2000 Ohio Valley Dwarf Car Association Results
Saturday, July 8, 2000
Shady Bowl Speedway
DeGraff, Ohio
Adams Makes Long Haul, Short Work of Shady Bowl Field
by Shawn Sell
On a night when 22 dwarf cars packed the Shady Bowl pits, the night belonged to the youngest driver of all. 14-year old Josh "The Kid" Adams, who hauled five and a half hours to compete, was easily the car to beat as he dominated the field to take the win by a large margin in the third Ohio Valley Dwarf Car Association event of 2000.
Bringing the field to the green for the start were current OVDCA points leader Bill Hostetler and Bellefontaine resident Brad Coons. Hostetler jumped into the early lead with Grand Blanc, Michigan's Rob Roney right behind. From the start, Adams was already on the move from his outside row three starting spot. The White House, Tennessee native took over second by lap four and was able to work the lead away from Hostetler just two laps later. Coons and Bob Miller moved past Roney on lap five, as Adams continued to check out from the rest of the field.
As the race passed the halfway point, Roney started his move back towards the front taking away third from Coons on lap 11. The battle for fifth was a great one behind Roney and Coons as 1998 OVDCA champion Wayne Fitzpatrick, Michigan's Corey Lewis, Mike Sell of Urbana and Miller battled it out tooth and nail. Roney was able to catch and pass Hostetler on lap 13 as the caution free laps ticked away.
By the checkered, Adams had lapped all but seven cars in the twenty-two-car field to take the win. Roney finished second after holding off Hostetler. Rounding out the top five were the rapidly improving Coons and Fitzpatrick, back after a hard wreck at Shady Bowl in May. After accepting the checkered flag, Adams performed a reverse victory lap in honor of fallen Winston Cup driver Kenny Irwin. Following Fitzpatrick in the final rundown were Lewis and Sell, the last two cars on the lead lap. Rounding out the evening's top ten were Miller in eighth place, Mike Weisberg and Mark Bernard, who started on the tail as part of the People's Savings and Loan Challenge.
With 22 cars on hand, the dwarfs were able to run three heat races for the first time in 2000. The field for heat one was brought to the green by a pair of rookies, Josh Sell and Gordon Schwarz. Sell took control at the green but was overtaken by the end of the first lap by his dad Mike. Mike Sell was able to lead the first two laps before Adams found his way to the front on lap three. By the end of the eight-lap affair, Adams was way out in front with Mike Sell able to hold off Lewis for second. Heat number two saw a great battle between Coons and Miller. Coons led the first four laps, before Miller made a pass for the lead and the win on lap five. Coons held onto second ahead of Toledo's Jerry Davis. The final heat produced a great preview of the feature, as Roney and Hostetler battled it out. Roney was able to lead all eight laps for the win with Fitzpatrick taking third.
With yet another top three run, Hostetler continues to lead in the chase for the 2000 OVDCA points championship. Mike Sell still sits second 18 points behind. Miller was able break the third place tie and now leads Bernard by ten points. Coons rounds out the top five. Six through ten show Mike Rector two points ahead of Max Evans for sixth, with rookie Josh Sell eighth, ahead of Weisberg and Mike King. The OVDCA returns to action on July 22 with another trip to Shady Bowl.
Heat 1: 1. Josh Adams 2. Mike Sell 3. Corey Lewis 4. Josh Sell
Heat 2: 1. Bob Miller 2. Brad Coons 3. Jerry Davis 4. Jack Morgan
Heat 3: 1. Rob Roney 2. Bill Hostetler 3. Wayne Fitzpatrick 4. Mark Bernard
Feature: 1. Josh Adams 2. Rob Roney 3. Bill Hostetler 4. Brad Coons 5. Wayne Fitzpatrick 6. Corey Lewis 7. Mike Sell 8. Bob Miller 9. Mike Weisburg 10. Mark Bernard 11. Mike Rector 12. Max Evans 13. Josh Sell 14. Jack Morgan 15. Henry Jones 16. Mike King 17. Jerry Davis 18. Gordon Schwarz 19. Shane Simmons 20. Dave Nance 21. Spence Stearns 22. Chris Gamble