Wiersma scores back to back victories
Roelofs, VanDrunen, Clay, Hermiller and Bergakker also win
Marne, MI – Week two is in the books at Berlin Raceway and all of the divisions provided amazing racing action throughout the night. Winners on the night included: Brian Wiersma (Engine Pro Super Stock), Cole Roelofs (Burnips Equipment 4-Cylinder A), Kyle VanDrunen (Burnips Equipment 4-Cylinder B), Ray Clay (Coors Light Late Model), Brandon Hermiller (Kerkstra Services Pro Stock), and Brian Bergakker (Model Coverall Modifieds).
The Engine Pro Super Stocks were on track first for their 30-lap feature, #50 Justin Regnerus and #1 Brian Wiersma were on the front row. Regnerus established himself as the leader and the rest of the field seemed content to ride single file for the moment. On lap 5, #18 Denny Anderson overtook the #78 of Will Olmsted as Regnerus was building a substantial lead. Problems for the #77 of Andrew Nylaan brushed the wall coming out of turn 4 and it appeared that he cut a tire down; he stopped in turn 4 and brought out the first caution of the night. On the restart, Wiersma and Regnerus were in a good battle for the lead and it took a few laps, but Wiersma took the lead on lap 10. Their battle kept the rest of the field close and Regnerus was trying fend off the hard-charging Anderson and #94.5 Nick Gebben. Anderson was looking high but at the same time, Regnerus was gaining on Wiersma – the pair pulling even in the corners. Wiersma shook him off after a few laps and Regnerus was once again holding off Anderson. With 10 to go, Regnerus got a good run on Wiersma, but wasn’t quite able to make the pass; Wiersma was very good coming off of turn 2 and was making the high line work for him. This allowed fast qualified Gebben to join the battle but their fun was on hold as the #26 of Seth Moody slid across the front stretch, bringing out the second caution. The next restart was single file and just enough of a break. Wiersma started to pull away from the field and scored back to back victories. Regnerus, Gebben, Anderson, #51 Justin Ryan, #66 Nate Walton, #16 Kelsey Steele, #3 Travis Nylaan, Olmsted and Moody rounded out the top ten.
The Burnips Equipment 4-Cylinder A feature rolled next and #18 Justin Lyzenga and #20 Tyler Nawrocki started this 15 lap feature on the front row. Right from the start, #14 Jason DeVos was muscling his way through the field, making it three wide and also making contact with Nawrocki. DeVos then spun on the backstretch and brought out the first caution of the night on lap 1. Just after the restart with #354 Chris McKinley leading, the #18 Justin Lyzenga hit the wall between turns 3 and 4 bringing out the caution and then the red flag. Once the cars were started, there was a three-car breakaway for the lead: McKinley, #17 Kyle Hamm and #024 Cole Roelofs. On Lap 6, there was another three-wide battle between #2 Darrell Holtzlander, #28 Phil Speet and #51 Brad Hastings which resulted in Hastings sideways coming in to 4, but he managed to save it. Lap 7 saw Roelofs slip by Hamm for second and by the next time around he was side by side with McKinley. Roelofs led lap 9, but McKinley was fighting back on the outside. The pair continued to run side by side for three laps, but with two laps to go, Roelofs began to pull away and he went on to get the win. The rest of the top ten were McKinley, Hamm, Speet, Holtzlander, Hastings, #20 Jackson Walker, Nawrocki, #77 Jared Lyzenga and DeVos.
Right after the A feature, the 15-lap Burnips Equipment 4-Cylinder B feature was up with #44 Nicole DeVos and #28 Brandon Cavagnaro lead the field to the green flag. Caution was out before a lap was even completed, #32 Jim Woltanski, #13 Craig Snoeyink and #63 Paul Ritchie all went off the backstretch coming out of turn 2. The field was reset and #62 Richard Church rocketed to the front and enjoyed a comfortable lead, however the #10 of Dave Duyst and the #41 of Kyle VanDrunen were slowly cutting in to it. On lap 4, Duyst and Church were leaning on each other and their contact slower them down and VanDrunen took the top stop away. He then sped on to a one and a half second lead and the battle was on for second between Church, Ritchie and Duyst which is just what VanDrunen wanted to see. Ritchie broke free and began chasing down the leader with 6 to go and while he managed to cut the difference lap by lap, there was not enough time to catch and pass the leader. VanDrunen held him off to get his first victory in his second start. The rest of the top ten were Ritchie, Duyst, #84 Steve Thompson, Church, #91 Rob Ream, #257 Trevor Doornbos, DeVos, Cavagnaro and #75 Dan Ream.
