Mike Skinner wins in the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital Modified
Marne, MI- Berlin Raceway celebrated the Model Coverall Modifies Mania Night this past Saturday with special guest Mike Skinner in town. The night was no exception to the stellar racing action Berlin Raceway has been experiencing lately. Winners for the evening included #024 Cole Roelofs (4-Cylinder A), #7 Clayton Brown (4-Cylinder B) #76 Brian Tillema (Pro Stock) #55 Dave Lake (Super Stock), and #97 Mike Skinner (Modified).
Up first was the Burnips Equipment 4-Cylinder A feature. #7 Ryan Hamm who is currently leading #17 Kyle Hamm by 50 points for the championship race, would make it apparent why he is the current point’s leader. Hamm started at the rear, after one lap he would move up six spots. The first and only yellow of the night came after the first lap was complete, the #01 of Rob Shoemaker who started on the pole, was flagged the slow car on the track. Once the green dropped again, the #14 of Jason DeVos, #024 Cole Roelofs, and #100 Jason Scheid shot to the front; the three were bumper to bumper. Lap 5 would see R. Hamm move into the fifth spot past #77 Gerry Shephard; lap 5 would also see a new leader in Roelofs. DeVos and #2 Darrell Holtzlander were side by side on the backstretch, but as they got loose Hamm would split between the two and move into fourth. The race for the lead was heating up on lap 7 Roelofs and Scheid were neck and neck, Scheid move into the lead on lap 8. With 5 laps to go Scheid and Roelofs were still battling for the lead, Hamm was trying to move past DeVos, but the inside land was failing him. The race for the checkered intensified with 2 to go; Roelofs began to close in on Scheid and got past him on the frontstretch to take the win. DeVos, Hamm, and Holtzlander rounded out the top five spots.
The Burnips Equipment 4-Cylinder B was up next. The #110 of Dan Dells is the current point’s leader with a cushion of 109 points over #63 Paul Ritchie. #62 Richard Church and #07 Clayton Brown on the front row. Brown was quick out of the gate and as the field was coming to complete the first lap, the #20 of Jackson Walker was sideways coming out of turn 4; he saved it and continued without penalty. #T11 Jim Rhodes was on the move, battling #84 Steve Thompson on lap 2 and also showing his muscle was #77 Jared Lyzenga. Lyzenga was challenging for second place on lap 4 and took the position from Church on lap 5 just as the leaders were coming up on slower cars. This bunched up all of the leaders and let Walker and Rhodes close in. Lyzenga was reeling in Brown with Rhodes and Walker in hot pursuit. With 2 laps go to, Brown was holding of Lyzenga, who was giving it all he had, but he couldn’t quite make the pass. Brown grabbed the win in the caution-free event and the rest of the top ten were Lyzenga, Rhodes, Walker, #44 Nicole Randolph, #7H Tim Stuart, #111 Tyler Nawrocki, #110 Dan Dells, Church and Thompson.
The Kerstra Services Pro Stocks were the next feature of the night. With only 70 points separating Brian Tillema and Weston Jewett, the race for the top spot was on. The #33 of Allen Davis and the #101 of Lauren Bush started on front row, Davis was off to the hot start; as Tillema made began to make his way to the front of the pack. A yellow flag halted the action when the #X Matt VanHorsen spun on lap 2. Out of the restart another caution came out and would prove costly to the #51 of Weston Jewett. It appeared as if the Bush and A. Davis got loose going into turn 2. The #88 Tony Davis, #40 Dave Cutler, would spin to avoid; as did Jewett, unfortunately Jewett’s car would suffer damage and he would not complete the race. Once the race resumed, Tillema and #18 Mitch Meppelink took off for the top two spots; the #36 of Ken Smith Jr. and #6 Brandon Hermiller, last week’s feature winner, were side by side for the third spot. As Tillema separated himself from the pack, Meppelink, Hermiller, and Smith were all bumper to bumper. Hermiller got past both Meppelink and Smith for second on lap 6. On lap 14 the #89 of Kirk Meissner brought out the caution for what appeared to be a clean spin. Out of the restart Tillema would once take off to a hot lead; while Smith was on Hermiller’s bumper; Hermiller managed to shake him off and he would begin to make his move on Tillema. With 2 laps to go, Tillema and Hermiller were fighting hard for the top spot. Coming into turn 3 on the final lap Hermiller got under Tillema, but just didn’t have enough to take the win. Tillema edged out Hermiller by .032 seconds, followed by Smith, #22 Darin Niemi, and T. Davis.
