DeGRAFF – Tonight will be a big night of racing at Shady Bowl Speedway for the Dave Nagel Excavating late model division.
Shady Bowl will host a pair of 20-lap features. The features will determine the lineup for the “A” main, as the top three finishers will advance. The top four qualifiers will join the six from the heat races in a 10-car shootout with $1,110 awaiting the winner. Josh Smith won the event last season and has four feature wins in the Smith Motorsports Chevy thus far in 2018. The race is held annually to honor the memory of the late Denny Shatto of Sidney. Shatto built some of the fastest cars to take to Midwest ovals, both dirt and pavement.
In 1958, he built his first car. He piloted this car one time at Shady Bowl before finding out that driving wasn’t for him. The trend started with this car and produced almost 300 feature wins over the years. His cars always carried the #79 and the #10 until a trip to Baerfield Speedway (Ind.). The track already had a car #10 running and told Shatto to pick another number. That was when the #110 was placed on the car. The highlight of his racing was when he and fellow Sidney resident Wayne Watercutter teamed up and won a 100-lap feature. The duo went on to win several track championships.
Shatto told folks that Shady Bowl Speedway was his favorite track, with Watercutter at the top of the list of drivers who have driven his cars. Shatto died in 2006 leaving the racing operation to his son Kevin and wife Chris. Kevin has continued the winning tradition along with a feature win last week with Jim Lewis Jr. of Fairborn behind the wheel. Lewis has posted several feature wins since the team was formed. Sponsors of the team are Biggins Small Engine Repair, Lewis Racing Engines and 4 Paws Grooming.
Shady Bowl Speedway will pay tribute to perhaps the most popular driver to ever race at the rural oval.
It will be the “Neal Sceva Memorial, Remembering a Legend” night. The track will honor the memory of Sceva by running a 51-lap feature for the street stocks with $1,051 awaiting the winner.
Sceva, who called Urbana home, raced full time and owned a Sunoco Service Station on the north edge of Urbana. He won races throughout the Midwest during his career. He was a NASCAR state champion in the early 1950s and went on to post over 600 feature wins. Perhaps the biggest win was at Salem Speedway (Ind.) when he and Joe Ruttman dueled for the win. The duo crashed coming to the checkered, with Sceva awarded the win. Sceva battled cancer in the twilight of his career for a second time. He died in June of 1985.
The Buckeye FWD Mini Stocks are also on the schedule. They will run a 100-lap feature with $500 awaiting the winner. The Biggins Small Engine Repair Modifieds with a feature paying $800 to win will round out the night’s action.
Racing will begin today at 7 p.m. Admission for adults is $14, seniors are $10, kids 12-15 are $6 and children 11 and under are free.
Triad seeks coaches
Triad Middle School is seeking a coach for its seventh and eighth grade volleyball teams. If interested, contact Athletic Director Gary Davis at [email protected].
