Steve Kaminski
The Grand Rapids Press MLive.com
MARNE -- There were celebrations, heartaches and tears of joy, all rolled into a four-hour span when Berlin Raceway opened its 61st season Saturday night.
If this weekend’s action is a sign of things to come, then 2011 promises to be a memorable one at the Marne half-mile.
Let’s take one more look back.
• Grand Rapids Press reporter Julie Makarewicz wrote a story for Sunday’s Press on Saturday’s meeting between Lexi Derosha of Middleville and Tim Phillips of Lamar, Mo.
Phillips donated bone marrow to Derosha in March of 2010, and Derosha is doing great. The two met for the first time Saturday afternoon at On The Border in Kentwood, then attended Berlin’s races.
The day kept getting better and better for Derosha when her favorite driver, Racingawareness.com’s Dave Lake won the 30-lap Modified feature.
Derosha is one of the inspirations behind Racingawareness.com, a West Michigan-based race team that raised over $50,000 for the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital Foundation in its inaugural season last year. In fact, the car’s number is 97L, with the L honoring Lexi.
"I was up in the stands, pulling my hair out," Derosha said. "I was freaking out. I kept saying, 'I hope he wins. I hope he wins.'"
• Grand Rapids driver Lee VanDyk is going to be a factor in the track’s Late Model class this season if he can get a break or two. He was running third in Saturday’s 60-lap Late Model feature when he blew an engine on lap 31.
"I was just saving the tires and the car kept coming to me really easy," VanDyk said. "I pulled up behind the No. 1 car, and the motor started making a couple of noises, and then it went away. A couple of five laps later, I think it dropped a valve.
"Hopefully, it didn’t ruin the heads. Fortunately, it didn’t release any oil, so the motor is all intact. But something is bouncing around in the drive train."
VanDyk remained optimistic about the season.
"I have been working on the car for three years, and I have finally figured it out," he said.
• The calendar says 2011, but it felt like 2008 Saturday night after Brian Wiersma (Super Stocks) and Jason DeVos (4 Cylinders) won feature races. The two both won track championships in 2008, and they looked great this weekend. It was DeVos’ first win since 2009.
• How great was it to see Greg Zimmerman of Lowell back racing Late Models Saturday? Zimmerman was a Berlin regular during the 1990s, but we haven’t seen much of him during the past decade. Zimmerman finished ninth in his return.
• Brian Tillema is the man to beat in the Pro Stock division once again this season after winning Saturday’s feature, but it is looking like Brandon Hermiller of Grand Rapids could give him his biggest challenge.
Hermiller finished second in Saturday’s feature to Tillema. It was Hermiller’s seventh consecutive top-four finish dating back to last August.
It’s hard to believe that Hermiller, a West Catholic High School senior, is only 18.
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