|
VanHaitsma wins The Chet
Day two of Championship Weekend is in the books at
Berlin Raceway. Taking home the trophies were
Brandon Hermiller (Young Gun), Mario Marietta
(Wolverine Outlaw Midgets), Derek Snyder (Auto Value
Super Sprints) and Terry VanHaitsma (Coors Light
Late Model). Champions were also crowned tonight:
#36 Jim Anderson (Wolverine Outlaw Midgets), #42
Jason Blonde (Auto Value Super Sprints) and Ross
Meeuwsen (Coors Light Late Model).
The Young Guns kicked the night off
with #48 Seth Moody and #19 Dalton Haney lead the
field to the green flag. Just after the green flag
flew, caution was out for #32 Gabe Ensing for
spinning in turn 2. After resetting the field, it
was obvious that the lead was not the place to be as
the leader encountered trouble every caution. Moody
dropped out of the race on lap 2 and that handed the
lead to Ensing. Caution was out for the second time
on lap 4 when #16 Kelsey Steele spun in turn 2. #6
Brandon Hermiller was all over Ensing on the restart
and the two made contact on lap 8, bringing the
caution out and sending them both to the tail. The
lead was then handed to Haney who enjoyed the view
from the front for three laps until he spun coming
out of turn 4. The new leader was #18 Mitch
Meppelink and coming up behind him were Steele,
Ensing and Hermiller. On the last lap, they were
three wide going into turn 3 with Hermiller on the
outside, Meppelink in the middle and Steele on the
inside. Just before the start/finish line,
Meppelink pushed it too hard and got sideways and
Hermiller got by to get his fourth win of the
season. As Meppelink crossed the line sideways, he
collected Steele in an accident after the checkered
flag flew. Meppelink did get second and the rest of
the finishing order was Ensing, Steele, Haney and
Moody.
The Wolverine Outlaw Midgets ran next
for their 25-lap feature with #2 Adam Kramer and #33
Pat Wilda on the front row. Kramer led, but #21 Dan
Bedford was quick to take it away with #85 Mario
Marietta was on tail. The top two then checked out
on the field and put 2 seconds between them and the
rest of the field. #11D Levi Roberts was on the
move after stating 10th, he was up to 3rd
and trying to catch the leaders. The first caution
came out on lap 16; #33 Dan Drinan was throwing
sparks going in to turn 1, spun and then came to
rest against the turn 1 wall. Before the field was
restated, #02 Tom Fedorcyzk spun and the caution was
extended. On the restart, Marietta got by Bedford
and Roberts was looking to get past him as well.
With 5 laps to go, Roberts and Bedford were still
fighting for position, allowing Marietta to retain
his lead. The next time by, Roberts dropped out of
the race, but there wasn’t enough time for Bedford
to catch back up to Marietta to get the win. The
rest of the top 10 were #26 Al Galedridge, #36 Jim
Anderson, #29 Brad Galedridge, Kramer, #23 Dave
Troyer, #4 Brad Greenup, Wilda and #0 Doug Dietsch.
The 30-lap Auto Value Super Sprints
were next, #70 Dorman Snyder started on the pole
with #9 Chad Goff on his outside. #42 Jason Blonde
wasted no time in trying to get to the front,
working on #37 for position and on lap 6, Snyder was
already lapping cars. The first caution of this
race came on lap 7, #35 Dave Price spun out of turn
4. With the field bunched back up, Goff swung low
and got past Snyder, as did Blonde; Snyder was
falling back. Caution was out again on lap 15, #99
Sondi Eden had problems in turn 4. On the restart,
#22 Derek Snyder made a bold move to take second
from #55 Mike Ling and on the next lap, he overtook
Goff. Snyder took off with and with 10 to go, he
had a one and a half second lead and was stretching
it out with ever lap turned. With no more cautions
in the race, Snyder went on to win by 5.354 seconds
over Goff and the rest of the top 10 were Ling,
Blonde, #07 Jeff Banyas, #46 Jim Swain, #07 Ryan
Litt, #37 Hank Lower, #20K Kyle Flint and #3A Mike
Astrauskus.
The final race of the evening was put
on by the Coors Light Late Models for the running of
The Chet 100. Going in to the feature, #32 Ross
Meeuwsen, who had hit the wall during practice, had
just a 17 point lead over #21 Terry VanHaitsma.
Starting on the front row were #7 Justin Claucherty
and #71 Kyle Ballard and the field raced clean until
lap 4 when #19 Nick Shotko spun on the frontstretch.
Claucherty picked the inside to restart, but before
the field made a green lap, caution was out again
for a clean spin involving the #28 of Scott Thomas.
Claucherty got a good restart and the car on the
move was #21 Terry VanHaitsma who had started 10th
and was up to 5th on lap 7. #12 Tim
DeVos passed Meeuwsen for second on lap 11 as
VanHaitsma got past #27 Billy Shotko for fourth.
DeVos was cutting in to Claucherty’s lead bit by
bit, but on lap 23, DeVos dropped out of the race
for problems with his car. Claucherty’s lead turned
in to 3.5 seconds since Meeuwsen and VanHaitsma were
still fighting for every inch. VanHaitsma got
around him on lap 31, as did #82 Tom Thomas and they
had a 4.6 second deficit to make up. VanHaitsma was
cutting it down and it was only a matter of time
before he got to Claucherty’s bumper. He was there
on lap 48, side by side for the lead on lap 49 and
took the lead on lap 50. Thomas followed through
and then the leaders came in to traffic. The #4 of
Joel Baker appeared to be holding them up and the
leaders went three-wide with him on lap 54. On lap
57, Meeuwsen took third and VanHaitsma was pulling
away. With 25 laps to go, the leaders were back in
traffic, but were able to clear it and keep going.
