Nawrocki, Roelofs, Hermiller, Lake, Walton, Senneker and Campbell win championships

Nawrocki, Roelofs, Hermiller, Lake, Walton, Senneker and Meeuwsen take checkers

Marne, MI—It was Championship Night at Berlin Raceway and with the pits packed with six different divisions, it was sure to be an exciting night of racing. All of the starting fields were lined up by points to give everyone a chance to race against their closest competition. Winners on the night included Dave Lake (Model Coverall Modified), Brandon Hermiller (Kerkstra Services Pro Stock), Terry Senneker (Coors Light Late Model), Nate Walton (Engine Pro Super Stock), Tyler Nawrocki (Burnips Equipment 4-Cylinder B), Cole Roelofs (Burnips Equipment 4-Cylinder A) and Ross Meeuwsen (Premier Boyne Machine Super Lates). Champions were also crowned with Tyler Nawrocki, Cole Roelofs, Brandon Hermiller, Dave Lake, Nate Walton, Terry Senneker and Brian Campbell taking home the big trophies.

The first race on the track was the 30-lap Model Coverall Modified feature with #97 Dave Lake and #22 Billy Shotko on the front row. They ran the first lap side by side before Lake cleared Shotko and the #7 of Ryan Hamm was catching up to Shotko in a hurry. On lap 18, there was trouble for Hamm, he dropped out of the race; Lake had just over a one second lead on Shotko and Shotko was chopping it down. The first caution of the race came on lap 20 for debris on the track. The restart was double file and Shotko wasn’t letting Lake too far out of his sight, but after a handful of laps, Lake was pulling away again. Lake went on to get the win and the championship in the Modified division. The rest of the top ten were Shotko, #99 Jordan Dahlke, #8 Billy Eppink, #6 Kevin DeGood, #76 Alec Carll, #29 Rob Shoemaker, #80 Samantha Jansen and #21 Cal Castle.

Next up was the 25-lap Kerkstra Services Pro Stocks, #6 Brandon Hermiller started on the pole with #76 Brian Tillema on his outside. Hermiller and Tillema ran side by side for the first two laps before Hermiller cleared him and the top three broke away from the field. The first caution of the race came early, on lap 4 for the #88 of Tony Davis. After the restart, #20 Dave Hull was looking under Tillema and the next battle for position was between #F1 Randy Veldman and #51 Weston Jewett, Veldman took the position and the #18 of Mitch Meppelink followed through. Back up front, Hermiller had just over a one second lead and Tillema was still trying to hold off Hull. Hull took the position with two laps to go and there was not enough time to catch Hermiller. Hermiller got his eighth win of the season by 4.038 seconds and he also won the Pro Stock championship. The rest of the top ten were Hull, Tillema, Veldman, #84 Darin Niemi, Meppelink, Jewett, #1 Brett DeKraker, #23 Andrew MacIntosh and #71 Trever McCoy.

The Coors Light Late Models rolled next for a 60-lap feature; #37 Terry Senneker and #32 Ross Meeuwsen led the field to the green flag. The top four broke away and rode single file and by lap 5, Senneker had a half-second lead. By lap 20, #33 Monte Tolan was moving forward, taking fifth from #1 Barry Hartwell and then he was looking to get fourth from #12 Tim DeVos just as the leaders were in traffic. At half-way, DeVos was able to get away from Tolan and Senneker was coming up to lap seventh place. With Senneker in traffic, Meeuwsen was able to get back to his bumper and while trying to put the #1 of Barry Hartwell a lap down, Meeuwsen got past both of them. Senneker stayed with Meeuwsen and on lap 42, he got right to Meeuwsen’s rear quarter panel and their tight racing lead to the first caution of the race; after contact, Meeuwsen spun in turn 4. On the restart, Senneker and #14 Steve Needles restarted side by side and while Needles was strong out of the gate, Senneker quickly cleared him and started to pull away again. Meeuwsen, who had to restart at the tail of the lead lap, had made his way up to third, battling needles for second with just three laps to go. It was Senneker who crossed this finish line first; he got the win and the Late Model championship. The rest of the top ten were Needles, Meeuwsen, DeVos, #57 Alan Marcott, Tolan, Hartwell, #24 Lee VanDyk, #15 Brian Maxim and #16 Kris Fewless.

