2000 Ohio Valley Dwarf Car Association Results
Saturday, June 17, 2000
Shady Bowl Speedway
DeGraff, Ohio
Bernard Holds Off Challengers For Shady Bowl Win
by Shawn Sell
Marysville's Mark Bernard was the victor in the latest Ohio Valley Dwarf Car Association event at Shady Bowl Speedway near DeGraff, Ohio. Bernard's win was far from easy as he had to hold off a hard charging Mike Sell in his Mid-Ohio Harley-Davidson-sponsored car.
With only ten cars on hand for the event, OVDCA officials decided to alter the evening's format, pairing the cars into a "fast heat" and a "slow heat", with the feature line-up coming from the heat results with no inversion. That format paired the evening's two heat winners, Sell and Brad Coons of Bellefontaine on the front row for the feature event. At the drop of the green, Sell had difficulty getting the car into gear, allowing Coons to jump into the lead followed by Bob Miller in the Marvin Sweazy-owned Bandit. The problems for Sell continued as he fell back to sixth place by the conclusion of the first lap.
The evening's first caution flew on the conclusion of lap two as previous Shady Bowl winner Bill Hostetler, starting on the tail as part of the People's Savings and Loan Challenge, lost the fuel cap off his car on the front stretch. With fuel spraying on the track, officials put Hostetler to the tail for the restart. On the restart, Miller moved around Coons to take the lead with Bernard right behind taking second. The second and final caution of the evening flew on lap four as Keith Bailey spun in turn one.
Racing resumed with Sell and Hostetler on the move. Sell recovered from his rough start to take third from Coons on lap five, with Hostetler up to sixth by the same lap. Misfortune struck Coons on lap six as a broken drive shaft ended the night early for the former go-kart racer. Up front the battle for the lead turned into a three-car battle as Bernard and Sell pressured Miller for the lead. Bernard took the lead for good on lap six, as Sell looked for a way around Miller for second. He found it on lap nine, as he began his chase of the leader Bernard. Hostetler also found his way around Miller on lap 15 of the 20-lap affair and once again turned the lead into a three-way battle.
As the laps clicked away, the leaders began entering lapped traffic, making the battle all that more exciting. By the checkered, Bernard was still out in front for his second career win at Shady Bowl. Sell held on for second, matching his career-best finish. After winning the dwarf's first event of the year, Hostetler took third ahead of Miller. Mike Rector rounded out the top five for his career-best asphalt finish and was chased closely by OVDCA president Max Evans. Rounding out the top ten were Bailey, rookie Josh Sell in 8th, Mike King and Coons.
The evening's first heat, featuring the five faster cars, was brought to the green by Bernard and Miller. Bernard jumped to the early lead followed by Miller and Sell. Bernard led the first four counters, with Sell sitting back patiently waiting for the right opportunity. It came in turn two on the event's fifth lap, as the Urbana driver passed the top two to take the lead and the win. Hostetler was able to work his way up to second with Miller taking third, followed by Bernard and Evans. Heat number two was paced at the beginning by Bailey as he led the first three laps. On lap four Coons took the lead and held off the charging Bailey for his first career dwarf car heat win. Rector finished third followed by King and Josh Sell.
Another top five run by Hostetler gives him an 18-point cushion in the point standings. An outstanding run by Mike Sell moved him up to second, a mere four points ahead of Miller and Bernard. Evans rounds out the top five. The dwarfs return to action on Harley-Davidson Night at the Races, July 8 at Shady Bowl.
Heat 1: 1. M. Sell 2. Hostetler 3. Miller 4. Bernard 5. Evans.
Heat 2: 1. Coons 2. Bailey 3. Rector 4. King 5. J. Sell.
Feature: 1. Mark Bernard 2. Mike Sell 3. Bill Hostettler 4. Bob Miller 5. Mike Rector 6. Max Evans 7. Keith Bailey 8. Josh Sell 9. Mike King 10. Brad Coons