Sixty laps were on tap for the Coors Light Late Model division; #12 Tim DeVos was on the pole and #21 Terry VanHaitsma started on his outside. DeVos was immediately challenged for the lead and passed by #X Ray Clay. As soon as Clay hit the lead, he pulled away from the field, leaving the field to battle for 2nd, it was #55 Chris Anthony and DeVos doing battle and Anthony taking the spot, leaving DeVos in third to fend off the rest of the field. The #37 Terry Senneker was on the move, using the high line to blow past #1 Barry Hartwell, #32 Ross Meeuwsen and #21 Terry VanHaitsma; he took the #14 of Steve Needles with him. On lap 14, Needles took the third position after a three wide battle with Senneker and VanHaitsma. Meanwhile, Anthony was still working on Clay’s lead and Needles was comfortably in third. DeVos, VanHaitsma, Senneker, Harwell and Meeuwsen were all still doing battle but then settled in to single file racing for a moment. On lap 24, Senneker began his battle with DeVos for fourth. Senneker would get side by side with him, but DeVos would pull away. Senneker would then re-group and try again a few laps later. Clay began lapping cars on lap 28 and was still being chased by Anthony. Needles finally caught Anthony and passed him for second on lap 43. They were also slowly cutting down Clay’s lead which was over six seconds at one point. With 9 laps to go, Senneker finally got past DeVos and Needles managed to cut Clay’s lead down to just under one second. He ran out of time to chase him down, Clay got the win and the rest of the top ten were Needles, Senneker, DeVos, Anthony, VanHaitsma, Meeuwsen, #6 Dave Zagaiski, Hartwell and #33 Monte Tolan.
The #20 of Dave Hull and #84 Darin Niemi led the Kerkstra Services Pro Stocks to the green flag for their 25 lap feature. The cars immediately fell in to single file racing, but there was one car trying to get to the front - #76 Brian Tillema. He passes the #15 Scott Root and #18 Mitch Meppelink on the outside and then started to work on Niemi. While Hull continued to lead, the top four were only separated by a second and as soon as Tillema got around Niemi, he began stalking Hull. Just after Tillema made that pass, the caution was out for Niemi who hit the wall on the front stretch and then his car caught on fire. Niemi exited the car and was OK. This brought out the red flag for clean up. Tillema took the lead on the restart, but the car on the move was the #6 of Brandon Hermiller. Hermiller got by Meppelink and then Hull, giving chase to Tillema. They were racing hard, side by side and on lap 18, Hermiller was scored as the leader, but Tillema was fighting back. With three laps to go, Hermiller finally cleared Tillema and managed to put some distance on him. Hermiller took the checkers and got his first win of the season. Tillema had to settle for second and the rest of the top ten were Hull, Meppelink, #51 Weston Jewett, #15 Scott Root, #23 Shawn Simon, #1 Brett DeKraker, #88 Tony Davis and #F1 Randy Veldman.
Providing the final feature of the night was the Model Coverall Modified class; #97L Dave Lake and #8 Billy Eppink led the field to the green for a 30-lap feature. The field rode two by two for the first lap before Eppink fell in line behind Lake. Caution was out early in this race, the #76 of Ryan Gruppen went off the backstretch. Just after the restart, #12 Brian Bergakker took the lead, however caution was out again just five laps later. Gruppen was off the back again and #80 Curt Filkins was also involved. There was then a two-car breakaway and the field was back to single file racing. On lap 10, #7 Ryan Hamm was sideways at the start/finish line, but he saved it. On lap 13, the #22 of Billy Shotko moved up to third and Bergakker was checking out. With 4 to go, #6 Ben Kleis overtook Eppink for fourth while Bergakker absolutely dominated the race, winning by 4.835 seconds. Lake, Shotko, Kleis, Eppink, #7 Trevor Berry, #99 Mark Fliearman, #222 Caleb Bisacky, #29 Rob Shoemaker and Hamm rounded out the top ten.
Coming up at Berlin Raceway is the Premier Boyne Machine Super Lates Night. It will be the first night of racing for the Super Lates and the Vintage Racing Organization of America. Joining them will be the Engine Pro Super Stocks, Kerkstra Services Pro Stocks and Burnips Equipment 4-Cylinders. Tickets are $12 for adults (12+) and kids 11 and under are free; racing starts at 7:00 p.m. and for more information, please visit www.berlinraceway.com.
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Lisa Walker
Berlin Raceway
lwalker@berlinraceway.com
616-622-2051
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