By Steve Kaminski | The Grand Rapids Press MLive.com
MARNE -- Steve Thompson of Newaygo has a little advice for people who always have dreamed about going racing but figure they are just too old to do it.
Do it.
That’s what Thompson said after he won Saturday night’s 15-lap 4 Cylinder B feature race at Berlin Raceway, giving the 45-year old his first career victory. Thompson started racing only a year ago, and he finished sixth in the points standings.
"It’s awesome," said Thompson, who outran Dave Duyst by 1.439 seconds to the checkered flag. "I have finished second and third, but this is the first trophy. It means a lot. To me, this is like winning the (Daytona) 500.
"I have always wanted to race, ever since I was a kid. I used to come out and watch the guys. I wish I would have started 20 years ago. But it’s better late than never. I just bought a Pro Stock and I’m going to race it next year."
Berlin had been rained out the past two weeks, but action returned with Saturday’s Racingawareness.com Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital Kids Night. Dave Lake of Marne, who drives the No. 97L Racingawareness.com Modified, found Victory Lane, too. Lake, the division’s points leader, captured the 30-lap main for his fifth win of the season.
But this might have been his most difficult. Lake made contact with the wall during a heat race, and that sent his team scrambling to make the necessary repairs in time for the feature.
"Talk about trying situations," Lake said. "We smacked the wall hard in the heat race. We had a bunch of cement in the right rear tire. But the guys got together and we methodically took everything apart, and we put it together three, four times until we were sure we got everything right. I’m glad everything came together properly."
Justin Ryan of Grand Rapids won his third Superoltz Stock feature, leading from start to finish and beating Andrew Nylaan by 0.282 seconds. But Ryan said it wasn’t as easy as it looked.
"It wasn’t very easy," Ryan said. "The car got really, really free. As the track cools off, it gets so free, but I’m sure the other guys were in the same boat. Once you are four or five lengths ahead, you can try to keep the tires nice and cool. My goal is to save the right rear until the last five laps, and then I can burn it off."
Darrell Holtzlander of Wyoming won his second 4 Cylinders A main, and he gave all the credit to his 15-year-old son, Dillon Holtzlander.
"My son set the car up, and he really did a great job tonight," Holtzlander said. "He said, ‘Dad, why don’t we try this,’ and we did it. His idea worked. He is starting off about the same time I started with my dad. But he’s picking up on it quicker than I did."
Double duty: Not only did Dave Lake of Marne win the Modified feature, but he placed fifth in the Super Stock main.
Did you hear that? "If we didn’t do this as a family, we wouldn’t be here." Darrell Holtzlander, who gets plenty of help from his children, Kara, Arik, Steven and Dillon.
Did you see that? Tim DeVos broke an axle while leading with three laps to go and surrendered the lead to Brian Campbell in the Super Lates 100-lap main.
Here’s Johnny: Grand Rapids driver Johnny Benson finished second in the Super Lates feature.
Next week: Open Wheel Showdown, including the Auto Value Super Sprints and the USAC Midgets
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