the two drivers to beat in the Street Stocks this season and sit 1-2 in points. Heading into June 25th, Jividen held a 5 point lead over Carey. Carey, however, stormed to his first victory of the season on June 25th and has now cut Jividen’s points lead down to 3. Just like in the Modifieds, it could well come down to which driver ends up with the most race wins between Jividen and Carey. If those two drivers have any trouble, it could open the door up for Tommy Rowe to inch closer to the championship battle as he sits in third only 10 points back. Rowe has heated up over the past few races and scored his career best 2nd place finish in the non-points race last Friday. With only 3 points races remaining for the Street Stocks, the intensity meter will be all that much higher in what is an already intense battle between Jividen, Carey and Rowe.
Greg Chandler Frame & Body Sport Mod Preview
Tyler Brown’s season winning streak was snapped last Friday night in the non-points event by Chad Bailey, but Brown comes into Saturday with a 7 point lead over defending track champion Rick Watson. With only 3 points races remaining, a win by Brown on Saturday could make it where the only likely way he loses the track championship is having a DNF in one of the final two points races. For Watson and the rest of the field, they no doubt know that they are going to have to get a race win on Saturday to be in a situation where the championship battle is still in their control.
McCam Builders Classic Car Preview
With another victory last Friday night, Cam McKinney is now the only driver who has remained perfect on the season, winning every race he has competed in. McKinney, the 2020 champion, is having a break out season and has the largest points lead of any driver in any of the classes at 11 points. Another win on Saturday will no doubt put McKinney in a position to where the only likely way he would lose the track championship would be a string of DNF’s in the final two points races.
Contempo Trophy & Awards UCAR Preview
No points race is more chaotic and unpredictable than what is it is in the UCAR divisions. The top four drivers in points are only separated by four points. Nick Fowler had led the points all season, but Chris Deskins big win on June 24th has now but himself atop the point standings by a narrow 1 point over Fowler. Tim Cassidy sits third in points only 2 points behind Deskins while Keith Watson sits fourth in points only 4 points behind Deskins. With the championship battle so tight, none of these drivers can afford a bad race and they will all be racing each other hard to stay in front of each other. It will be a fun 25 lap feature on Saturday to see who will sit atop the point standings after the One Way Septic Mid-Season Championships.
Southern Ohio Speed INEX Legends Car Pro Preview
June 25th helped to turn the Legends Car Pro points battle upside down as for the first time since 2020, a driver other than Steve Swann now sits atop the point standings. With his win on June 25th, Tyler Martin now sits atop the point standings for the first time in his career. His points lead is as narrow as can be as he is only 1 point ahead of Swann. Jake Keaton sits third in points only 4 points behind while Matthew Martin sits fourth in points only 7 points behind. All drivers in the top three in points have won races this season. With only 3 points races remaining, the racing action is sure to be hot and heavy on Saturday.
Geer Brother’s Body Shop INEX Legends Car Semi-Pro Preview
Despite being involved in the horrific accident on June 25th, Will Hass is still the points leader in the Legends Car Semi-Pro class heading into Saturday. Hass’ points lead has been narrowed up however as a first career win by Dale Garrett back on June 25th now has Garrett only 3 points behind Hass. Adam Jeffrey, the other driver involved in the horrific accident on June 25th, still sits third in points and is only 6 points behind Hass in the battle for the track championship. These three drivers have been all over each other all season long with Saturday shaping up to be another exciting battle with only 3 points races remaining for the class.
Snap Lawn & Handyman Crazy Compact Preview
No class has had more parity than the Snap Lawn & Handyman Crazy Compacts with four different winners in four races. No points battle is closer than what it is in the Crazy Compact division as Evan Proctor and Stacie Watson are tied for the points lead. These two drivers have had great battles all season long and will no doubt be battling each other hard on Saturday to see who will sit atop the point standings after the One Way Septic Mid-Season Championships. David Harris (3rd in points, 9 points back) and Rex Burton (4th in points, 10 points back) will be looking to gain on the front two with 4 points races remaining.
Times & Admission Prices
With all the tight points battles and how incredible the racing has been this season, Saturday will be a can’t miss race! Pit gates will open at noon with general admission gates opening at 4 pm. The start time will be earlier due to all the classes running as racing will start at 6 pm. A complete raceday schedule is posted on the event tab on the website. General admission is only $15 (ages 15 and up), $10 (ages 11-14), and free for ages 10 and under. Race fans can upgrade their experience with an all access pit pass which is $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.
