2000 OVDCA Championship Recap
by Shawn Sell, OVDCA Director of Publicity
The 2000 season for the Ohio Valley Dwarf Car Association produced a year unlike any before. After five successful years utilizing the touring series format, the OVDCA settled down to one home track for the 2000 campaign. Also, for the first time in the OVDCA's history, no races on dirt tracks were held. Instead, Shady Bowl Speedway, the tricky 3/10 mile asphalt oval near DeGraff, Ohio was home to the OVDCA for all eight events on the schedule. Shady Bowl has also made a commitment to the future of the OVDCA, with approximately 18 dates earmarked for the dwarf cars on tap for the 2001 campaign.
Leading the way during the 2000 season was the ageless Bill Hostetler of West Liberty. The 68-year old former sprint car racer charged to his first dwarf car championship thanks to great consistency. Hostetler took the lead early on by winning his first dwarf car feature in the season opener on May 13, while picking up his only heat win of the year as well. From there, Hostetler reeled off six straight top five finishes to clinch the championship.
Finishing the year in second place in the chase for the 2000 championship was the driver who scored the biggest improvement from 1999. Bellefontaine's Brad Coons nearly called it a career after three blown engines in his rookie campaign. But 2000 was a completely different story for Coons. He sent notice that he would be a force with a fifth-place finish in the season opener. Coons took the first heat win of his career on June 17, with his second coming on September 2. The night of September 2 was quite memorable for Coons as he stormed to the feature win of his short career. Overall, Coons scored four top fives and six top ten's to finish second in the final point standings.
In third place in the final OVDCA point standings was 1998 Rookie of the Year and Cleveland native, Mike Weisberg. Like Coons, Weisberg scored four top five and six top finishes on the season. Weisberg's best finish of the year came with two runner-up finishes on May 13 and September 2.
Hot on Weisberg's heels was 1998 champion Wayne Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick recovered from a hard crash in the opener and a missed race to register four top fives and five top ten finishes. The Marengo resident scored his best finish of the year, a third-place run, on September 2, the same night he scored his lone heat win of the 2000 season.
Rounding out the top five in points was Urbana's Mike Sell. Hopes were high for Sell entering the year, as he debuted a new car in the season opener. However, an unheard of amount of bad luck and mechanical problems beset Sell for all of the 2000 season. Sell did manage a runner-up finish and a heat win on June 17, along with three other top ten's to secure a top five points finish. But three DNF's and two missed features took away from a promising season for Sell. At the conclusion of the season, Sell made the decision to step away from active driving next year to focus his efforts on the career of his son, Josh.
The younger Sell made his first season in dwarf car racing a memorable one by finishing sixth in the final points, only ten points behind his dad. Josh Sell raced to OVDCA Rookie of the Year honors on the strength of four top ten finishes, with a top finish of eighth coming twice, on June 17 and September 2. The 16-year old Urbana resident wrapped up his season in a strong manner, scoring the first checkered flag of his short career, by capturing the 10-lap B-Main in the season finale on September 30.
Finishing the year in seventh place in the final dwarf car point standings was Marysville's Mark Bernard. Bernard found mix results during 2000, with many other good runs ending abruptly due to bad luck. Bernard's 2000 highlight came with his second career feature win on June 17. Two heat wins came Bernard's way on May 13 and August 5. However, DNF's on four other occasions took away from a promising season for Bernard.
Despite running a limited schedule, Westerville's Bob Miller finished eighth in the final rundown. Driving for Marvin Sweazy, Miller registered two top fives and five top ten finishes for the year. Miller captured one heat win on July 8 and scored his best finish of the year, a third place run, on May 13.
In ninth place was Mount Vernon's Mike Rector. Rector showed great improvement during 2000, despite running a somewhat limited schedule. Rector picked up the best asphalt finish of his career on June 17, when he came home fifth. He also recorded three other top ten finishes to score his second straight top ten points finish.
Rounding out the top ten in points was rookie Gordon Schwarz. The Temperance, Michigan native showed steady improvement throughout the year with the best evening of his short career coming on July 22. Schwarz picked up his first career heat win that night and backed that up with a season-best finish of fifth. He also added four other top ten finishes to round out the year.
Two other young drivers made a huge impact on the OVDCA during the 2000 season. 14-year old Josh Adams, hauled five and a half-hours from Whitehouse, Tennessee to compete, and he did not disappoint. In five appearances, Adams picked up three feature wins, with engine trouble cutting short the other two trips north. The young phenom also picked up two heat wins on the year and set a new Shady Bowl track record for dwarf cars with a lap of 13.87 seconds during qualifying on August 12. Former OVDCA regular Chad Pendleton and Grove City resident also made his return to dwarfs during 2000, often doubling up with driving his late model car. Pendleton competed in only four features driving Hostetler's dwarf truck, but he still took the checkered first on two separate occasions, including the season finale on September 30. Pendleton also added three heat wins to his resume during 2000.
