Andrew Nylaan edges Denny Anderson for Super Stocks victory at Berlin Raceway

Andrew Nylaan edges Denny Anderson for Super Stocks victory at Berlin Raceway

Steve Ungrey
The Grand Rapids Press

MARNE -- Andrew Nylaan’s grandparents rushed up to hug their grandson following Saturday’s Super Stocks feature.

Then they playfully admonished their grandson, complaining Nylaan gave them both heart attacks with the thrilling end of that race.

Medical personnel may have needed to revive hundreds in the stands as well. In a wild finale, Nylaan edged out Denny Anderson by six-hundredths of a second, taking over the lead from Anderson on the final lap.

“That wasn’t the way I wanted to cross the line but I’ll take it. I just went into the fourth turn and I stomped on the gas,” Nylaan said.

Nylaan, who entered the race 20 points behind Dave Lake in the standings, picked up his fourth win in the past six weeks with the narrow victory over Anderson. His four feature wins are the most he has ever picked up in any season, dating back to his rookie year in 2003.

The Zeeland driver, who works as a machine operator at Boyne Machine is vying for his first Super Stocks title. He finished second a year ago behind Ray VanAllsburg and picked up three wins and 11 top-five finishes in the process.

“I didn’t think we had a good car at all,” Nylaan said. “Denny hit some lap traffic at all with about four or five cars in front of him, and that really helped me out. I got into him a little bit on that final lap and I just stomped on it and ran past him.”

When Nylaan saw the checkered flag, he suspected he had victory. Nylaan had no idea how close it really was.

“Coming out of the fourth turn I decided to try for it,” Nylaan said.

“Denny’s usually pretty good on the high side but with those lap cars coming back I couldn’t take the chance. I knew we were getting low on laps and we got to the last lap and it was crazy.”

Although final standings won’t be determined until early in the week the fact it was a double-points race and Lake finished in fifth, four spots back from Nylaan, may have made the difference.

“We did what we had to do. We won a heat race Friday and a feature tonight,” Nylaan said. “I will race Dave any day of the week. He and I will bang sides and laugh about it after that. There’s no grudge between us at all.”

THE BUZZ
Winners: Brian Tillema (Pro Stocks), Brian Bergakker (Modified), Andrew Nylaan (Super Stocks), Tim DeVos (Late Model), Ryan Hamm (4-cylinder A) Mike Speet (4-cylinder B)

From second to first: After missing out on last week’s victory, Brian Tillema rose to the top this week when he captured the Pro Stock feature. Tillema won the race in convincing style, holding off Ken Smith Jr. by nearly 4.3 seconds.

Lather, rinse, repeat: With Billy Shotko hot on his tail in the final third of the 35-lap race, Brian Bergakker held off Shotko’s challenge and captured the second of the six feature races Saturday night. Bergakker entered the race 41 points ahead of runner-up Travis Eddy in the standings. It was the second week in a row Bergakker held off Shotko for the checkered flag.

Surprise moment: Justin Ryan’s No. 51 car spun out on the front stretch during the 40-lap Super Stock event; when Ryan was spinning, the No. 00 car of Dustin Mann T-boned Ryan’s vehicle, causing a mess of wreckage in the first turn and a delay of 10 minutes. Both drivers were fine.

Up next: Berlin’s 60th anniversary festivities will be held Saturday including 60-lap feature races in Late Models, Super Stocks and Modifieds and a return appearance by the Vintage Racing Organization of America.