Ten laps were left and VanHaitsma and Thomas were
nine seconds ahead of Meeuwsen, who was two seconds
ahead of Anthony. All of that went out of the
window on the next lap when a caution brought
everyone back together. VanHaitsma continued to
lead after the restart and held on to it for the
final laps to win the Chet and his second race of
the season. Thomas came in second and the rest of
the top ten were Meeuwsen, Anthony, #61 Alec Carll,
#222 Caleb Bisacky, B. Shotko, N. Shotko, S. Thomas
and #71 John Grega. With VanHaitsma winning,
Meeuwsen had to finish at least 3rd to
win and he did just that, winning back-to-back
Championships by just three points!
Next Saturday, October 3 is Burnips
Equipment 4-Cylinder Championship Night and Bus
Mania. The 4-Cylinders will settle their
season-long point battle and will be joined by
Spectator Drags, Trash Can Bowling and fan-favorite
School Bus Races. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5
for kids 6-12, kids five and under are free; the
first event will start at 6 p.m. For more
information, please visit our Web site at
www.berlinraceway.com.
Wayne's Words: Looking
Forward To What Lady Luck Will Bring At Vegas
"Las
Vegas Motor Speedway occupies a special place in
NASCAR Camping World Series history. Its first race
ended the 1996 season in which two tracks over a
mile in length — Las Vegas and Homestead-Miami
Speedway — had spots on the schedule.
"In a way, Las Vegas paved the
way for what the series has become even though in
its second season, truck racing remained a Saturday
night, short-track phenomenon.
"We saw the championship settled
three times in Las Vegas. There have been
down-to-the-wire points finishes the last two years,
but neither was any more exciting than in 1998 when
Jack Sprague won the race, Ron Hornaday finished
second and Ron won the championship by three points.
"While the points aren't as close
right now, don't bet against Las Vegas being a
factor in the ultimate outcome. History says there
is no such thing as a safe points lead in the NASCAR
Camping World Truck Series.
"The cross-country trip is a long
one but this is one trip the teams look forward to
every year. The schedule is such that there's plenty
of time to soak up the Las Vegas atmosphere and
maybe even take a little bit of Vegas home — if
you're lucky!
"Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the
community of Las Vegas do a great job promoting the
Las Vegas 350. There's always a large and
enthusiastic crowd for our final stand-alone race of
the year. Then everyone takes a deep breath and gets
ready for the final five races of 2009."
NCWTS TV Ratings up 40 Percent at Loudon
Nielsen
Household Ratings for the NASCAR Camping World Truck
Series continue to be up year-to-year on SPEED, as
the race from Loudon scored a .74 (546,000
households), a 40-percent increase over last year's
.53 (387,000 households) from the New Hampshire
track. The telecast peaked at a .86 (635,000
households), a 21-percent increase over last year's
.71 (518,000 households). In addition to the
continued growth of the NCWTS audience on SPEED, the
popular NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pre-race show,
NASCAR RaceDay, has recorded ratings increases for
nine of the last 10 weekends and is up year-to-year,
as is NCWTS Setup, the Truck Series pre-race show. (SPEEDtv
PR)
NASCAR Announces 2010
Testing Policy:
NASCAR announced today its 2010 testing policy for
its three national and two regional touring series.
The policy will again prohibit testing at tracks
which host NASCAR national series events, by teams
in the following series: NASCAR Sprint Cup; NASCAR
Nationwide; NASCAR Camping World Truck; NASCAR
Camping World East; and NASCAR Camping World West.
In 2010, however, testing will be allowed at
NASCAR-sanctioned tracks that host a regional
touring event but do not host a national series
event.
Based on this season's regional tour schedules, the
following tracks would be eligible to host tests
next year: Greenville-Pickens Speedway; Tri-County
Motor Speedway; South Boston Speedway; Thompson
International Speedway; Music City Motorplex;
Adirondack International Speedway; Lime Rock Park;
Thunder Hill Raceway; All American Speedway; Madera
Speedway; Douglas County Speedway; Toyota Speedway
at Irwindale; Portland International Raceway; Miller
Motorsports Park; Colorado National Speedway.
Look Who's Turning ....
|
Glenda selling
JB T-shirts at
Berlin Raceway |
Happy Birthday,
Glenda!
Hope you enjoy your 50th birthday
on Sunday in Las Vegas!
|
In Memory
Mr. Francis C. "Chuck"
Crowley, age 88, passed away on Friday, September
18, 2009 following a long battle with Alzheimer's
Disease. He was preceded in death by his wife,
Phyllis, and his oldest son, David.
He will be lovingly remembered by his children,
Douglas (Peggy) Crowley, Janice Scott, Judy (Jim)
Bender, Jeff (Ricky) Crowley and Debbie (John)
Benson. He cherished his nine grandchildren and
five great-grandchildren.
Francis was a decorated war veteran, being awarded
medals from both the United States and French
governments for his service in the U.S. Navy
including the invasion at Normandy during WWII. He
was a faithful member of Second Congregational
Church and lifelong member of their Mr. & Mrs.
