Brian Tillema begins chase of Berlin Raceway history with victory in season opener

Brian Tillema begins chase of Berlin Raceway history with victory in season opener

By Steve Kaminski | The Grand Rapids Press MLive.com

Berlin Raceway: Opening night 2011 gallery (5 photos)

MARNE -- Brian Tillema of Byron Center is chasing Berlin Raceway track history this season, although he probably doesn’t even know it.

Tillema won Saturday night’s season-opening 25-lap Pro Stocks feature race at the Marne half-mile, holding off Brandon Hermiller and Dave Hull. Tillema started fourth, grabbed the lead on lap five and led the rest of the way.

Tillema is pursuing a fifth consecutive Pro Stocks championship, and no driver has won five consecutive track titles in Berlin’s 61-year history. He tied John Benson Sr. and Fred Campbell with his fourth title in a row last fall.

Benson won four consecutive from 1971-1974 and Campbell 1979-1982.

Not that Tillema is keeping track of titles, though.

Brian Tillema

"We never really race for championships," Tillema said. "We just do the best that we can every week. We just want to win races.

"We have never really worried about championships. We just come out here to have fun. We don’t have a real big budget, so as long as nothing big happens, we will keep coming back every week."

While Tillema has been the driver to beat for the past four years, he kept busy during the off-season trying to stay ahead of the competition. So far, so good for Tillema.

"We did quite a bit of work underneath the car during the winter to see if we could make it come off the turns better," Tillema said. "It looked like it has really paid off. These other guys are getting pretty fast, and they are making us do our homework. We are trying some different things, and so far, they are working pretty well."


SEASON OPENER
Saturday’s feature winners: Terry Senneker Jr. (Late Models), Brian Wiersma (Super Stocks), Dave Lake (Modifieds), Brian Tillema (Pro Stocks), Jason DeVos (4 Cylinders)

Driver of the night: Spring Lake’s Caleb Bisacky finished second in the Late Model main and third in the Modified feature, and he won two heat races.

Tough luck award: Grand Rapids driver Lee VanDyk was running third in the Late Model feature when he blew an engine on lap 31.

Move of the night: Brian Wiersma slipped by Nick Gebben with five laps to go to win the Super Stocks main.

Up next: Berlin is hosting Late Models, Super Stocks, Pro Stocks, Modifieds and 4 Cylinders 7 p.m. Saturday. Admission is $10 for adults, and children 11-and-younger are free.
Late Model driver Terry Senneker Jr. of Wayland is off to a fast, too.

Senneker overtook Caleb Bisacky for the lead on a lap 39 restart, then held off Bisacky and T.A. Gentry Racing teammate Steve Needles to capture the 60-lap main.

Senneker and Needles plan to run full time this season after competing at Berlin on a part-time basis in recent seasons.

"The beginning of the race is kind of a patience game," Senneker said. "Tires definitely fall off where you have to conserve a little bit. But it was hard racing. "We plan to race out here all year, and we are off to a good start in the points. I didn’t know the car was this good when we got out here. All day in practice and qualifying, it just wasn’t there. But the whole race, it stayed the same."

Other feature winners Saturday were Jason DeVos in 4 Cylinders and Dave Lake in Modifieds. Lake, the defending Super Stock track champion, made his debut in the Racingawareness.com Modified on Saturday and held off Billy Shotko and Bisacky for the win in the 30-lap main.