Berlin Raceway might prove you get better at 60

Berlin Raceway might prove you get better at 60

Steve Kaminski
The Grand Rapids Press

MARNE -- Berlin Raceway turned 60 on Saturday, and drivers, fans and officials celebrated with anniversary night.

Even at this age, though, the track continues to evolve, grow and redefine itself.
Change was evident when Jason Hoogerhyde stood on the infield pit tower deck and addressed more than 100 racers in the weekly pre-race driver’s meeting.

“I think this will help out Mike (Blackmer) because I can answer a lot of questions that he just doesn’t have time to deal with,” Hoogerhyde said.

Berlin general manager Kevin Striegle resigned last week to pursue other career interests. Then, in another surprise move, Blackmer, Berlin’s second-year promoter, announced that Hoogerhyde would be the go-to man on racing Saturdays.

Blackmer had filled that position since he purchased the lease to promote Berlin races in fall 2008 from West Michigan Whitecaps Racing.

Drivers praised Blackmer’s decision to go with Hoogerhyde.

“Jason is capable, there is no doubt in my mind,” Berlin Late Model veteran Scott Thomas said. “Hoogerhyde is a good choice. He’s a real good choice.”

Anniversary night means it's that time of year to pay tribute to Chester Mysliwiec, who founded Berlin in 1951 and operated it until his death in 1999. His family sold the lease to the Whitecaps after the 2000 season.

The past 10 years have seen the track’s infrastructure undergo improvements under the Whitecaps and now Blackmer. Blackmer also has put an exciting product on the track, introducing double-file restarts before NASCAR.

The racing is close, and so are the races for the championships in the track's weekly classes. The June race Kyle Busch won at Berlin was among the best I’ve seen at the track in 20 years.

But even 12 years after Mysliwiec’s passing, we still can learn from him. What made Mysliwiec so successful was that anyone who attended Berlin races during those seasons knew exactly who was in charge: Chester Mysliwiec.

You didn’t always agree with him, but drivers usually knew where they stood with him.

Mysliwiec maintained pretty much the same staff, primarily comprised of family members, for decades. Everyone had a job to do, and he trusted them to do it. And they did it well.

The Whitecaps struggled to find the front office consistency Mysliwiec had, with Scott Lane, Joe Sack and Mike Strevel all wearing the go-to hat on Saturday nights at one point. Blackmer is trying to find just the right formula with Hoogerhyde.

Why the move? Blackmer already has enough to do running the track, and he also operates Boyne Machine and Paragon Lanes.

Jason Hoogerhyde
The challenge these days is trying to promote races in a state with 14 percent unemployment. Blackmer reported that attendance was down about 20 percent in 2009 during his first year of operating the track, although keep in mind there were eight rainouts last year. The average for a season is two.

I wouldn’t want the job even in a perfect economy, not in an area where you have to compete with all the movie theaters as well as minor league baseball and hockey. All these Saturday night NASCAR races where you can stay home and watch it for free doesn’t help, either. That’s why you see Berlin coming up with such promotions as school bus and pastor races. That’s why there's now group sales.

The toughest part of the job, though, is that being a race promoter means you have to please fans, drivers and crew members every week. Good luck with that.

A promoter can’t be thin-skinned, but he can’t let the boys in the pits push him around, either. Yet, he must remember those drivers are still his customers, and you know what they say about the customer always being right.

“There is only about one in a million people who can do this job,” said Thomas, who has raced under all three promoters. “It takes a certain individual to do this.”

Hoogerhyde will take some of that pressure off Blackmer. Hopefully, Blackmer will take a page out of Mysliwiec’s playbook and trust his staff.

After all, Hoogerhyde just might be that one in a million.

SATURDAY'S ACTION

Winners: Steve Needles (Late Models), Warren Speet (Super Stocks), Billy Shotko (Modifieds), Ken Smith Jr. (Pro Stocks), Samantha Jansen (VROA), Cole Roelofs (4 Cylinders A), Jared Lyzenga (4 Cylinders B)

Did you see that? Monte Tolan split the spinning cars of Terry VanHaitsma and Lee VanDyk during the final lap of the Late Model feature.

How about that: Car owner Terry Gentry of Holland finished first and third in the Late Model feature with winner Steve Needles and Terry Senneker.

Berlin headache award: Glenn Parker of Sparta crashed hard in the Vintage Racing Organization of America feature. He planned to get his ribs checked out at a hospital.