Wyoming's Brian Campbell looks to put short-track success to test in ARCA race at Berlin Raceway
Steve Kaminski
The Grand Rapids Press
It might look like Zeeland's Don DeWitt is putting a square peg into a round hole. He's not.
DeWitt, who has an ARCA speedway car parked in his D & B Motorsports Shop, doesn't plan to let it sit with the series coming to Berlin Raceway on Saturday night, even though the Marne half-mile is much smaller than the monstrous-size tracks --such as Michigan and Daytona -- that the car was built to tackle.
The plan? Put short-track standout Brian Campbell of Wyoming behind the wheel of DeWitt's No. 24 Hantz Group Chevrolet for the Berlin 200.
DeWitt's decision really does make a lot of sense considering Campbell's short-track success and Berlin experience.
"It's not really a short-track car, but with the right driver, it's good enough, especially with Brian driving it," DeWitt said. "He has a free week, and we talked about this weeks ago, and if the car was available, he would run it."
Berlin is hosting a doubleheader this weekend. Up first is The Chet, a 125-lap Late Model race, at 7 tonight that features Johnny Benson Jr. of Grand Rapids. The ARCA race will follow at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Brian Campbell
It will be Campbell's second career ARCA start. He finished third at Toledo Speedway in 2004 while racing for Vern Slagh.
Campbell, the defending ASA Late Model Series champion, won the CRA Super Series 125 at Berlin in May. He is the son of 10-time track champion Fred Campbell, who won an ARCA race at Berlin in 2002.
"Home-track advantage certainly is a good thing, but you are still racing against guys who race these cars for a living, so for us to step into it for a one-time deal is going to be kind of difficult," Campbell said. "There are a lot of good racers and a lot of good competition, a lot of great competition.
"It is great to have this opportunity to do it.
"It's a completely different way of thinking, these (ARCA) cars versus the Late Models we do on a weekly basis. The cars are like night and day different. It kind of looks the same, but underneath it and how we adjust it is a lot different."
DeWitt will field a second car in Saturday's race. He also filed an entry for Michael Simko of White Lake.
Tickets for tonight's race are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and $5 for ages 6 to 12. Saturday's admission is $30 for adults, $28 for seniors and $5 for children. An adult two-day pass is available for $35.
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