Billy Shotko victorious in Top Speed Modifieds-Will Olmsted, Randy Veldman, Lou Caposey and Jared Lyzenga also take checkers-
Marne, MI -- The Top Speed Modifieds rolled in to town for the Memorial Day Weekend Spectacular and the fans on hand were treated to an exciting night of racing from start to finish.
The 15 lap Burnips Equipment 4-Cylinder hit the track first with #17 Ryan Hamm and #10 Dave Duyst on the front row. It was the #14 of Bill Krupp who was flying through the field and took the lead by the time the cars completed lap 1, however, Krupp had some trouble on lap 2 and that brought out the first caution of the night. On the restart, #11X Jason Essex grabbed the lead and pulled away from the field. Once the #77 of Jared Lyzenga cleared the pack, he chased down Essex and took the lead on lap 6. By lap 10, he was putting cars a lap down and that's when the second caution came out.; the #89 of Sierra Lantz spun in turn 3. Essex reclaimed the lead on the restart, but Lyzenga wasn't far behind; he was getting wound up on the high side and took the lead back with 3 laps to go. Once he was out from there was no catching him. Lyzenga took the checkers and the rest of the top ten were #72 Steven Holtzlander, Essex, Duyst, Hamm, #62 Charlie DeJong, #63 Paul Ritchie, #17 Seth VanHorssen, Lantz and #20 Jackson Walker.
The #4 of Don Smith and #80 Billy Eppink led the Napa Filters Racing VROA Modifieds to the green flag of the 25-lap race. Smith kept the lead as the field raced side by side behind him. The first car to break out of the pack was #21 Tom Boorsma and he was battling Smith for the lead. Lap 10 saw the first caution that involved #7 Jimmy Lawson, Boorsma, #20 Don Deyman, #3 Lou Caposey, #59 John Evans and #55 Jeff Barsen. Once the race was restarted, Smith continued to lead with the #43 of Terry Byrne giving chase, however just one lap later, the caution was out again. The #80 of Billy Eppink spun coming out of turn 4. After a quick caution, the field was restarted and this time it was Boorsma back up to second, challenging Smith for the lead. On lap 17, Boorsma started to drop back and #3 Lou Caposey charged to the front and took the lead on lap 18. Lap 21 saw the third caution of the race when #82 Rob Parker spun in turn 3. Caposey got a good restart and the battle was on for second. Just as the field came around to complete lap 23, #74 Steve Fuller clipped Smith and this caused a multi-car pile-up in turn 1 which resulted in the end of the race. Caposey got the win and the rest of the top ten were Fuller, Smith, Boorsma, Lawson, Byrne, Eppink, Parker and #2 Randy Pierson.
Up next was the 25-lap Enterprise Iron & Metal Sportsman feature, #40 Dave Cutler and #20 Tyler Nawrocki started on the front row. Cutler had no problem staying out front from the drop of the green flag. The field ran single file for the first few laps until the first caution came out on lap 4. The #11 of Tim Stuart spun on the frontstretch and the #9 of Tyler Sterken was also involved. Once the field was restarted, it was #33 Allen Davis who grabbed the lead as Cutler fell back to second and was under pressure from #1 Randy Veldman for the position. Veldman cleared Cutler after a few laps and started to chase down Davis. On lap 13, he was right on Davis' bumper, then he switched to the outside lane to make the pass on lap 16. Veldman drove away from the field and Davis, Cutler, #15 Scott Root and #26 Brian Thome were all slugging it out for second. Lap 20 saw the next caution when #50 Bill Funk spun on the frontstretch. A double file restart with 5 would set up an exciting finish. Veldman was able to shake off the pack, as was Thome, who was running second, trying to reel in Veldman. There was not enough time to do so and Veldman drove to victory lane. Thome got second and the rest of the top ten were Root, Davis, Cutler, #20 Tyler Nawrocki, #17 Jared Miller, #38 Maurice Davis, #77 Gerry Shepard and #89 Kirk Meissner.
The Engine Pro Super Stocks were next for their 30-lap feature and it was #66 Nate Walton and #48 Seth Moody on the front row. Moody took the lead early and both he and Walton pulled away from the field as the rest of the cars were battling for position. The #78 of Will Olmsted was the next car to break away and chase down the leaders. The first caution of the race came on lap 7 when #31 Brett DeKraker and #21 Tyler Rycenga made contact and that caution collected #67 Ben Welch, #77 Andrew Nylaan, #98 Bob Bliss and #20J Jeremy Munniksma. Once the field was restarted, the top four raced side by side for six laps with the slight advantage going to Walton. Moody was able to take the lead on lap 14 and he pulled Olmsted with him. With 8 laps to go and after a fierce battle, Olmsted took the lead and held on for the win. Moody, Walton, #44 Brian VanZalen, #54 Justin Regnerus, #76 Brian Tillema, Rycenga, #20 Dave Hull, #76 Warren Speet and DeKraker completed the top ten.
The finale was the 50-lap Top Speed Modifieds with #7 Ryan Hamm and #16 Kris Fewless leading the field to the stripe. Hamm took off with the lead as Fewless dropped back to tenth, stacking up the outside lane behind him. This let Hamm pull out to almost a 2 second lead on lap 4 and the field began racing single-file as they had over 40 laps remaining. On lap 11, Hamm had caught the tail of the field and began lapping cars and it was his battle with a lapped car that resulted in #8 Billy Eppink catching up to him and battling him for the lead. Hamm regained his momentum and held the lead as #22 Billy Shotko came up to challenge Eppink for second. By lap 30, Shotko made the pass for second and he had just over a half of a second to make up. He was clicking off a tenth of a second per lap just as the leaders were coming in to traffic. Lap 33 saw the first caution of the race when the #29 of Rob Shoemaker spun on the frontstretch. Just as the field was restarted, the caution was back out; Shoemaker went off of the backstretch and then the #68 spun across the frontstretch. Hamm and Shotko stayed side by side after the restart and on lap 35, Shotko was the new leader. The #97 of Kevin DeGood had made his way up to third and was challenging Hamm for second. DeGood took the position with five to go and had 1.5 seconds separating himself from leader Shotko who was in traffic. There just wasn't enough time to catch him; Shotko took the win and the rest of the top ten were DeGood, Hamm, Eppink, #80 Josh Slade, #22 Adam Hudson, #14 Tim Burkett, #X Damon Breedlove, Fewless and #70 Mark Bott.
Next Saturday, June 1 is the Prelude to the Battle at Berlin 251 featuring the Budweiser Super Late Models, Engine Pro Super Stocks, Enterprise Iron & Metal Sportsman and Burnips Equipment 4-Cylinders. Tickets are $12 for adults, $8 for students 12-17, $5 for kids 8-11 and children 7 and under are free; racing starts at 7:00 p.m.
