By Steve Ungrey | The Grand Rapids Press MLive.com
MARNE -- The green flag dropped right along with the white flag, meaning Matt Merrell had one lap to go to hold off Tim George for the first ARCA Racing victory of his career.
Merrell survived not only a hard charge from George, but also an accident behind him as the Portland, Texas, driver cruised to the checkered flag Saturday night at Berlin Raceway by leading the final two laps.
"I had a good car and we just needed a caution again to get back up there. I knew I could get past Tim if I had another shot at him," said Merrell, who won the 200-lap feature, one of three feature races at Berlin.
"The car was awesome. There, on that long green-flag run, I just put it in coast mode. Tim just started opening up a lead and I knew if we could get some long runs in there we’d be good to go eventually. It was some very nice work for us."
Grant Enfinger, of Fairhope, Ala., started out in front and led through the first 52 laps of the race, but Merrell and Tom Hessert (Cherry Hill, N.J.) stayed close.
After a caution flag in the 120th lap, George passed Merrell out of the pits and hung onto the lead until two laps remained. Frank Kimmel spun on lap 195, and when the green flag came down three laps later, Merrell assumed command and held off George’s challenge. George led by as much as six seconds at one stretch.
"We just took our time. I wasn’t going to try and run Tim down when we started back up," Merrell said. "You can really use the outside lines to catch up here. I knew we’d eventually make up the time on him."
George, although visibly disappointed, knew Merrell had run a strong race.
"It was good," George said. "I was a little disappointed we didn’t go home with the hardware, but we can leave here on a positive note."
Merrell, who climbed on top of the door and enjoyed a celebration on Victory Lane, couldn’t believe his good fortune.
"I got the team behind me to get more victories out of this," Merrell said. "I hope the floodgates can open. Maybe we’ll go on a winning streak here soon."
Enfinger finished in third, followed by Sheltra and Chad Hackenbracht (New Philadelphia, Ohio).
BERLIN RACEWAY
Saturday’s winners: Tim DeVos (Premier Boyne Machine Late Model), Samantha Jansen (Vintage Racing Organization of America), Matt Merrell (ARCA)
Move of the week: After a pit stop, Tim George Jr. made a charge ahead of Matt Merrell in the ARCA race, but Merrell cruised ahead with two laps to go and held off George for the checkered flag.
Repeat champion: Canada proved strong again, as Samantha Jansen, a native of Ontario, cruised to her third VROA win at Marne.
Next week: Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital night is Saturday, with races in the Premier Late Model, Super Stock, Modifieds, Pro Stock and 4-cylinder categories.
Merrell took the lead at the 76th lap with George and Enfinger not far behind, and eventually, Merrell, George and Patrick Sheltra (Indiantown, Fla.) settled into the top three.
No comments:
Post a Comment