1999 OVDCA/Ohio Caverns Touring Series Results
Sunday, September 5, 1999
Shady Bowl Speedway
DeGraff, Ohio
Altiers Wins Ohio Caverns Cup in First Dwarf Start
by Shawn Sell
Matt Altiers made the most of his opportunity to drive the Larry Janney-owned Jaxports car, capturing the win in both heat and feature race action. Altiers, a street stock regular at Muskingum County Speedway, was filling in for current points leader Jason Eddy on this night, and was able to hold off a strong field of dwarfs in his first start in a dwarf car.
Bringing the field to the green to start the second annual Ohio Caverns Cup were Mark Bernard of Marysville, and the Midwest Distributor-sponsored #9H of Bill Hostetler. The complexion of the race changed dramatically before a lap could be completed, as former Shady Bowl winner Ed Vallette pulled off, suffering from unidentified mechanical problems and ending the evening early for the Ron Stevens-owned machine. Taking control at the green was Bernard followed by Hostetler and Greg Watson. The standings remained the same until lap 4 when Altiers started his march to the front. Altiers picked off Watson and Hostetler for second on that lap and took the lead away from Bernard just a lap later.
Further back in the pack, great battles were occurring all over the track. Mike Sell and Wayne Fitzpatrick, forced to start further back in the field then they would have liked after an incident in their heat race, were moving through the pack and fielding a great battle of their own. Fitzpatrick, who started 13th in the field was up to 8th after two laps, right on the bumper of Sell who moved up two positions from his 9th position starting spot. Sell was able to take over 6th from Mike Weisberg on lap 5 before losing the position to Fitzpatrick two laps later.
At the head of the pack, Hostetler moved past Bernard for second on lap 8 before the only caution of the event flew a lap later as Parkersburg West Virginia�s Randy Tripplett slowed tremendously due to a clutch problem. On the restart, Altiers once again took off, leaving the field to fight it out for the remaining top 5 positions. As the laps clicked away, Sell and Weisberg took advantage of a near spin by Fitzpatrick on lap 11 to move up to the 5th and 6th positions, respectively. In front of that battle Watson was on a tear, moving past Bernard for third with two laps to go. At the checker it was Altiers in front with the second through fifth positions in a tight pack behind him. Hostetler held off the rest of the pack to bring home his best finish of the year in second, Watson was right on his bumper in third place, with Bernard and Sell in a close call for fourth and fifth. Just behind that group was Weisberg in 6th place, followed by Max Evans, Mike Rector and Keith Bailey rounding out the top 10.
In early race action, Vallette and Altiers took the checker in the evening�s two heat races. Heat number one started with a great battle up front between Fitzpatrick and Sell. That battle was cut short on lap 2 however, as Fitzpatrick and Sell came together, spinning both cars. As the two drivers took their positions on the tail, Vallette inherited the lead followed by Tripplett and Watson. The final standings showed the top three just that way, with Sell and Fitzpatrick able to recover for 5th and 7th respectively. In heat number two, Altiers jumped into the lead from the pole and never looked back, holding off Bernard and Hostetler to take the win.
The chase for the Ohio Valley Dwarf Car Association championship remained relatively the same despite the absence of point leader Eddy. Hostetler�s runner-up finish kept him just ahead of Watson, but by a margin of only nine points. Bernard continues to chase his cousin from the fourth spot followed by Evans and Sell. Fitzpatrick�s return to action keeps him in 7th with Bailey just behind him. Rounding out the top 10 are Rector and dirt-track specialist Tracy Fritter. The OVDCA visits Jackson County Speedway for the final dirt track race of the season on September 18, before winding up the season on Sunday afternoon, October 3 at Shady Bowl Speedway.
Heat 1: Vallette, Tripplett, Watson, Weisberg, Sell, Rector, Fitzpatrick, Hubbard.
Heat 2: Altiers, Bernard, Hostetler, Evans, Bailey, J. Miller, Wilcox.
Feature: Altiers, Hostetler, Watson, Bernard, Sell, Weisberg, Fitzpatrick, Evans, Rector, Bailey, J. Miller, Hubbard, Wilcox, Tripplett. dns-Vallette