Friendship Club. Francis was a long-time employee of
Oliver Machinery and through his work, he enjoyed
extensive travel around the world, often with
Phyllis.
Special thanks are given to the staff of the
Northview Manor Special Care Unit who affectionately
cared for him over the last four years. The family
has requested no visitation and will hold a family
memorial at a later date. Internment will be at
Blythefield Memorial Gardens. For those wishing,
online condolences can be shared at
www.mlive.com/deathnotices, and memorial
contributions in memory of Mr. Crowley can be made
to the
Alzheimer's Association
of West Michigan or
Second Congregational Church Pre-School Fund.
Memorial Alternatives, 616-363-3700.
Please keep Debbie, Johnny and the girls in your
thoughts.
Busch Wins at New
Hampshire
#51-Kyle
Busch, with no serious challenge on the final
restart from second and third place finishers,
#33-Ron Hornaday Jr. & #2-Kevin Harvick, held on to
the lead on the final restart to win the Heluva
Good! 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Communication issues between Hornaday and Harvick,
[Harvick unable to make the pass on Hornaday]
hampered either KHI team from making a late run on
Busch for the win. The win marks three consecutive
wins for Busch in the Camping World Truck Series;
his fifth win this season. Another strong run for
#13-Johnny Sauter. Sauter, running third with a
little less than 30 laps remaining ran out of gas,
but managed to battle back to finish in fifth place.
The rest of the top ten were #88-Matt Crafton,
#13-Johnny Sauter, #60-Stacy Compton, #16-Brian
Scott, #5-Mike Skinner, #6-Colin Braun, #14-Rick
Crawford. There were 9 lead changes among 7 drivers
with 3 caution flags for 14 laps.
Meeuwsen, Anderson, Jewett, Scheid
and Ensing Win at Berlin Raceway
It was a full night of feature racing
with all five of Berlin’s local divisions taking the
track. Taking home the trophies were Gabe Ensing
(Young Gun), Jason Scheid (Burnips Equipment
4-Cylinder), Weston Jewett (Kerkstra Services Pro
Stock), Denny Anderson (Engine Pro Super Stock) and
Ross Meeuwsen (Coors Light Late Model).
Kicking off the night were the cars
of the Engine Pro Super Stock division; #18 Denny
Anderson was on the pole and #55 Dave Lake was on
his outside. Anderson picked up where he left off
last week, leading the field while Lake was fending
off #51 Justin Ryan. The first caution came out on
lap 3, #8 Billy Eppink spun coming out of turn 2.
Anderson was pulling away again after the restart
and there was tight racing for positions two through
six. On lap 9, the top two in points, #26 Chris
Muyskens and #77 Andrew Nylaan were fighting for 5th.
Nylaan was good in turns 1 & 2 while Muyskens was
good in turns 3 & 4. The pair raced side by side
until lap 16 until Nylaan cleared him. Back in the
field, the battle for eighth was heating up with #F1
Randy Veldman, #1 Brian Wiersma, #13 James Haney and
#98 Bob Bliss; Haney was the first car to break from
that pack. The next battle for position was for 4th
with between Lake and Nylaan, with five to go,
Nylaan took the position. Ryan was catching up to
Anderson, but he ran out of time to get there,
Anderson got his fourth win by .501 seconds and the
rest of the top ten were Ryan, #5 Ray VanAllsburg,
Nylaan, #10 Bob Spencer, Lake, Muyskens, Haney,
Wiersma and #15 Garison Jewett.
The Burnips Equipment 4-Cylinder took
the track next with #51 Mel Parsons and # 29 John
Norder on the front row. Parsons took off with the
lead, but caution was out on lap 2 for the #20 of
Tyler Nawrocki, he went off of the backstretch.
Before the cars completed a lap, caution was out
again for #81 Mike Reavis spinning out of turn 4.
On the restart, #01 Rob Shoemaker was challenging
Parsons on the outside while #16 Ben Kleis made it
three wide on the inside at the line. Shoemaker
took the lead and from second on back, there was
tight racing. Kleis lost some ground, but gathered
it back and after splitting the #32 of Jim Woltanski
with Shoemaker, Kleis took the lead and Shoemaker
fell back. The #100 Jason Scheid was coming
through the field fast, taking 2nd from
#13 Dan Reimersma. Lap 11 saw the second caution of
the night for the #62 Richard Church spinning.
Kleis got a great restart and with five to go,
Scheid was catching Kleis one tenth of a second per
lap. The pair split the lapped car of Church,
Scheid took the lead and went on the get his second
win of the season. The rest of the top 10 were
Kleis, #14 Jason DeVos, #9 Nick Curtis, Reimersma,
#19 Dave Avink, #024 Cole Roelofs, #354 Chris
McKinley, Shoemaker and Hastings.
Kerkstra Services Pro Stocks were up
next for their 25 lap feature, #7 Kevin DeGood and
#40 Dave Culter led the field to the green flag. DeGood
was the early leader, but was being challenged early
by #88 Tony Davis. Fast qualifier, #50 Justin
Regnerus was coming though the field, joining the
battle for the lead on lap 10, as did #51 Weston
Jewett and #76 Brian Tillema. Three laps later,
Jewett was the new leader and Regnerus was working
on Tillema for 3rd. The battle for
second got three-wide on the backstretch with
Tillema on the outside, DeGood in the middle and
Regnerus on the inside on lap 15; Regnerus backed
off, Tillema got by DeGood and the field settled in
to single-file racing. The first caution of the
race happened on lap 21, the #36 of Ken Smith, Jr
spun off of the front stretch. Jewett got a good
restart and Tillema and Regnerus were fighting hard
for second. With one lap to go, the #7 of Alan
Fricke spun on the backstretch. That resulted in a
green-white-checker and Jewett was able to hold off
a hard-charging Tillema to get his second win of the
season. Tillema got second, Regnerus third and the
rest of the top ten were DeGood, Davis, Cutler, #20
Dave Hull, #78 Will Olmsted, #89 Kirk Meissner and
#00 Dennis Mann.
