Hudsonville's Terry VanHaitsma grabs Great Lakes Outlaw Late Model win at Berlin Raceway

Hudsonville's Terry VanHaitsma grabs Great Lakes Outlaw Late Model win at Berlin Raceway

Dean Holzwarth
The Grand Rapids Press

MARNE -- There’s plenty that has drawn Cedar Springs driver Dakota Carlson to the new Great Lakes Outlaw Late Model Series.

Variety, formidable competition and bigger purses have attracted drivers like Carlson to the newly-developed, nine-race series, which made its debut in front of a crowd of 3,500 at Berlin Raceway on Saturday night.

Share The 100-lap feature race included 19 cars and was won by Hudsonville’s Terry VanHaitsma.

THE BUZZ
Winners: Terry VanHaitsma (Late Models), Andrew Nylaan (Super Stocks), (Pro Stocks), (4 cylinders)

Johnny Benson watch: Benson took second in the Great Lakes Outlaw Late Model Series feature race.

Overhead: "That was fun. I’ve learned a lot from Johnny Benson Jr. and Johnny Benson Sr. and they’ve been a real big help to me in my racing career, and it’s fun to be able to beat the guy who helped you along." Terry VanHaitsma, who won the Late Model 100-lapper.

Seen: The Late Model feature race featured a lengthy delay after a three-car crash with 29 laps remaining.

Next week: Berlin is hosting the USAC Midgets at 7 p.m. Saturday
Saturday night’s race was the fourth stop on the schedule that includes tracks in Michigan and Indiana.

Carlson is one of three drivers to compete in every one so far.

“I think it’s good, and it’s giving us some places to race,” said Carlson, whose raced at Berlin for five years, but made his first appearance on Saturday.

“And they’re doing a good job. They have to work out some kinks, but other than
that they’re doing a way better job than most people do.

“And you don’t have to worry about wrecking because there are better guys out there. There’s better money, and better start money, so you don’t have to worry about going home so far in the hole.”

Carlson won the inaugural race and $2,500 at Plymouth Speedway on May 30.

“It was nice, but we shouldn’t have won it,” Carlson said. “We had tire pressure issues, but once the tire pressure came up we got a long green flag.

“Before that we were as fast if not the fastest car. It was just good that we had a long green flag at the end of the race and we got a chance to come forward.”

Derrick Griffin, an 18-year-old recent high school graduate from South Bend, Ind., also has traveled to each stop on the series.

He collected a nice payday of $10,100 after winning June 10 at Angola Motor Speedway in the Stan Perry Memorial Race.

“Oh, that was pretty good -- it helped out quite a bit,” Griffin said with a grin. “It’s a good series with a lot of quality drivers. It’s not a slouch series and it’s a pretty good learning series.

“It’s a lot nicer to have the bigger purses and you also attract more higher-end drivers. The traveling is fun and I like to go to new places.”

The Great Lakes Outlaw Late Model Series was developed by longtime Berlin Raceway officials Nick Mesman and Dave Marshall.

“It’s a dying breed,” Mesman said. “They are starting to go away at the local short tracks and this is just another option to keep them alive.

“The drivers are able to travel around to different tracks, and maybe not run every week with them but run every few weeks, for a little bigger purse.”

Mesman said the initial response from drivers and fans has been encouraging.

“It’s been absolutely great,” he said. “Teams are loving it, and there’s been a lot of positive feedback. There are a lot of fans that are actually following us too. You see some of the same faces at every track and they’re making the trips too.”