One race that is far from over is the Engine Pro Super Stock championship. #55 Dave Lake, #18 Denny Anderson, and #77 Andrew Nylaan were separated by 40 points at the start of the night. As the cars took the grid, #95 Ray VanAllsburg was on the pole and #32 Gabe Ensing was on the outside. From the drop of the green flag, VanAllsburg was able to maintain position number 1 and the #77 of Andrew Nylaan was pushing though, taking the second position by the completion of lap 1. Fast Qualifier, #55 Dave Lake was gaining ground on the leaders. He thought about taking it three-wide on lap 4, but backed out without incident. The next time by, however, Lake did make it three-wide for the lead and made it work; he handily swept past both VanAllsburg and Nylaan and pulled out to a half-second lead. Nylaan would also clear VanAllsburg and focus on chasing down Lake. VanAllsburg found himself in a four-car battle for third with #23 Chris Koslek, #32 Gabe Ensing and #1 Brian Wiersma and all the while, Nylaan was steadily reeling in Lake. By the time they got to the half-way point of the race, Nylaan was on Lake’s bumper and the first caution of the night came out. #3 Travis Nylaan spun coming out of turn 1. The field tried for a restart, but another caution for the spinning cars of #16 Kelsey Steele and Ensing halted the progress of the race. After the second restart, Nylaan was able to get to the inside of Lake and took the lead, but just a few laps later, caution was out again. Ensing was out of shape going in to turn 2 and the #18 of Denny Anderson was also involved. The restart was clean and the #54 of Josh Slade was mixing it up with the intense battle for the lead. With Nylaan in the lead, Lake was working the inside. Lake seemed quicker in 1 and 2, but Nylaan was able to pull away in 3 and 4. With 5 to go, Nylaan was fighting to keep the lead while Slade and Wiersma were keeping Lake busy for second. With two laps to go, Ensing brought out the caution for the fourth time and that would result in a green-white-checker finish. The restart was single file and Lake was able to get under him and took the lead and the win away. Nylaan would have to settle for second and the two made post-race contact, spinning them both out. Both drivers would be OK: Lake would climb the fence and celebrate in victory lane while Nylaan would be disqualified. The rest of the top ten would be Wiersma, Slade, #50 Justin Regnerus, Koslek, #78 Will Olmsted, #6 Bob Bliss, #20J Jeremy Munniksma and Ensing.
The main event of the night was a special 50 lap feature for Model Coverall Modifieds. With only one night left of racing before Championship Night, and 67 points standing between #99 Brian Bergakker, #14 Billy Shotko , and #78 Travis Eddy, every lap mattered. Starting on the start/finish line were #27 Nyle Wieler and #4 Joe Morisette. Morisette was out in front fast, the #76 of Ryan Gruppen and Wieler were side by side for the second spot on lap 2. As Gruppen made some room between him and Wieler, Eddy was closing in on Gruppen. The two were side by side; by lap 5 Eddy had moved into second. On lap 6 Gruppen spun on the frontstretch, bringing out the yellow flag. Out of the restart Eddy was out in front, followed by Shotko; Mike Skinner in the #97 car would also begin to make his way to the front. Just as Skinner was making a move into third, a caution would come out on lap 10. The yellow came out for Morisette who spun. A similar yellow occurred for Morisette on lap 12. Another spin occurred on the backstretch for the #8 Billy Eppink. Out of the restart Shotko began to close in on Eddy. Bergakker and Skinner weren’t too far behind either. On lap 17 Shotko tried passing Eddy on the outside lane on the frontstretch, but failed on the attempt. A similar move on the following lap saw a new leader emerge in Shotko. A false yellow came out interrupting the racing action on lap 20, but out of the restart Skinner moved into second past Bergakker. Shotko and Skinner would battle from that moment on; the two were neck and neck switching positions until lap 30. That’s when Gruppen stopped on turn 4, his car was on fire. The safety crew quickly put the small flames out and he would be okay. Out of the restart Skinner separated himself from the field, but on lap 42 yet another caution for Morisette spinning. With Skinner out in front Bergakker and Shotko were neck and neck. Skinner would take the win, as Shotko separated from Bergakker to take the second spot. Bergakker, #44 Jordan Dahlke, and #6 Brian Kleis rounded the top 5 spots.
Up next for Berlin Raceway is the Winged Sprint Shootout. Pro Stocks, Super Stocks, Modifieds, AVSS, and Michiana Vingtage Racers will all be in action. Tickets for adults are $15, seniors 60+ are $13, children ages 6-12 are $5 and children under the age of 5 are FREE. For more information please visit www.berlinraceway.com
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