Marne, MI – After waiting out a rain delay for the majority of the afternoon, the skies finally cleared at Berlin Raceway; the sun came out, as did the fans and they were treated to a fantastic night of racing. There were two first- time winners in Monte Tolan (Coors Light Late Model) and Seth Moody (Engine Pro Super Stock). Jared Lyzenga (Burnips Equipment 4-Cylinder A) got his first win of the season and adding to their win totals for the season were Tyler Nawrocki (Burnips Equipment 4-Cylinder B) and Brandon Hermiller (Kerkstra Services Pro Stock).
The Burnips Equipment 4-Cylinder B division was the first to take the track for a 15-lap feature with #40 Charlie DeJong and #72 Dan Ream on the front row. DeJong took the lead and the #41 of Kyle VanDrunen and #20 Tyler Nawrocki on his bumper. Nawrocki was able to get past VanDrunen and went to the outside to challenge DeJong for the lead. The first caution of the race came out on lap 4, #18 Justin Lyzenga spun in turn 3. On the restart, Nawrocki had the advantage and took the lead as DeJong was under attack from #63 Paul Ritchie. Ritchie took second , but the car on the move was Lyzenga. He was taking it three wide with DeJong and #84 Steve Thompson, but it didn’t pan out. After contact with Lyzenga, DeJong spun in turn three on lap 8. Just after the race was restarted, debris was spotted on the backstretch, so the caution was displayed again. After the cars were restated, Ritchie didn’t let Nawrocki get that far ahead; Thompson also came up to challenge for the lead, but there was no stopping Nawrocki who went on to get his sixth win of the season. The rest of the top ten were Ritchie, Thompson, DeJong, #10 Dave Duyst, #44 Nicole DeVos, Lyzenga, VanDrunen, Ream and #08 Melinda Goen.
The #65 of Andy Church and #024 Cole Roelofs were on the front row for the 15-lap Burnips Equipment A feature and it was the #77 of Jared Lyzenga making it interesting on the start. Lyzenga immediately went three wide with Church and #51 Brad Hastings and on lap three he took second from #354 Chris McKinley and got next to Roelofs to challenge for the lead on lap 5. The top three were only separated by .2 seconds, but when Lyzenga made the pass for the lead, he was able to pull away with it as McKinley and Roelofs were fighting for second. The field fell into single file formation for the remainder of the laps and it was Lyzenga taking the checkered flag. The rest of the finishing order was McKinley, Roelofs, #14 Bill Krupp, #20 Jackson Walker, Hastings and Church.
The Kerkstra Services Pro Stocks were next up with a 25-lap feature; #26 Brian Thome on the pole and #F1 Randy Veldman on his outside. The first four laps saw Thome and Veldman run side by side until Veldman fell back and Thome took the lead. On lap 7, #18 Mitch Meppelink was looking under Thome for the lead and took it on lap 9; #15 also got by Thome for second on lap 11. The battle for the lead was then on during lap 14, Root dove underneath Meppelink and #76 Brian Tillema followed through and tried to get under Root at the line. Tillema took the lead on lap 17 and right behind the leaders was the #6 of Brandon Hermiller taking third from #20 Dave Hull. Hermiller got past both Hull and Root and he then had just five laps to catch up with Tillema. Hermiller was steadily catching Tillema and on lap 23 he took the lead and never looked back. Hermiller got his seventh win of the 2011 season and Tillema, Root, Hull, #84 Darin Niemi, #88 Tony Davis, Meppelink, #51 Weston Jewett, Thome and #23 Andrew MacIntosh completed the top ten.
Up next were the Engine Pro Super Stocks with #10 Josh Hobson and #3 Travis Nylaan leading the field to the green flag for a 30-lap feature. Hobson was the leader and the car on the move was #26 Seth Moody. Moody took second from Nylaan on lap three and then started chopping in to Hobson’s lead. On lap 9, Moody was on Hobson’s bumper and was giving chase. Moody seemed to be biding his time to challenge for the lead, but #18 Denny Anderson wasn’t far behind. On lap 14, Moody took the inside lane a got past Hobson; Anderson was also able to get by. Caution was out on lap 17; Hobson came to a stop coming out of turn 4 due to a flat right rear tire. The restart was double file and it was Anderson who was pushing hard for the lead, but Moody was able to pull away as Anderson was trying to hold off #51 Justin Ryan. With just four laps to go, Ryan made the pass for second and Moody had a 1.5 second lead. That lead was swiftly erased when the caution came out again with just three laps to go; #44 Brian VanZalen spun on the frontstretech. Moody has just three laps to try to hold off a hard-charging Ryan who was giving it all he had. Moody was able to keep the lead and get his first career win at Berlin Raceway. The rest of the top ten were Ryan, Anderson, #78 Will Olmsted, #50 Justin Regnerus, Nylaan, #77 Andrew Nylaan, #66 Nate Walton, #1 Brian Wiersma and #94.5 Nick Gebben.
The final event of the night was the 100-lap Coors Light Late Model race – The Chet. The #12 of Tim DeVos was on point with #22 Chris Koslek on his outside. DeVos was quick to jump out in front of the field, but Koslek was keeping pace with him. Looking back through the field, the next race for position was for fifth between #37 Terry Senneker and #14 Steve Needles. Senneker was strong in the high lane took the position on lap 11. Lap 13 saw the #33 of Monte Tolan moving up through the field, he took third from #9 Mike Root and was working on Koslek for second. Tolan took the position on lap 18 and another car that was looking fast was the #1 of Barry Hartwell who had cracked the top five on lap 22. On lap 37, he was battling Senneker for third just as Tolan was catching up to DeVos. Tolan would get close and then fall back, studying DeVos and trying to find a way around him. Hartwell put himself in the third position on lap 38 after passing Senneker and Senneker would then have to hold off Needles. Lap 71 saw the first lead change of the night when Tolan overtook DeVos and began driving away. Just ten laps later, the first caution of the race came out when Needles spun in turn 2 and Tolan’s three second led was taken away. DeVos got a great restart and took the lead back and with Tolan under attack from #32 Ross Meeuwsen, DeVos was able to pull away. With ten laps to go, Tolan was able to get away from Meeuwsen and began closing back in on DeVos. Tolan slid under DeVos on lap 92 and by lap 93, he was back in the lead. With DeVos and Meeuwsen mixing it up with five laps to go, Tolan was able to drive away and claim his first career win! It was Meeuwsen getting second and the rest of the top ten were DeVos, Hartwell, Senneker, Needles, #X Ray Clay, Root, #222 Caleb Bisacky and #24 Lee VanDyk.
Next Saturday, August 13 is a 4-in-1 show featuring the Engine Pro Super Stocks, Model Coverall Modifieds, Kerkstra Services Pro Stocks and Vintage Racing Organization of America. Tickets are just $10 for adults and kids 11 and under are free; the first race of the night starts at 7 p.m.
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