The Coors Light Late Models took the
track next, #27 Billy Shotko started on the pole
with #28 Scott Thomas on his outside. Shotko
retained his position and the field raced clean. On
lap 24, Shotko was enjoying a 4.5 second lead over
Scott Thomas. The first caution of the race came on
lap 30 when the #54 of Chris Nash and #37 Terry
Senneker wrecked coming out of turn 4. The race was
red flagged for clean-up and then field was bunched
back up for a double-file restart. Shotko was back
to the lead and #32 Ross Meeuwsen was up to second.
With 15 laps to go, Shotko had almost a two-second
lead and with 11 to go, that went away. The #7 of
Justin Claucherty spun on coming out of turn 4 after
contact with Meeuwsen. This time, Meeuwsen got past
Shotko and started to pull away to get his third win
of the season. Shotko had to settle for second and
the rest of the top ten were #21 Terry VanHaistma,
#55 Chris Anthony, #82 Tom Thomas, Scott Thomas, #19
Nick Shotko, #61 Alec Carll, #222 Caleb Bisacky and
#71 Kyle Ballard.
The Young Guns were the final feature
of the night; #19 Dalton Haney and #18 Mitch
Meppelink lead the field to the green flag. The #32
of Gabe Ensing took the lead and Haney had a flat
tire. The #101 of Lauren Bush brought out the first
and only caution of the race when she came to a stop
in turn 4. Ensing continued to lead and the #16 of
Kelsey Steele and #6 Brandon Hermiller traded spots
twice and they raced the last six lap single file
and spread-out. Ensing got his fourth win of the
season and the rest of the finishing order was
Steele, Hermiller, Meppelink, Bush and Haney.
Coming up at Berlin Raceway is a
2-day Championship Weekend. Friday night, September
25th, Berlin will play host to UMP Dirt
Late Models and joining them will be the Engine Pro
Super Stocks and Kerkstra Services Pro Stocks for
their final races of the year. Tickets for Friday
will be $10 for adults, $5 for kids 6-12. The first
race will start at 6 p.m. We will be back at it on
Saturday, September 26th with the Coors
Light Late Models running the Chet 100, Young Guns,
Auto Value Super Sprints and USAC/UMARA/WOMS
Midgets; it’s also Championship Night for the Late
Models. Tickets for Saturday are $15 for adults, $5
for kids 6-12 and free for kids five and under; the
first race starts at 6 p.m. There is also a two-day
ticket package available for just $22. For more
information, please visit
www.berlinraceway.com.
JBFC Reunion
During the past 17 years,
there have been many volunteers that have helped
with the newsletter mailings and fan events.
For the past few years, we have held a summer get
together in order to keep in touch.
Last month, we spent time at Johnny Carinos in Grand
Rapids, MI. If you like Italian food - this a
good place to go!
Click Here
for more pictures ....
Hornaday Locks up Wix
Lap Leader Award
Hornaday has wrapped
up the 2009 Wix Lap Leader Award with seven events
left on the schedule. Hornaday has led a total of
866 laps thus far in 2009. Copart will be the
sponsor for the #33-KHI Chevy at New Hampshire Motor
Speedway. Ron Hornaday has scored victories in the
last two races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Hornaday sat on the pole in 2007 and started second
in 2008 on his way to his second and third career
victories at the 1.058-mile flat track. Hornaday
recorded a win in the inaugural event at NHMS in
1996. Hornaday would make history with a win in the
Heluva Good! 200 becoming the first driver to win
four race at NHMS.
Milwaukee Mile Gets
Race Date
The Milwaukee Mile
doesn't actually have a racing promoter, or anyone
selling tickets or soliciting sponsors for the 2010
season. Not yet, anyway. But here's what the
troubled 106-year-old racetrack does have, as of
Tuesday: a place on the NASCAR calendar. "We're very
happy to see ourselves on there," said Tony Machi, a
partner in a group trying to save the track."We're
not going to get into our financials, but we're
confident we'll have an acceptable plan and lease
agreement for State Fair Park to consider at the end
of this month." Historic Mile was given a Sept. 29
deadline to demonstrate to State Fair Park
management it had the financial wherewithal to
promote races and to secure race dates. That second
condition was met Tuesday. The Mile holds June 18 on
the Camping World Truck Series schedule and June 19
on the Nationwide Series schedule. Craig Barkelar,
State Fair's interim executive director, said
negotiations continue with Historic Mile and he is
confident the group will meet the fiscal conditions.
It remains unclear how the debts left by previous
promoter Claude Napier would be paid. "All I can say
is that our discussions with the promoter have gone
very well and Milwaukee is currently on the 2010
schedule; like all other events on the schedule,
there is a sanction in place," NASCAR spokesman
Ramsey Poston said in an e-mail.
