Berlin Raceway Storyline: May 29th

Ray VanAllsburg finding road to defending Berlin Raceway Super Stock title isn't easy
By Steve Kaminski
The Grand Rapids Press

Ray VanAllsburg is Berlin Raceway’s defending Super Stock champion, but that title sure hasn’t gotten him any perks.

It has been only eight months since VanAllsburg won his first Berlin track championship in 24 years. Since then, the team VanAllsburg raced with folded, and this spring, he is with a new team and is busy breaking in a new car.

It has been a challenge. VanAllsburg entered Saturday night’s Super Stock Night 11th in the points standings, then was part of a crash on the seventh lap in the 50-lap main.

The competition isn’t making it easy for him, either.

“I will be the first to tell you that the competition in the Super Stocks has stepped up greatly, even from what it was last year,” VanAllsburg said. “It’s tough. They are making it hard for us old guys.”

Don’t count out VanAllsburg just yet, though. Last year, was as low as eighth in the standings before rallying to capture the championship.

VanAllsburg landed a ride this season with Castle Motorsports, and he brought a new car to the track Saturday.

“We put together this new car in the last month or so,” VanAllsburg said. “Castle Motorsports and my sponsors have stepped up and are giving me a chance to defend.

“We have to get the handle on the car fairly soon, to get the bugs worked out. We have to step up our qualifying effort. We haven’t been good qualifying this year, and that is hurting us tremendously because we are starting in the mid-pack to the back in the races and it’s hard to get up to where you belong to contend for the win.”

VanAllsburg called last year’s championship the highlight of his career.

“It is the one thing every driver desires to have, but I never used to race with that desire,” VanAllsburg said. “But the last couple of years, I thought, I’m getting older, I’m not going to do this forever and I want my name in the books.

“We went after and we got it.”

BERLIN RECAP

Winners: Terry Senneker Jr. (Late Models), Andrew Nylaan (Super Stocks) Brian Tillema (Pro Stocks), Ryan Hamm (4-Cylinders)

Race of the night: Mitch Meppelink held off Brian Thome and Scott Root in the Pro Stock heat for an exciting finish. The drivers got a standing ovation.

Overheard in the pits: “We came up here and did a lot of testing before the season began, but we have had a lot of rainouts and we never really got to run the races that we’ve wanted to. And a couple of weeks ago, we blew a motor and we didn’t know what we really had. But tonight, the car never really fell off.” -- Late Model winner Terry Senneker Jr.

Johnny Benson Jr. update: Started last in the 18-car Late Model field and finished fourth.

Snapped: Weston Jewett had won the past four Pro Stock features dating to last September before finishing second to Brian Tillema.

They’re hot: Andrew Nylaan and Ryan Hamm won their second feature races of the season.

Berlin bummer award: Dave Lake was fast and in third in the Super Stock main but was black flagged because of his car’s heavy smoking. He returned after fixing a valve cover, but then wrecked on the front stretch.