Tim Phillips Crowned Champion

Arena Racing Chmpion Tim Phillips (Tom Devette Photo)

Arena Racing Grand Rapids
Crowns It’s First Champion In Front of Packed House

Grand Rapids, MI. – A crowd of over 3,000 came out to see who was going to be the Inaugural Pennzoil Platinum Cup Champion. “There was a great atmosphere tonight at the track and it sure felt like a Championship Night” says Peter Jackson General Manager of Arena Racing Grand Rapids.” With such a small point’s margin between the top 6 drivers, I knew the night would be electrifying”.

Tim Phillips will remember this night as the one he won the Inaugural Arena Racing Grand Rapids Pennzoil Platinum Cup Series. Phillips who drives the # 34 needed only to qualify to take home the Platinum Cup and $10,000. “All I wanted to do was have a good day at the track” says Phillips. “The most important thing was to qualify for the A Main so then I would not have to worry about anyone catching me” But as it turns out that when it was all said and done, not only did Phillips qualify for the A Main but he had the fastest qualifying time of the day. “My racing energy came out when I got on the track and then I was on another mission breaking the track record. Phillips currently holds the track record at the DeltaPlex Arena with an impressive time of 7.955. “I would have liked to break the track record today but it was just not meant to be “.
Taking second in the Pennzoil Platinum Cup Series was former Berlin Super Stock Champion Mike Bursley. “It was a tough season, a lot tougher than I expected”. Mike Bursley first became involved in Arena Racing in March of 2008 when Arena Racing Grand Rapids held its Arena Racing with the Stars event. “Yea I had fun last year and that is what got me hooked on Arena Racing.” Bursley had to fight off Clayton Marvel to take second place. “I knew he was not going to give it to me, I was going to have to earn it”. Clayton Marvel of Lowell Michigan had an impressive 3rd place finish.

Qualifying: 1 34 Tim Phillips 7.987; 2 23 Mike Bursley 8.029 3 51 Dave Sensiba 8.097 4 18 Mitch Meppelink 5 1 Clayton Marvel 8.140 6 3 Scott Swem 8.167 7 16 Kelsey Steele 8 6 Brandon Hermiller 8.184 9 35 David Price 8.186 10 19 Katie Nieymeyer 8.192 11 24 Jeff Troyer 8.194 12 71 Kyle Ballard 8.208 13 101 Lauren Bush 8.216 14 29 Aaron Langlois 8.228 15 08 Ed Falbe 8.237 16 61 Curtis Edney 8.250 17 88 Nick Barnhart 8.425 18 4 Colton Sensiba 8.426 19 00 Andy Bozell Jr. 8.602 20 30 Tyler Hansen 8.905

C MAIN (50 laps): 1 61 Curtis Edney 2 08 Ed Falbe 3 29 Aaron Langlois 4 4 Colton Sensiba 1 5 88 Nick Barnhart 6 30 Tyler Hansen 7 24 Jeff Troyer 8 00 Andy Bozell Jr.

A MAIN (50 laps 1 23 Mike Bursley 2 1 Clayton Marvel 3 71 Kyle Ballard 4 35 David Price 5 34 Tim Phillips 6 18 Mitch Meppelink 7 19 Katie Nieymeyer 8 3 Scott Swem 9 16 Kelsey Steele 10 51 Dave Sensiba 11 6 Brandon Hermiller

LAST CHANCE MAIN (50 laps): 1 51 Dave Sensiba 2 16 Kelsey Steele 3 6 4 24 Jeff Troyer 5 88 Nick Barnhart 6 30 Tyler Hansen 7 00 Andy Bozell Jr.

TOP DOG (50 laps): 1 23 Mike Bursley 2 3 Scott Swem 3 18 Mitch Meppelink 4 51 Dave Sensiba 5 1 Clayton Marvel 6 71 Kyle Ballard 7 08 8 29 Aaron Langlois 9 16 Kelsey Steele 10 35 David Price 11 19 Katie Nieymeyer 12 61 Curtis Edney 13 4 Colton Sensiba 14 34 Tim Phillips

Planning for next season has already begun. VIP season tickets and box suites have gone on sale today. For more information about our VIP program, call 616-559-7979. Prospective VIP can enjoy a 10% discount for all VIP seats secured before April 28, 2009.

For more information about Arena Racing Grand Rapids please visit their Web site –http://www.arenaracinggr.com/.