Dennis O'Neil was born on August 30th, 1954, and is residing in nearby Eaton Rapids, Michigan with his wife Sherry. He has a daughter, Dawn, from Colorado who graduated from law school in December 2006. His daughter Taera and her husband Devon Witherell also live in Eaton Rapids but will be moving soon to the Detroit area so Devon can pursue his P.H.D. at Wayne State University. His son J.T. Leach of Holt works at Baker Drivetrain and is the bass player in the band "Forgotten Forgiveness".
Dennis is well-known in Eaton Rapids and the surrounding area with his own auto repair facility, O'Neil's Auto Repair.
To new spectators, Dennis will be a new face at Spartan Speedway and Springport Motor Speedway this year, but to our long-time fans, Dennis is no stranger to the speedways. Combined with the purchase of John Ward's 2006 Championship Pony Stock Dodge Shadow, Dennis is sure to be a top contender during 2007.
The car is sporting a different look and carries the #95 on the doors and roof now. Layered over the new paint scheme is O'Neil's Auto Repair, Joe's Body and Paint from Eaton Rapids, and Advance Auto Parts from Charlotte.
Dennis wants to thank his crew and help, Steve Wrenn, John Ward, and Glenn Caswell.
"I started going to the races with my parents at Capital City Speedway as a young boy. After that track closed we started going to Spartan Speedway. I met many of the racers and by age 13 was sneaking into the pits most nights. A sheriff deputy named Les would catch me and take me back to the spectator grandstands most nights. By age 16 I was a regular in the pits. At age 17 (1972) I owned and drove my first race car. It was a 1963 Chevy II in the Super Six class. I have never turned many heads at Spartan, never won a feature but usually managed to run in the top ten. I took 1974 - 1981 away from racing. In 1982 I raced a street stock at Spartan and Owosso. I have raced an IMCA modified in the late 80's and Hobby Stocks at Crystal in 1992-93 and in 94 I became the points champion there. I retired from racing at the end of the 1999 season. 2007 marks my return to racing and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it."