DeVos beats Benson
for $10,000
MARNE, MI -- Rockford's Tim
DeVos, who currently leads the Coors Light Late Model points
standings, claimed the big prize tonight at Berlin Raceway,
taking home a $10,000 payout by winning the Meijer/Tony's
Pizza 100. DeVos held off NASCAR Winston Cup driver Johnny
Benson for the victory, while Winston Cup Champion Tony
Stewart finished 20th.
Benson was the fastest qualifier in time trials, clocking a
101.493 mile-per-hour lap to beat Stewart's second-place
effort by a 10th of a second. After the inversion Benson,
driving the #10 car, lined up fourth on the starting grid
for the first of two 50-lap qualifying races. #22 Brian
Campbell led the race most of the way, until Benson passed
him for the lead on lap 39. #101 Joe Bush then powered by
Benson on lap 45, but Benson took it back with one lap to go
and held on to win the race.
In the second 50-lap
qualifying race, #1 Tony Stewart got around #28 Scott Thomas
at the half-way point of the race, then worked his way
around #79 Jake Meyerink for second on lap 39. He almost
took lead from #47 Fred Campbell on lap 49, but going into
turn 1 of the 50th lap, Stewart came up on the slower car of
#19 Brad Keselowski, catching his bumper in an attempt to
put him a lap down and causing the two cars to spin. Stewart
was sent to the back of the field for causing the caution
flag and finished 13th. Through all those fireworks, Fred
Campbell managed to lead every official lap of the race for
the win.
In the Meijer/Tony's Pizza
100 feature race, Stewart, who was forced to use a
provisional to make the field, chose to start at the very
back of the 29-car field. Stewart was on the move, putting
away a car a lap for the first seven laps and moving up to
16th place by lap 15. Meanwhile, #12 Tim DeVos held the
lead, followed by #49 Dave Sensiba, #11 Leroy Magoon and #47
Fred Campbell through 30 laps. Magoon took second position
on lap 23. On lap 25, the red flag was waved after #57 Rick
Senneker flew off the backstretch and into the foam barrier.
Benson was forced to pit to try to fix a transmission stuck
in high gear and came out at the end of the field after the
stop. Magoon took the lead on lap 27 and on the same lap
Stewart cracked the top 10. Magoon pulled away from the pack
by a straightway and Stewart moved into seventh around
Sensiba on lap 36.
The roles were then reversed
as Stewart ran near the front of the field while Benson was
in the back fighting his way forward after the red flag pit
stop. Benson had the same success Stewart had earlier,
passing nine cars by lap 40.
Caution came out on lap 43 as
#18 Keith Herp, running in 13th place, spun on the
frontstretch. Magoon's huge lead was erased as the field was
bunched up for the restart. Stewart sat in sixth and Benson
in 12th. Stewart passed #88 Tim Yonker to enter the top five
on lap 48, the same lap Benson entered the top 10 by passing
#61 Bob Holley. At the halfway point Magoon was the leader,
followed by DeVos, Fred Campbell, Joe Bush and Stewart.
Benson moved into seventh
place by lap 67 and on lap 71 passed Brian
Campbell to move into sixth,
right behind Stewart, while DeVos passed Magoon for the
lead. On the same lap, Magoon pinched Fred Campbell up into
the wall at the start/finish line, causing heavy right side
damage and bringing out the red flag once again. Campbell's
bid for the victory was over.
DeVos opened up a full
straightaway lead on Magoon, who held a 20-car-length lead
on Bush. On lap 83, Benson passed Stewart for fourth place,
and the battle shaped up to be among positions 2 through 5
as DeVos had checked out. Caution came out on lap 88 for a
spin by #31 Mike Bursley in turn 4, setting up a 12-lap
shootout for the finish. On the restart, Benson took third
spot from Bush and set his sights on Magoon. He maked the
pass on the outside for second place as the fans cheered him
on. The final caution flew on lap 94 as Stewart and Bush,
who were racing side-by-side for fourth place, got together
on the frontstretch and spun. Stewart headed to the pits
after the spin and retired for the night. Back on the track,
DeVos jumped out to a 10 car-length lead on the restart, but
Benson chased him down to get back into the hunt. DeVos held
him off and came across the line first, winning the Engine
Pro/Federal Mogul Speed Pro trophy by a .13 second margin
over Benson. Stewart ended the night in 20th position. |