Skinner, Busch And Hornaday Each Shooting For Three
Straight
Mike
Skinner (#5 Exide Toyota) is getting hot, and it may
be the perfect time for doing so. Skinner has won the
last two races—at Iowa Speedway and Gateway
International Raceway—and stands third in the
championship points standings, only 16 points behind
second-place runner Matt Crafton (#88 Menards
Chevrolet).
The Heluva Good! 200 at New
Hampshire Motor Speedway is a good place for Skinner
to continue his winning streak and that of Toyota,
which has now captured four straight wins behind
Skinner and Kyle Busch (#51 Miccosukee Resort & Casino
Toyota). None of Skinner's 29 career NASCAR Camping
World Truck Series victories have come at the
1.058-mile track, but all three of his wins this
season have come on tracks at which he has never
before triumphed. If he visits Victory Lane Saturday,
it will make the third time he has won three
consecutive races.
The race is also, in a sense, a
home race for Skinner's team, Randy Moss Motorsports.
Owner Randy Moss begins his 12th NFL season Monday
night against the Buffalo Bills as the head wide
receiver of the New England Patriots, which is based
in Foxboro, Mass., only a two-hour drive from Loudon,
N.H.
Skinner, however, isn't the only
driver going for his third straight victory this
weekend. Ron Hornaday Jr. (#33 Copart Chevrolet) is
shooting for his third consecutive victory at New
Hampshire, after winning in 2007 and 2008. Both of
those victories have come from the front row. Hornaday
also won from the eighth position in 1996, the
inaugural season in which the series visited New
Hampshire Motor Speedway. In addition, two of his NHMS
victories have come during championship seasons.
Overall, he has 45 wins.
Busch returns to the NASCAR Camping
World Truck Series for the first time since winning at
Chicagoland Speedway at the end of August. He also won
at Bristol Motor Speedway the week before Chicagoland.
Therefore, his start at New Hampshire this weekend
gives him a chance to win his third series race in as
many starts. Busch is second in the 2009 season
victory total with four.
Quick Stats For New Hampshire
- This will be the 14th NASCAR Camping World Truck
Series race at New Hampshire. The track's first
appearance on the series schedule came in 1996.
- Ron Hornaday Jr. (#33 Copart Chevrolet) leads
all drivers with three victories, including two
straight. In fact, Hornaday is the only driver with
multiple series victories at New Hampshire. His
victory in 2007 came at a track record average of
109.780 mph and was the largest-ever margin of
victory, 4.211 seconds. His first victory in 1996
came on a last-lap pass, which was the only lap he
led the entire race.
- Jack Sprague holds the most pole positions with
three. He also has a track record of seven top 10s.
- Three races have been won by polesitters - Jack
Sprague (2001), Jimmy Spencer (2003) and Ron
Hornaday Jr. (2007).
- Every race since 2000 has been won from a top-10
starting position.
- The furthest back any driver has started from
and won was 26th by Jay Sauter (1997).
- There were a track record 17 lead changes in
2005. The following year, Johnny Benson led
green-to-checkered flag.
- The closest margin of victory was 0.189 seconds
in 2002, with Terry Cook (#25 Cajun
Industries/Harris Trucking Toyota) winning the race.
- Mike Skinner (#5 Toyota) set the track
qualifying record in 2006 at 129.626 mph.
Berlin Raceway Announces Changes to
Schedule
Marne, MI-- Berlin Raceway is extending
the racing season in 2009 and shaking up the remaining
schedule. With rain taking another weekend away from
the local races teams, it was decided that changes
were necessary.
The first change is on Saturday,
September 19. This was supposed to Championship Night
for all divisions, but instead it will be a regular
night of racing for all five divisions.
The ISMA SuperModified races have been
canceled for the September 25-26 weekend, but the Dirt
Late Models, Auto Value Super Sprints and USAC/UMARA/WOMS
Midgets will all be in action. Friday, September 25
will feature the Dirt Late Model show along with
Championship Night for the Engine Pro Super Stocks and
Kerkstra Services Pro Stocks. Saturday, September 26
will have the Auto Value Super Sprints, USAC/UMARA/WOMS
Midgets, and Young Guns. This is also the reschedule
date for The Chet 100 and it will be Coors Light Late
Model Championship Night.
The ISMA SuperModifieds were canceled
due to the sheer expense of the traveling series. “I
feel bad that we had to cancel the IMSA race because
the open wheel show is one of the best of the season
and one that people look forward to. I do think that
it was the right decision to give our racers the track
time and we look forward to ISMA coming back in 2010,”
said owner Mike Blackmer.
Heading into October, the season will
shift in to overdrive and the Burnips Equipment
4-Cylinders will amp up the already successful Bus
Mania event on Saturday, October 3. This will be
Championship Night for the 4-Cylinders and they will
be joined by the bus races, trash can bowling and
spectator drags.
The final race of the year will take
place on Saturday, October 10; the CRA Super Series
will be back to make up the Radisson Grand Rapids
125. The Late Models will have a special non-points
race and it will also be Young Gun Championship
Night.
All events will being at 6 p.m. More
information about the schedule changes and ticket
prices for these events can be found at our Web site,
www.berlinraceway.com.
5 in 1 Show!
With
the racing season beginning to dwindle down to the
final few weeks the point battles have never been
closer! Almost every division is expected to come
down to the final laps of the season! All five
of Berlin's regular divisions will be in action this
weekend. Ross Meeuwsen will take to the track in
his Coors Light Late Model on Saturday with a slim
22 point lead over Terry VanHaitsma. Tom Thomas is
in a close third and only 88 points out of the
lead!
