Berlin Raceway Storyline: June 27th

Jeff Bloom wins Summer Spectacular

VanHaitsma, Thomas, Muyskens and Reimersma also take trophies

Marne, MI— It was an action-packed night of racing at Berlin Raceway. The Auto Value Super Sprints made their first of three appearances with Jeff Bloom taking the win. The Coors Light Late Models ran two features and Terry VanHaitsma and Tom Thomas each notched one in the win column. Chris Muyskens went to Victory Lane again in the Engine Pro Super Stock division, as did Dan Reimersma in the Burnips Equipment 4-Cylinders.

The Coors Light Late Models kicked the show off with a make-up 40-lap feature; the #32 Ross Meeuwsen and #13 Tim DeVos lead the field to the start. Trouble on track before a lap was completed forced a complete restart when #19 Nick Shotko spun on the front stretch. The #21 of Terry VanHaitsma was racy right off of the bat, claiming third on lap 3. Just two laps later, #24 Lee VanDyk brought out the second caution with his spin on the frontstretch. With the double-file restarts, had the advantage on the outside and got around Meeuwsen, but he didn’t get far. VanHaitsma was closing in the leaders and their spirited battle for the lead. At half-way, the #15 of Brian Maxim and #61 Alec Carll spun in turn 1. After the restart, VanHaitsma pulled to the outside of Meeuwsen, swung around him and DeVos to take the lead. VanHaitsma took off with the lead as Meeuwsen and DeVos continued to battle for position. The car on the move and making up the most positions was the #1 of Randy Sweet who drove from 18th to fifth. VanHaitsma took the win by 2.728 seconds over DeVos and Meeuwsen. The rest of the top ten were #222 Caleb Bisacky, Sweet, #82 Tom Thomas, #28 Scott Thomas, #11 Leroy Magoon, #6 Dave Zagaiski and #27 Billy Shotko.

After a few heat races, the Coors Light Late Models were up again, this time with Scott Thomas and Tom Thomas on the front row. Just two laps in, caution was out for Magoon; his car stalled while trying to join the field. Tom Thomas took the lead on the restart and by lap 12, he had almost three seconds on the field. That was erased just one lap later as a caution for debris stacked the field back up. T. Thomas took the outside lane for the restart and took off. The car on the move was the #19 of Nick Shotko who went from 17th to 10th in 20 laps. With seven laps to go, leader Thomas was in traffic and beginning to lap cars. Tom Thomas finally got back in to victory lane in dominating fashion, 3.853 seconds over Meeuwsen. Sweet, S. Thomas, DeVos, VanHaitsma, Bisacky, B. Shotko, N. Shotko and #55 Chris Anthony rounded out the top ten.

The 30-lap Auto Value Super Sprints were next and #55 Curt Shumaker and #46 Jimmy Swain lead the field to the stripe. Just after a lap was complete, #24 Bill Tyler spun coming out of turn 4, bringing out the first caution of the race. When the cars were restarted, #26 Jeff Bloom was close behind the leaders and the #42 of Jason Blonde was in hot pursuit. Bloom took the lead on lap 7 and four laps later, Tyler encountered problems and dropped out of the race. Blonde took the lead on lap 11, but the leaders quickly caught slower cars and Bloom took advantage of that and took the lead back. On lap 20, Blonde returned the favor and took the lead just as Bloom did. On lap 22, a three-car accident involving the #70 of Dorman Snyder, Shumaker and #20 Kyle Flint came to rest in turn 3, this brought out the red flag and during this caution, leader Blonde pulled in to the pits, giving up his lead, to change a flat tire. The lead was given to Bloom. Once the race was restarted, second place #9 Chad Goff was unable to catch Bloom, he got the win by just over a half of a second. Goff, #07 Jeff Banyas, #07 Ryan Litt, #99 Sondi Eden, Snyder, Swain, #10 Ryan Davis, #3A Mike Astrauskas and #44 Teddy Alberts completed the top ten.

The Engine Pro Super Stocks rolled next, #26 Chris Muyskens started on the pole with #77 Andrew Nylaan on his outside. Muyskens took off with the lead and #18 Denny Anderson was challenging Nylaan for second and one he cleared him, Anderson began reeling in Muyskens. The first caution of the race on lap 17 when the #76 Warren Speet and #5 Cal Castle made contact with the frontstretch wall. On the restart, Anderson grabbed the lead, but before the cars got going, caution was out again for the #51 of Justin Ryan who hit the wall in turn 3 and came to a stop just before the start/finish line. With the double-file restart, Anderson chose the inside, giving Muyskens the outside and he promptly took the lead. With three to go, Anderson was there, but unable to make the pass. Muyskens took the checkers and the rest of the top ten were Anderson, #1 Brian Wiersma, #55 Dave Lake, Nylaan, #8 Billy Eppink, #11 Nick Bonstell, #98 Bob Bliss, #10 Bob Spencer and #13 James Haney.

The Burnips Equipment 4-Cylinder B feature rolled next; #20 Angela DeVos and #07 Clayton Brown started on the front row, but it was #47 Don McNabb who took the lead. McNabb was immediately challenged by #80 Daryl Davis. Coming around to turn the second lap of the feature, DeVos and McNabb made contact and McNabb came to a stop on the frontstretch. He was rear-ended by #65 Andy Church and also involved in the caution was #64 Michael Church. After a red flag for clean-up, the race resumed with Davis leading. Davis and Brown swapped the lead, but Davis was the one who prevailed. Brown had to settle for second and the rest of the top five were #61 Charlie DeJong, #20 Tyler Nawrocki and #2 Buck Spencer.

The final event of the night was the Burnips Equipment 4-Cylinder A feature, #11 John Elam and # 51 Brad Hastings were on the front row. Hastings lead, but he was being chased by #7 Ryan Hamm, #6 Ben Kleis, #100 Jason Scheid, #14 Jason DeVos and #13 Dan Reimersma. On lap 8, Hamm took the lead and caution flew; Kleis, Scheid and Hastings made contact and went off of the backstretch. Hamm took off on the restart and on lap 11, Reimersma was setting him up to take the lead when the caution came out again. #81 Mike Reavis spun and while sliding across the track, he collected #15 Mel Parsons and #51 Mike Johnson. With four laps to go, Reimersma got a run on Hamm, Hamm threw the block, but Reimersma was able to take the lead. Hamm was quick to recover, but coming out of turn 4, Hamm over-drove and Reimersma got the win. Hamm, DeVos, #26 Brian Tillema, #9 Nick Curtis, #7 Jake Loesch, Elam, #024 Cole Roelofs, Sheid and #28 Phil Speet completed the top ten.

Next Saturday, July 4, at Berlin Raceway is Stars and Stripes Night. The USA Modifieds will return along with the Kerkstra Services Pro Stocks, Burnips Equipment 4-Cylinders and Young Guns. There will also be Trash Can Bowling, a post-race fireworks show and $1 beer and $1 hot dogs. Admission for ages 6 and up will be $5 and kids five and under are free. Pit passes for those 14 and over were $25 and the first race starts at 7 p.m.