ONA, WV-72 cars from 6 different states packed the pit area at the Ona Speedway on Saturday, October 28th for the tracks biggest race of the year, the Yes Chevrolet/Yes Ford Mountaineer 100. A morning rain shower less than an hour before practice was scheduled to start delayed the start of practice by over 3 hours, but Ona officials persevered and the racing started just a tad over an hour past the original scheduled start time.
The night started with the 25 lap Mays Tire & Service Center/Jeffrey Trucking Legends Car feature. Tyler Martin and Jason Garrett battled side by side for the lead at the start with Garrett using highside momentum to clear Martin and claim the lead. During the early stages of the race, Garrett pulled away from the field. However, as the race got into the later stages, second place runner Martin appeared to pick up speed and stayed within a half second of Garrett. On a green white checkered restart to end the race, Garrett would narrowly hold off Martin to claim his third feature win on the season! Martin finished second with Ethan Truell third, Dale Garrett fourth, and Matthew Martin fifth.
Tommy Rowe and Jason Mahaffey battled side by side for the lead at the start of the nights 40 lap Haunted Majestic Street Stock feature. On lap two, the two drivers would make contact into turn one with Mahaffey slamming the outside guardrail hard. He would be uninjured but would retire from the race. On the restart, Rowe and Marty Powers battled for the lead for the next several laps. Powers looked to Rowe’s inside going into turn one on lap 7 as the two made contact with Powers getting by Rowe to take the lead. Rowe would then get passed by Kenny Chapman and Tyler Parker. Powers would pull away up front, but behind Powers the racing through the field was among the most exciting seen all season. Powers would lead the remaining laps to come across the checkered flag and claim his first feature win on the season! Chapman finished second with Parker third, Jason Salmons fourth, and Jason Skeens fifth.
Brad Coons and Jake Keaton battled for the lead to start the nights 40 lap All Season’s Powersports Late Model feature. Coons led lap one with Keaton right on his bumper. On lap two, going into turn three, Keaton and Coons made contact with Coons spinning. Coons retired from the race while Keaton had to go to the tail. This left the lead to Chad Pendleton who led at the restart with Don Mahaffey behind him in second. With it calm up front, Keaton worked his way through the field, which was the largest Late Model field seen at Ona in several years. While battling with Jim Newman, the two drivers made heavy contact on the backstretch on lap 6 which resulted in both Keaton and Newman being done for the night.
When the race resumed, Pendleton and Mahaffey continued to pull away in the top two while the racing through the field was intense between Gregg Carby, Carson Lucas, Ryan Fleming and Jess Drook. The trio put on some of the most exciting Late Model racing of the year. While battling for third, Carby and Lucas made contact with both drivers wrecking into the frontstretch guardrail. Carby would continue on while Lucas went off on the wrecker. On the restart, Pendleton led the remaining laps to come across the checkered flag and take his third feature win of the season! Mahaffey finished second with Fleming third, Drook fourth, and Carby fifth.
Jeremy Cooper took the lead to start the Yes Chevrolet/Yes Ford Mountaineer 100 for the Patriot Meat Processing Modifieds. With Cooper leading, second place qualifier Matt Dimit quickly moved into second and put pressure on Cooper. In the early stages of the race, Cooper, Dimit, Brian Nester, Brad Yelton, Wes Smith, and Doug Meyer all battled nose to tail up front. Laps 14-16 saw a furry of cautions that slowed down the race. On lap 16, while under the red flag to clean up an accident, Cooper pulled into the hot pit with a broken shock bolt. In what was heartbreak for the driver who led 67 laps in last years race, Cooper wouldn’t be able to make it back out and would be done for the race. This left Dimit with the race lead.