Up next were the Engine Pro Super Stocks for a 30-lap feature with #66 Nate Walton and #77 Andrew Nylaan on the front row. The top three, Walton, Nylaan and #50 Regnerus, were quick to break away from the field and by the time they were coming to complete lap 3, the caution was out for an incident in turn 4 involving the #44 Brian VanZalen and #3 Travis Nylaan. On the restart, VanZalen and T. Nylaan made contact again and slid up into the turn 1 wall. Once the race got going, the leaders rolled single file and the first battle for position was for fourth between #10 Josh Hobson and #94.5 Nick Gebben all while leader Walton was running away from the field. On lap 9, A. Nylaan and Regnerus were battling for second; Regnerus was strong off of four, but Nylaan was equally as strong off of two. They rode side by side for three laps until Regnerus got by. At half-way, Walton had a three second lead and Hobson was passing Nylaan for second. The third caution of the race came on lap 18, the #55 of Dave Lake had mechanical issues and came to a stop on the frontstretch. On the restart, Regnerus washed up the track and both Nylaan and Hobson got past. Regnerus was making a comeback with #48 Seth Moody on his bumper. As they were coming around to complete that lap, the caution was out again involving the #1 Brian Wiersma and Gebben on the backstretch. Due to time, the race was called as official and it was Walton who got his first win and he also walked away with the championship. The rest of the top ten were A. Nylaan, Hobson, Regnerus, Moody, #78 Will Olmsted, Wiersma, T. Nylaan, #5 Samantha Jansen and Gebben.

The Burnips Equipment 4-Cylinder B division was next on the track with #20 Tyler Nawrocki and #84 Steve Thompson leading the field to the green flag for the 15-lap feature. Nawrocki lead from the start and #10 Dave Duyst was working on Thompson for second, he took the position and Thompson was then under attack from #62 Charlie DeJong. By lap 4, Nawrocki was lapping cars and Duyst was closing in on Nawrocki. Given the heavy traffic, the top four was able to stay in reach of each other. On the final lap, DeJong was just getting under Thompson for position and Duyst and Nawrocki were drag racing to the finish line. Nawrocki got the win by just .002 seconds and he also won the championship. The rest of the top ten were Duyst, Thompson, DeJong, #62 Paul Ritchie, #18 Jake Hunsaker, #41 Kyle VanDrunen, #72 Steven Holtzlander, #44 Nicole DeVos and #40 Jim Woltanski.

It was #024 Cole Roelofs and ##77 Jared Lyzenga on the front row for the 15-lap Burnips Equipment 4-Cylinder A Feature. Roelofs was able to maintain the first position and the top four broke away from the field. The #14 of Jason DeVos was on the move, taking third from #2 Darrell Holtzlander and then taking second from Lyzenga. DeVos had just five laps to try to catch up to Roelofs and while he was able to chop a little time off, there were not enough laps. Roelofs got the win also won the championship and the rest of the top ten were DeVos, Lyzenga, Holtzlander, #76 Mike Speet, #20 Jackson Walker, #15 Mel Parsons, #11X Jason Essex and #7 Ryan Hamm.

The final race of the night was the 100-lap Premier Boyne Machine Super Lates with #20 Brian Campbell on the pole and #55 Chris Anthony on his outside. Campbell and Anthony took off with the rest of the top six in tow, they set off riding single file. The next pack of cars were racing very hard for position. On lap 11, the #37 of Jordan Dahlke was working on #10 Josh Hobson for fourth and after battling side by side for two laps, Dahlke cleared him. Lap 17 saw the top 2; Campbell and Anthony; shake off the #21 of Terry VanHaitsma and they started pulling away, nose to tail. On lap 24, the battle for seventh was heating up, the #23 of Chris Koslek was pushing his way forward, making contact with both #12 Tim DeVos and #10 Josh Hobson. DeVos was able to get back by Koslek and they continued on. The top three, Campbell, Anthony and VanHaitsma, ran nose to tail as the battle for fifth was getting exciting between #99 Ross Meeuwsen and DeVos. Just five laps later, the leaders caught the tail of the field and in traffic, VanHaitsma was able to get by Anthony for second. The first caution of this race came on lap 45. After the field was reset and it was VanHaitsma who got past Campbell on the restart. Campbell was battling back while trying to hold off the hard-charging DeVos. Campbell and DeVos both got past VanHaitsma on lap 47 and the field went back to single file at the half-way point. Lap 56 saw a change for the lead, DeVos got around Campbell, but Campbell was battling back. They raced side by side for four laps before Campbell made the pass and cleared him. Now it was Meeuwsen on the move, he was challenging DeVos for second and took the position. Meeuwsen had just 25 laps left to catch Campbell. With 20 laps to go, Meeuwsen was closing in on Campbell and the pair was back in traffic. While trying to maneuver past Hobson, Hobson slowed in front of Campbell and Meeuwsen was able to blow by both of them on lap 84. Campbell was unable to make up the time that he lost until the last lap when things got wild. With the leaders in heavy traffic and coming to the checkers, it was Meeuwsen who prevailed. The rest of the top ten were Campbell, DeVos, #21 Johnny Benson, #6 Brandon Hermiller, Anthony, #37 Jordan Dahlke, #32 Gabe Ensing, #44 Tim Steele and #82 Tom Thomas. Though Campbell finished second, he was crowned the Premier Boyne Machine Super Lates Champion.

Next Saturday ,September 24, at Berlin Raceway is the CRA Super Series 125. They will be joined by the Vintage Racing Organization of America who will also be having their championship night and there will be a Run What Ya Brung race as well! Tickets are $13 for adults, kids 11 and under are free and racing begins at 7:00 p.m.