2000 Ohio Valley Dwarf Car Association Results
Saturday, May 13, 2000
Shady Bowl Speedway
DeGraff, Ohio
Hostetler Takes First Feature at Shady Bowl
by Shawn Sell
Coming in at the age of 68 years young, West Liberty's Bill Hostetler showed he still has what it takes by winning the Ohio Valley Dwarf Car Association's season opener at Shady Bowl Speedway. The victory was the first career dwarf car feature win for the former sprint car driver, as Hostetler topped a field of 16 dwarfs and held off the challenges of Mark Bernard and Mike Weisberg.
Bringing the field to the green were Mike Sell in his new #03 Mid-Ohio Harley Davidson Pro Chassis car and Bernard in his newly painted ride. Sell took the lead early with Bernard and 1998 OVDCA champion Wayne Fitzpatrick right behind. Bernard took the lead on the event's second lap before the first caution of the evening waved at the conclusion of that lap. Coming out of turn four Fitzpatrick appeared to make contact with Sell spinning the latter out and sending both to the tail. On the restart, West Liberty's Keith Bailey spun coming out of turn four, producing a three-car pile-up. Spence Stearns, out for the opener after just one appearance in '99, ran out of room and hit Bailey. Fitzpatrick too, ran out of room and hit the back of Stearns before taking a hard hit into the front chute wall and then caroming into the inside wall between turns one and two. Neither Stearns nor Fitzpatrick were hurt, but both were finished for the night.
After the brief red flag period, action resumed with Bernard out front followed by Hostetler, Max Evans, Weisberg and Bob Miller. Weisberg passed Evans for third on lap 3, with Miller getting by the OVDCA president on lap 5. The best battle on the track though was up front as Hostetler constantly pressured Bernard. Hostetler took the lead for laps 8 and 9 before the Marysville driver regained the lead on lap 10. Also moving through the pack were Brad Coons, a rookie in '99, who was forced to start in the next to last row after a twisted drive shaft in his heat, and Sell on the tail after his spin. Coons was up to sixth place by lap 10 with Sell just two positions behind him.
Hostetler regained the advantage on lap 11 and continued to hold off Bernard until the inconceivable hit Bernard just three laps from the checkered. After slowing considerably on lap 17, the caution flag flew a lap later as Bernard came to a stop between turns three and four with a broken throttle cable. With the end just a couple of laps away, the top five showed Hostetler still out front with Weisberg, Miller, Evans, and Sell, who had passed Coons for sixth on lap 15 before inheriting the fifth spot after Bernard pulled off. After Sell, all the other cars stood at least one lap down. Poised for a run at the top three, Sell experienced problems on the restart, coasting for one lap before pulling off on the last lap with a dead battery.
The final lap produced some excitement as Hostetler slipped coming out of turn four, before barely edging out Weisberg and Miller at the line. Evans produced one of the best runs of his career coming home in fourth. Coons, the victim of three blown engines in '99, easily produced his career-best finish coming home fifth. Chasing Coons were Mike Rector, a feature winner at Jackson two weeks ago and rookie Gordon Schwarz in his OVDCA debut. Eighth place was awarded to Sell as he finished only one lap down after pulling off. Rounding out the top ten were rookie Josh Sell in his dwarf car debut and Toledo's Jerry Davis.
Heat race action produced two caution-free races with Bernard and Hostetler taking the wins. The first heat was all Bernard as he took off from outside the second row to take the win. Evans was able to hold off Fitzpatrick for second with fourth place going to Miller. In the second heat, Greg Watson and M. Sell brought the field to the green with Sell taking the early advantage. Sell was able to hold off the hard charging Hostetler for six laps before slipping in turn two on lap 7, allowing the driver of the #9H car to take the lead and the win. Sell held on for second ahead of Weisberg and Rector.
The OVDCA returns to action on June 17 with a return trip to Shady Bowl for a show with the NAMARS Rally Trucks.
Heat 1: 1. Bernard 2. Evans 3. Fitzpatrick 4. Miller 5. Bailey 6. Schwarz 7. Stearns 8. Davis
Heat 2: 1. Hostetler 2. M. Sell 3. Weisberg 4. Rector 5. J. Sell 7. Watson 8. King 9. Coons
Feature: 1. Bob Hostetler 2. Mike Weisburg 3. Bob Miller 4. Max Evans 5. Brad Coons 6. Mike Rector 7. Gordon Schwarz 8. Mike Sell 9. Josh Sell 10. Jerry Davis 11. Mark Bernard 12. Keith Bailey 13. Mike King 14. Spence Stearns 15. Wayne Fitzpatrick DNS-Watson