The Engine Pro Super Stocks has one of the closest
point races in Berlin history with Chris Muyskens
leading by 18 points over Andrew Nylaan and Ray
VanAllsburg in third only 34 back. Last year's
champion Brian Wiersma is in 4th only 55 points out
of the top spot! The Kerkstra Services Pro Stocks
have another close points race between Brian Tillema
and Justin Regnerus. The top 4 in the Burnips
Equipment 4-Cylinders are separated by just 68
points!
Young Guns will also be in action for
another exciting feature race! Make sure you are
not the one to miss a second of
the action. Tickets for this weekend's races are
just $12 for Adults, $5 for Kids and Kids 5 and
under are free.
Skinner Wins at Gateway
A wild end to the race
resulting in a green-white-checkered finish saw
#5-Mike Skinner pick up the win in the Copart 200 at
Gateway Int'l Raceway. This is Skinner's second win in
a row; his third in 2009; 28th career.
With less than ten laps remaining, two incidents
involving #88-Matt Crafton resulted in NASCAR
penalizing Crafton. On a restart with eight laps
remaining, #30-Todd Bodine attempted to block Crafton
from making a pass on the inside, got turned causing
Bodine to slide across the grass, go back up the track
collecting #6-Colin Braun & #14-Rick Crawford in the
process. The red flag was thrown with 7 laps
remaining; when the field came down with 4 laps to go
a replay of the same type incident occurred going in
to turn one resulting with the leader, #33-Ron
Hornaday's truck being demolished and his day ending
with a 17th place finish.
NASCAR black-flagged Crafton sending him to the tail
end of the lead lap; Skinner became the new leader and
went on to win the race. Of note; in just his seventh
career start, #39-Ryan Sieg captured his first top-ten
after posting a 9th place finish in the race. Rounding
out the top ten were; #13-Johnny Sauter, #16-Brian
Scott, #51-Aric Almirola, #81-Tayler Malsam, #88-Matt
Crafton, #17-Timothy Peters, #60-Stacy Compton,
#39-Ryan Sieg, #14-Rick Crawford. There were 10 lead
changes among 7 drives; and 11 caution flags for 44
laps.
Hornaday
Continues Points Lead
#33-Ron Hornaday
with 2875 points, still holds a 197 point lead over
second place #88-Matt Crafton in the driver point
standings following the Copart 200 at Gateway Int'l
Raceway. Crafton is just 16 points ahead of third
place, #5-Mike Skinner. Rounding out the top ten are;
#16-Brian Scott, #30-Todd Bodine, #6-Colin Braun,
#24-David Starr, #17-Timothy Peters, #14-Rick
Crawford, #13-Johnny Sauter.
Doubleheader at
Gateway in 2010?
Although the
sanctioning body has not yet released its schedule for
the Sprint Cup, Nationwide or Camping World Truck
series for 2010, it's a certainty Gateway will host a
doubleheader weekend involving the Nationwide cars and
the Camping World Trucks, the Post-Dispatch has
learned. The trucks will race on the 1.25-mile oval on
Friday, July 16 and the Nationwide cars will compete
on Saturday, July 17. Both races will take place at
night, with the time to be determined. Gateway general
manager Lenny Batycki declined to comment but said
NASCAR plans to release the dates for all three series
later this month. At that point, Batycki said he would
release his dates "in conjunction" with NASCAR. It
will be the sixth time in 13 years the date for the
race has been changed, although the last three races
have been in September.
Get Well, Dave!
Dave and JB
The
JBFC would like to send get well wishes to Dave
Zagaiski who injured his hand in a wreck this
weekend at Berlin Raceway.
Dave handles all Johnny's engine duties for his
late model and supermodified.
Special thanks to Terry VanHaitsma and crew for
helping Dave load his wrecked race car into the
hauler.
Racing Action at Berlin
Berlin Raceway played host
to the Port City Racing Classic this weekend and after
the drivers had a chance to fine-tune their cars at
the Thursday night practice, preliminary races took
place on Friday night as well as a Burnips Equipment
4-Cylinder and USA Modified feature. Jason Scheid
broke in to victory lane in the 4-Cylinder A feature
and Jay Platz took the B feature win. Jake Meyerink
was victorious in the USA Modified race and the
numerous heat and dash races set the field for
Saturday night's action.
The Young Guns started the night of
feature racing off with a 20-lap, caution filled race.
#18 Mitch Meppelink had the lead early, but the #32 of
Gabe Ensing was quickly catching. The first caution of
the night happened on lap 3; #101 Lauren Bush spun
while trying to pass #19 Dalton Haney. As the field
tried to complete the lap after the restart, Meppelink
and Ensing spun in turn 3. On the restart #6 Brandon
Hermiller and #16 Kelsey Steele broke away from the
field until caution came out again in lap 8; Meppelink
and Ensing spun again and this time Meppelink backed
his car in to the frontstretch wall. After the cars
were restarted, the racing was single-file and Steel
was catching Hermiller. Two laps later, caution was
out again, Bush went off of the backstretch. The cars
were reset and Hermiller got a great restart and
Steele was trying to fend off Ensing for second. Lap
13 saw the final caution of the race, Meppelink spun
again in turn 3. Hermiller got another great restart
and went on to get his third win of the season. The
rest of the finishing order was Steele, Ensing, Bush,
Haney and Meppelink.