On the restart, Dimit continued with the lead with Brad Yelton close behind him in second. The race went mostly green until a yellow flew on lap 48 for a John White spin. This would count as the official halfway break. Under the restart, heartbreak again occurred as Brian Nester was forced to pull out of the race with engine problems. When the race resumed, Dimit continued with the lead while fast qualifier Doug Meyer continued to move up through the field. By lap 61 Meyer was in third, then he quickly moved into second and set his sights on Dimit. The longer the race wore on, the more Meyer caught up to Dimit as they would end up bumper to bumper in the battle for the lead! While the two leaders battled, the races final caution would occur on lap 89 as Benny Hickle stopped on track. On the restart, Dimit would hold off Meyer and lead the remaining laps to claim his third consecutive Yes Chevrolet/Yes Ford Mountaineer 100! Meyer finished second with Bob Sibila third, Wes Smith fourth, and Chris Johnson fifth.
The final race of the night was the 35 lap Contempo Trophy & Awards UCAR feature. Tim Cassidy would get the lead with Nick Fowler in second. Cassidy led lap one while on lap two the two would make contact with Cassidy spinning. Cassidy would get his spot back while Fowler would go to the tail. On the restart, fast qualifier Jay Workman used the highside to get around Cassidy and lead lap two. While up front, Workman would pull away. The battles through the field were intense though as Fowler continued working his way through the field and would make it all the way to second! Workman would lead all the remaining laps to claim his third feature win on the season! Fowler finished second with Cassidy third, Erik Johnson fourth, and Nicholas Meade fifth.
That would conclude what has been an excellent 2023 60th Anniversary Season at Ona Speedway. The speedway wants to thank all fans, race teams, and sponsors for all of their support in making the season great. Stay tuned during the offseason for exciting 2024 season announcements by following our Facebook page and our website at www.onaspeedway.com.
Complete Results
Patriot Meat Processing Modifieds
Fast Qualifier: Doug Meyer, 17.997
Yes Chevrolet/Yes Ford Mountaineer 100: Matt Dimit, Doug Meyer, Bob Sibila, Wes Smith, Chris Johnson, Josh Artis, Bubba Smith, Erik Fowlkes, Chris Parker, Mick Zile, Brad Yelton, Benny Hickle, Steve Hass, Brian Nester, John White, Jeremy Cooper, Norm Taylor, Randy Armes Jr., Thomas Mays, Jerry Stapleton, Rob Dunlap, Adam Keasling (DNS: Aiden Coons)
Lap Leaders: Jeremy Cooper (1-16), Matt Dimit (17-100)
Car Count: 23
All Season’s Powersports Late Models
Fast Qualifier: Jake Keaton, 17.946
40 lap Feature: Chad Pendleton, Don Mahaffey, Ryan Fleming, Jess Drook, Gregg Carby, Kenny Parsons, Mike Burcham, Laci Minton, Carson Lucas, Joe Fihe, Jake Keaton, Jim Newman, Brad Coons
Lap Leaders: Brad Coons (1-2), Chad Pendleton (3-40)
Car Count: 13
Haunted Majestic Street Stocks
Fast Qualiifer: Jason Mahaffey, 19.473
40 lap Feature: Marty Powers, Kenny Chapman, Tyler Parker, Jason Salmons, Jason Skeens, Tommy Rowe, Devin Glessner, Todd Griggs, Chris Jividen, Mike Christy, John Haney, Jason Mahaffey (DNS: Clinton Thompson)
Lap Leaders: Tommy Rowe (1-6), Marty Powers (7-40)
Car Count: 13
Mays Tire & Service Center/Jeffrey Trucking INEX Legends Cars
Fast Qualifier: Tyler Martin, 19.564
25 lap Feature: Jason Garrett, Tyler Martin, Ethan Truell, Dale Garrett, Matthew Martin, Adam Jeffrey, Randall Cline, Frank Lusher, Teddy Berry, Austin Sams
Lap Leaders: Jason Garrett (1-20)
Car Count: 10
Contempo Trophy & Awards UCAR’s
Fast Qualifier: Jay Workman, 19.723
35 lap Feature: Jay Workman, Nick Fowler, Tim Cassidy, Erik Johnson, Nicholas Meade, David Adkins, Jake Burgoff, Joe Workman, Evan Strickland, Michael Litchfield, Will Jennings, Brett Smith (DNS: Keith Watson)
Lap Leaders: Tim Cassidy (1), Jay Workman (2-35)
Car Count: 13
