The veteran takes the kid Saturday night at Berlin Raceway

The veteran takes the kid Saturday night at Berlin Raceway
By Steve Kaminski
Skaminsk@mlive.com MLive.com

MARNE – Brian Campbell predicted that one day race fans will flip on the television, and there will be Erik Jones, competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
Campbell, a veteran Late Model driver from Wyoming, still had a trick or two up the sleeve of his firesuit for the 15-year old Jones, though. Campbell held off the Byron driver to win Saturday night’s CRA Super Series 125-lap feature race.

Campbell grabbed the lead from Spring Lake’s Caleb Bisacky on lap 88, and he withstood a barrage of cautions down the stretch to claim his fourth career CRA win on the Marne half-mile.

The caution on lap 110 is what nearly cost Campbell the victory because Jones blew by Campbell on the restart. However, Campbell got the lead back two laps later.

“He’s young, but he’s a pretty good driver,” said Campbell, who beat out Jones by .615 seconds. “He has a lot of natural talent, and I have raced with him before. You will see him on Sundays. I guarantee you.

“I was checking out on him all night, and I figured, I will be alright. We will check out, and we will be done. Little did I know. This was as hard as I have driven here in a long time for a win.”

But Jones wasn’t finished. He pulled back up behind Campbell and even made contact with him over the waning laps.

“Dave Lake in the No. 55 car blew a tire, and you had sparks going everywhere,” Campbell said. “I figured a caution was coming out. I kind of got off the gas pedal a little bit, and then I heard ‘No yellow, no yellow. The next thing I know (Jones) is bumping me in the back.

“I’m like, ‘Oh no, I wish I hadn’t done that. But I figured there was going to be a yellow.”

It was the second CRA win of the season for Campbell, who won last month at Toledo Speedway. The win enabled Campbell to take over the points lead. West Virginia’s Travis Braden finished third, followed by Bisacky and Alec Carll of Grand Rapids. Coopersville’s Johnny VanDoorn, who entered the race leading the standings, placed sixth.

Saturday’s race was just the third CRA start for Jones, who started sixth in the main. He finished ninth in a JEGS All-Star race at Berlin last summer.

“We got a really good restart,” Jones said of his pass on Campbell. “He was a little slow on the bottom, and we drove around him on the top, and he got by us a few laps later. He was a little better than us on the short runs.”

ALSO SATURDAY

Time will tell if Lauren Bush of Hastings will have a chance to race against Kyle Busch when the NASCAR Sprint Cup superstar returns to compete in Berlin Raceway’s June 19 Rowdy 251.
If she does, don’t expect the second generation driver to back down from one of NASCAR’s bad boys. In fact, Bush said she isn’t about to back down from any boy.

That was evident during Saturday night’s 30-lap CRA Super Series B main. Rick Turner of Yorktown, Ind., won the race, and he was awarded an automatic berth into the Rowdy.
However, Bush was running second in the race and challenging Kevin Tweedy of Greenfield, Ind., for the lead with two laps to go. Bush spun in turn three after making contact with Tweedy. She was sent to the rear on the restart, while Tweedy was eventually overtaken by Turner when the race resumed.

Still, Bush, who is the daughter of three-time Late Model track champion Joe Bush, called it the most impressive run of her young career.

“(Tweedy) wasn’t giving up and I wasn’t giving up,” Bush said. “We collided together a little bit, we made some contact.

“I think I showed all the boys that I’m not going to take it easy on them. I can be just as tough as the boys.”

Ryan Hamm of Norton Shores captured his second Modified main of the season, outdueling last week’s winner, Billy Shotko. Hamm said he was well aware that it was Shotko hounding him.

Remember that brand new videoboard Berlin officials installed in the turn three scoreboard prior to the season’s start? Hamm said he was checking it out now that the videoboard carries live feeds of the races.
“I’m glad they have that screen here because I didn’t know how close he was or where he was running,” Hamm said. “But I was watching that almost every lap. It’s a distraction when your car kicks sideways, but otherwise, it’s really nice to have that.”

Tony Davis of Wyoming battled Brian Tillema door-to-door throughout the second half of the 25-lap Sportsman feature. Davis grabbed the lead with four laps to go after the two made contact. Randy Veldman eventually passed Tillema for second.

“There was some contact made, and I have some apologizing to do,” Davis said. “Brian and I were battling so hard. I hate it for him and I hate to win like that, I never want to win like that again. I’m going to drive the car (back to the pits) and talk to him right now.”

Terry VanHaitsma set fast time in CRA qualifying with a lap of 96.364 mph, edging out Brian Campbell of Wyoming (96.287 mph). In all, 42 drivers from across the Midwest attempted to qualify for the race. Lee VanDyk of Grand Rapids and Billy Leslie of Clay won last chance races.

Samantha Jansen won the Vintage Racing Organization of America feature.

SATURDAY NIGHT RESULTS

CRA SUPER SERIES (125 LAPS) – 1. Brian Campbell, 2. Erik Jones, 3. Travis Braden, 4. Caleb Bisacky, 5. Alec Carll, 6. Johnny VanDoorn, 7. Tom Thomas, 8. Terry VanHaitsma, 9. Kenzie Ruston, 10. Ross Meeuwsen, 11. Jordan Dahlke, 12. Seth Moody, 13. Brandon Hermiller, 14. Tim DeVos, 15. Peter Cozzolino, 16. Justin Regnerus, 17. Jay Niewiek, 18. Steve Dorer, 19. Becca Kasten, 20. Nate Caruth, 21. Billy Leslie, 22. Terry Fisher Jr., 23. Dave Lake, 24. Chris Anthony, 25. Lee VanDyk, 26. Nick Szotko, 27. Kyle Jones, 28. Mark Lambert

MODIFIEDS (30 LAPS) – 1. Ryan Hamm, 2. Billy Shotko, 3. Adam Chase, 4. Ryan Gruppen, 5. Randy DeBoer, 6. Ben Welch, 7. Kevin DeGood, 8. Samantha Jansen, 9. Rob Shoemaker, 10. Jeff Vrsek, 11. Billy Eppink, 12. Cal Castle

SPORTSMAN (25 LAPS) - `1. Tony Davis, 2. Randy Veldman, 3. Brian Tillema, 4. Scott Root, 5. Dave Cutler, 6. Brian Thome, 7. Gerry Shepard, 8. Tyler Sterken, 9. Allen Davis, 10. Tyler Nawrocki, 11. Kirk Meissner, 12. Mitch Meppelink, 13. Jared Miller

CRA LAST CHANCE 1 (15 LAPS): 1. Billy Leslie, 2. Steve Dorer, 3. Rick Tuner, 4. Keth Herp, 5. Kenny Tweedy, 6. Brett Robinson, 7. Nick Gullatta, 8. Chris Muyskens, 9. Fred Hopkins, 10. Ryan Inman

CRA LAST CHANCE 2 (15 LAPS): 1. Lee VanDyk, 2. Mark Lambert, 3. Jason Dietsch, 4. Lauren Bush, 5. Johnny Jenkins, 6. Tim Greene, 7. Dan Vander Molen, 8. Joey Licata, 9. Joe Beaver

HEAT WINNERS: Ryan Hamm, Billy Shotko (Modifieds); Tony Davis, Scott Root (Sportsman); Samantha Jansen (VROA)

QUALIFYING: Terry VanHaitsma (CRA Super Series) 96.364 mph; Kevin DeGood (Modifieds) 90.206 mph; Tony Davis (Sportsman)83.895 mph; Samantha Jansen (VROA) 82.746 mph