The Burnips Equipment 4-Cylinder B
feature was next for their 20-lap feature, #84 Dave
Blazo and #7X Terry Lange brought the field to the
green flag. Blazo lead and #13 Craig Snoeyink was not
far behind. #07 Clayton Brown quickly took the lead
with #51 Grady Gerken, Snoeyink and #80 Daryl Davis
all trying to get around him. Gerken and Brown broke
away from the field, but both cars dropped out of the
race, handing the lead to #20W Jackson Walker. Walker
held off the competition to take his first feature
win. The rest of the top five were Snoeyink, #62 Paul
Ritchie, #T11 Jim Rhodes and Gerken. The A feature
rolled next, #47 Don McNabb and #354 Chris McKinley
started on the front row. This feature had a lot of
trouble getting started with the caution flag flying
three times before a lap was completed. They finally
got going after starting single-file and #10 Kyle Hamm
jumped out with a great lead and every car behind him
was fighting for position. With 10 laps to go, Hamm
had lead of just over 4 seconds, but #14 Jason DeVos
was cutting into it. Lap 14 saw the fourth caution of
the race, #12 Angela DeVos was off of the backstretch.
After the restart, Hamm dropped out of the race and
that gave the lead to Jason DeVos. #100 Jason Scheid
was looking to get his second win in as many days,
blowing past #7 Ryan Hamm for second and going after
DeVos. With three laps to go, Scheid caught DeVos,
with two to go, he was up to his rear quarterpanel and
on the last lap the pair were side-by-side. DeVos held
him off to get his first win of the season. The rest
of the top tern were Scheid, #13 Dan Reimersma, Ryan
Hamm, #6 Ben Kleis, #01 Rob Shoemaker, #024 Cole
Roelofs, #9 Nick Curtis, #71 Paul Namey and #19 Dave
Avink.
Next was the 40-lap Engine Pro Super
Stock feature with #13 James Haney and #18 Denny
Anderson on the front row. As soon as they completed a
lap, caution was out for the spinning car of #1 Brian
Wiersma. Haney and Anderson stayed side-by-side for
the lead and #5 Ray VanAllsburg was also in
contention. Just three laps later, caution was out
again, #5 Cal Castle and Wiresma spun. Anderson took
the lead on lap 8 and then the field spread out to
single file racing until lap 21 when #12 Josh Slade
brought out the third caution for his spin coming out
of turn 4. Anderson continued to lead and with seven
to go, it was a three car race between Anderson,
VanAllsburg and Haney. They took the checkered flag
three-wide with Anderson pulling off the win.
VanAllsburg was .001 seconds behind the leader with
Haney .067 seconds behind. The rest of the top ten
were Muyskens, #15 Garison Jewett, #77 Andrew Nylaan,
#55 Dave Lake, #98 Bob Bliss, #11 Nick Bonstell and
Wiersma.
Kerkstra Services Pro Stocks took the
grid next, #36 Ken Smith, Jr. was on the pole and on
his outside was #15 Scott Root. Root led and the field
raced single file; #50 Justin Regnerus was giving
chase, cutting into Root's lead every lap and
eventually took it from him on lap 12. Root wasn't
giving up and the pair raced side by side. Regnerus
got the lead back when they split the #X car of Matt
VanHorssen and Root fell back to fourth. The first
caution of the race came out on lap 19, #61 Richard
DeJong spun and collected the #48 of Dave D'Avignon.
After the restart, Regnerus had almost a one-second
lead and the battle was on for second between #76
Brian Tillema, Root and #51 Weston Jewett. Their
battle let Regnerus cruise to his fifth victory of the
season. The rest of the top ten were Root, Jewett,
Tillema, Cutler, Smith, Jr., #88 Tony Davis, #7 Kevin
DeGood, #78 Will Olmsted and #00 Dennis Mann.
Fifty laps were next on the list for
the USA Modified and starting on the front row were #7
Scott Tomasik and #98 Bob Curry. Curry was the leader
and the rest of the field raced side-by-side. It
didn't take long for #2 Kyle Jones and #11 Brian
Nester caught the leader and were fighting for the
lead. In traffic, Jones took the lead and began to
pull away. By half-way, Jones was leading by almost
one second, but he was stuck in traffic which let
Nester catch up. #44 Jake Meyerink caught the leaders
in traffic on lap 30 and he went after Nester for
second. With those two battling for position, Jones
was able to get the win. Nester, Meyerink, Curry, #78
Travis Eddy, #99 Mark Flairman, #61 Brad Springer, #32
Dan Loughan, #75 Chad Vansparrentak and #14 Tim
Burkett rounded out the top ten.
The Coors Light Late Models were the
last feature of the night, running 100 laps. Starting
out front were the cars of #19 Nick Shotko and #14
Steve Needles. Shotko kept position number 1 and just
behind him was the #1 of Randy Sweet. The field
settled in to a groove, preparing for the longer race.
Sweet was finally able to get by Shotko on lap 25 for
the lead and on lap 28, Shotko spun while running
second. After the restart, Needles took the point and
put some distance between himself and the rest of the
field, a three-second lead at one point in the race.
