Pendleton victorious at Columbus
Saturday, August 8th, 1998
Columbus Motor Speedway
August 8 - Chad Pendleton of Grove City, Ohio returned to OVDCA competition over the weekend in a borrowed car, and picked up where he left off, winning both the heat and feature races at Columbus Motor Speedway. Bill Hostetler of MidWest Distributor, a Pro Chassis dwarf car dealer from West Liberty, Ohio loaned one of his cars to Pendleton for the night's event. Pendleton has been competing at the central Ohio oval in the Nation's Best Rental (formally Sam's Rental) sportsman late model car for the past month, with several heat wins and top ten feature finishes to his credit.
Twenty five dwarfs filled the pits at Columbus. Several new cars were present, as Ed Barok debuted his #63 sedan, and Larry Janney and Bob Miller brought out their new Jaxports #111. Sam Stump competed in his first OVDCA event in the #21 formally driven by Pendleton.
Heat race one went to West Virginia's Bill Vargo, who has consistently performed well at Columbus over the years. He was followed by Wayne Fitzpatrick, current OVDCA rookie points leader Mike Weisberg, and Shawn Stevens. Stevens looked strong in only his second outing for the season. Spence Stearns rounded out the top five in this caution free race.
Rob Liaeff and Bill Hostetler paced the pack to the start of heat two, but could not hold off Pendleton who started in the inside, second row position. Jeff Staggers was able to find his way past Hostetler for second, while Jason Glick moved from seventh to fourth at the checkered, followed by Max Evans in fifth.
The pill draw for starting positions placed Vargo and Weisberg on the front row, with Pendleton outside row two. At the drop of the green Pendelton again showed the driving talent he has displayed all year long, as he took the borrowed car directly to the front. Weisberg, Hostetler and Fitzpatrick waged a heated battle behind the leader. A spin by Hostetler on lap six brought the pack back together. However, as the green fell, Pendleton once again moved out to an advantage. Glick sent notice that he was a force to be reckoned with, moving from his eighth starting spot to battle with Weisberg and Fitzpatrick for second. Stevens, Staggers, Vargo and Gary Denis made up the second pack, dicing and swapping positions on each lap. Greg Watson, Scott Botkin, Mike Sell, and Max Evans also formed a tight group, fighting for the remaining top ten positions.
Hostetler's charge back to the front after his spin was cut short on lap 12, when he made contact with Watson, launching off Watson's front wheel and flipping several times. Neither Hostetler or Watson were injured, but both were done for the night.
The remaining laps saw two exciting duels develop behind the leaders, as Weisberg, Glick and Fitzpatrick sliced through lapped traffic battling for position. Just behind were the cars of Staggers, Vargo and Stevens, waging a battle of their own. As Pendleton took the checkered flagon his seventh OVDCA feature win of the season, Weisberg was able to hold off Glick for second, while Fitzpatrick settled for fourth. Stevens made a mad dash on the last lap to secure fifth, ahead of Staggers and Vargo. Gary Denis had a strong run for eighth, while Botkin and Mike Sell rounded out the top ten.
Heat 1: Vargo, Fitzpatrick, Weisburg, Stevens, Stearns, Sell, Eagle, Rector, Stump, Jamison, Carter.
Heat 2: Pendleton, Staggers, Hostetler, Glick, Evans, Denis, Brown, Botkin, Watson, Barok, Leiaff.
Feature: Pendleton, Weisburg, Glick, Fitzpatrick, Stevens, Staggers, Vargo, Denis, Botkin, Sell, Stump, Rector, Jamison, Eagle, Watson, Hostetler, Evans, Carter, Brown, Barok, Leiaff, Stearns. DNS - Bernard, B. Miller, J. Miller