August 18th is the anniversary of one of the most significant events in West Virginia motorsports history. It’s the anniversary of the night that a NASCAR event with the biggest stars in the sport, raced in the Mountain State for the very first time.
Relative to our population, we have more than our share of racing fans in our state. West Virginia consistently ranks at or near the top for NASCAR media interest and viewership per capita, despite having no active NASCAR racetracks within our borders.
But there was a time, not so long ago, that NASCAR’s best were put to the test here, at Ona Speedway, on August 18th, 1963. The new track, which in those days was known as the West Virginia International Speedway, had been opened for just a year, when an estimated crowd of just over 16,000 cheered when they dropped the green flag on the 3/8’s mile paved oval for the Mountaineer 300.
The field was peppered with legendary names like Richard Petty, Buck Baker, Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson, but it was the pole sitter, Fred Lorenzen, who had the fastest car that night, but not before some anxious moments on his way to the checkered flag.
Lorenzen bounced off the guard rail in turn two in his 1963 Fastback Ford after contact with another racer, and NASCAR points leader Joe Weatherly surged to the front. Weatherly built an eight second lead, but couldn’t hold it due to poor tires and Lorenzen roared back into the lead after a restart.
For the record, Lorenzen finished the race in one hour and 53 minutes with an average speed of just under 60 miles per hour.
Not exactly blazing speed, right? Well, there was a reason for that.
The average speed was so low because a lengthy crack opened in the pavement in turn one after 50 laps. The crack started as a thin line but was a gully by the end of the race. Cars had to slow down to protect their tires, but Lorenzen managed to straddle the trap.
Richard Petty was an early problem for Lorenzen. King Richard had the lead for a pair of laps, but Petty’s car began to smoke, as his Plymouth was losing grease in the rear end and after five minutes in the pits he returned to the track, but finished tenth.
For the win that night at Ona, Lorenzen earned $1,500 and a kiss from Miss West Virginia, Karen Childers of South Charleston.
Not a bad night’s work, I’d say.
The following year, the NASCAR boys returned for a race in August of 1964 and the track at Ona was now a 4/10ths mile oval. The Mountaineer 500 was won by Richard Petty, with Junior Johnson second.
But the pavement issues remained and NASCAR didn’t come back until the early 1970’s, for a pair of races when American Bandstand host Dick Clark was one of the owners at Ona.
The history of Ona Speedway is a fascinating tale for race fans. A history that once included plans for an expanded super speedway that would rival Darlington for high banking and perhaps higher speeds. But that’s a story for another day.