The second caution came out on lap 62 for debris in
turn 3 and after the restart, the top three cars
pulled away from the field. Needles was leading with
#32 Ross Meeuwsen and #8 Dakota Carlson just behind
him. Cautions three and four were both single-car
incidents and after the final caution, it was Meeuwsen
who took the lead from Needles. With 17 laps to go,
Needles was trying his best to get past Meeuwsen and
Meeuwsen was doing everything he could to keep the
lead. Lap 87 saw the final caution of the night for
contact between #28 Scott Thomas and #222 Caleb
Bisacky on the front stretch. Needles took the lead on
the restart and there was not enough time for Meeuwsen
to catch him. Needles got the win and the rest of the
top ten were Meeuwsen, #55 Chris Anthony, Carlson, #21
Terry VanHaitsma, #27 Billy Shotko, #82 Tom Thomas,
#71 Kyle Ballard, Nick Shotko and #101 Joe Bush.
Next Saturday,
September 19 is a 5-in-1- show! The Coors Light Late
Models, Engine Pro Super Stocks, Kerkstra Services Pro
Stocks, Burnips Equipment 4-Cylinder and Young Guns
will all be in action! Tickets are $12 for adults, $5
for kids 6-12 and free for kids five and under. The
first race will start at 6 p.m. For more information,
please visit
www.berlinraceway.com
The Series "Best Of The
Best" Thrive At Gateway International
There's never been a first-time NASCAR Camping World
Truck Series winner at Gateway International Raceway
and Friday's Copart 200 isn't likely to crown one. The
1.25-mile track is that difficult.
Six of the Madison, Ill.,
facility's previous winners are series champions,
including defending winner Ron Hornaday Jr. (#33
Longhorn Chevrolet). The six — Hornaday, Johnny
Benson, Greg Biffle, Todd Bodine (#30 Ventrillo
Toyota), Ted Musgrave and Jack Sprague — own all but
three of series' 14 season titles.
Gateway's 10 winners (in the
track's first 11 events) boast a combined 159
victories. Musgrave is the only driver to win the
Copart 200 twice.“A driver has to be up on the wheel
the whole race,” said David Starr (#24 Zachry/Harris
Trucking Toyota), who won NASCAR's last multiple
green-white-checkered race at the track in 2004. “The
guys who are winners at Gateway are winners because
they're the best (drivers).”
The track's degree of difficulty
is compounded by a pair of tight turns, one and two,
coupled with the more sweeping third and fourth
corner. “That makes it definitely one of
the tougher ones — Daytona being the hardest,” said
Benson, currently a SPEED TV analyst and the 2007
Copart 200 winner. “People who win there have an
understanding of compromise.”
Bodine, the Gateway winner in his
2006 title year, likes the track because there's no
one right way around. “You can make your truck
do different things,” he said, “but you've got to have
everything right — strategy and pit stops. And the
fewer trucks you have to pass, the better off you
are.”
Starr agrees. “It's a driver's race
track. A driver can really help the truck if it's not
handling well,” he said.
Cook, who won in 2002, likens a lap
at Gateway to laps at two different tracks. “One and
two demand patience and finesse while three and four
you barrel around them like there's no tomorrow,” he
said. “Mentally, you have to approach each one
differently.”
That, explains Cook, is why the
leaders often separate themselves from the field.
“You're having to do different things twice a lap and
that takes a balancing act,” said Cook. “And you're
working without a net.”
Bodine agrees that fast at Gateway
means being on the edge from start to finish. “You can
have one problem and make one mistake and end up
wrecking,” he said.
Berlin Raceway
The Port City Racing Classic is sure to be an action
packed weekend with some of the best in local short
track racing battling it out during this prestigious
event! The weekend will begin on Thursday, September
10th with an open practice for all divisions. This
will help the competitors put the final touches on
their cars before the racing begins. Friday will
feature all the cars making their qualifying runs that
will lock them into the Fast Car Dashes and Heat races
later that night. The top 4 cars in qualifying in the
Late Models, Super Stocks, and Pro Stocks will
transfer to the 6-Lap Fast Car Dashes. The remainder
of the cars will be put into qualifying heat races in
which their finishing position will dictate their
starting position in the feature. Following all
of the qualifying heat races, the USA Modifieds, and
4-Cylinders will take to the track for their first
feature races of the weekend. There will be $1 Beer
and Hot Dogs on the concourse! Racing will begin at 6
p.m. Tickets are just $10 for Adults, $5 for kids
6-12; Two-Day Ticket Packages are available for $20.
There will be a 3-Day Pit Pass Package for just $60.
Skinner wins inaugural race at Iowa
#5-Mike Skinner
dominated at Iowa Speedway, and a restart with four
laps to go made no difference as Skinner easily won
the inaugural Lucas Oil 200 at Iowa. This is Skinner's
second win in 2009 and 27th career win in the series.
Rounding out the top ten were #15-Aric Almirola,
#6-Colin Braun, #33-Ron Hornaday Jr., #13-Johnny
Sauter, #88-Matt Crafton, #11-TJ Bell, #17-Timothy
Peters, #16-Brian Scott, #81-Tayler Malsam. On Lap 75
#3-Austin Dillon got sideways and slid up in the
outside wall, but came back to finish 12th in his
first series start. There were 4 lead changes among 3
drivers and 7 caution flags for 33 laps.
|
Home
- News/Pr's - Fan Page -
History - Charities -
Sponsors
Copyright © 2011,
Johnny Benson Fan Club. All rights reserved.
Photos and information found on this site are the property of the
Johnny Benson Fan Club website and may not be copied, used
or reproduced in any manner without permission from the JBFC.
|
Johnny's
Official Facebook
Follow
Us
on Twitter
|
|
_small.jpg)
