Johnny Benson wins "The Chet";
Bobby Labonte finishes 14th

MARNE, MI -- Johnny Benson won Wednesday's "The Chet" presented by Comerica, while NASCAR Nextel Cup star Bobby Labonte finishes 14th. In other features, points leader Brian Wiersma won his fifth Engine Pro Super Stock feature and Lee VanDyk won for the third time in the Standale Lumber Sportsman division.

In the 125-lap Coors Light Late Model main event, #37 Terry Senneker started
on the pole with #10 Benson on the outside front row. Benson took the lead
from Senneker on lap 4, but Senneker stayed with him, racing side by side
for several laps and leading laps 10 and 11 before Benson finally broke free
on lap 1 and grabbed a comfortable lead as Senneker battled #90 Cort Corwin
for the second position. Senneker regained the lead on lap 20, just before
the first caution, a harmless spin by #16 Tim Steele on lap 23. Labonte,
driving Randy Sweet's #1 car, started way back in 25th position and
gradually worked his way through heavy traffic, reaching 15th position by
lap 48. A caution on lap 50 slowed the race as #27 Billy Shotko's right
front tire went down and he hit hard into the turn 2 wall. With Senneker
still leading, #12 Tim DeVos added some excitement as he and Senneker
sandwiched the lapped #X car of Ray Clay, with DeVos on the low side and
Senneker on the high side for the three-wide pass. DeVos came away with the
lead. A mandatory caution flag was flown at 75 laps for cars to take a
10-minute pit stop for fuel and adjustments.

The final 50-lap shootout started with a bang as #15 Jeff Hennip climbed
thee turn 1 wall on lap 78 and slid along the wall all the way to turn 2 on
two wheels. Hennip managed to keep the car from rolling over but suffered
heavy damage. With DeVos still in the lead, Benson looked inside Senneker on lap 79 and took the second position. On lap 97 the best race on the track
was among #1 Labonte, #82 Tom Thomas, #7 Al Fricke and #8 Billy Shannon, who were fighting side-by-side battles for 13th position.  Coming off turn 4
three wide, Fricke touched Labonte, who got sideways and collected Shannon,
who spun and hit the outside frontstretch wall hard on the drivers side.
Labonte managed to get straightened out and continue on with left front
quarter panel damage. A red flag stopped the field to get Shannon out of the
car after a hard hit on the drivers side. Shannon was transported to the
hospital for an arm injury and observation. On the lap 97 restart, DeVos
jumped out to a big lead over Benson, but on lap 107 Benson closed the gap
and challenged DeVos for the lead for several laps. But DeVos split two
lapped cars to make it three wide and took off again, stretching out the
lead. It looked like DeVos would win his second straight race, but on lap
117 #90 Corwin went high to pass #82 Thomas, and in doing so cut in front of
DeVos, who slammed Corwin's rear at the start-finish line. DeVos's night was
over, allowing Benson to inherit the lead and go on to win his second
Fel-Pro Trophy presented by The Federal Mogul Group sponsored by Engine Pro  trophy of the 2004 season. The other win came in the June 16 125-lap Spring Memorial race with Michael Waltrip competing. Points leader #101 Joe Bush finished second and extended his points lead over the unfortunate DeVos, while #18 Lee Anderson, #32 Ross Meeuwsen and Senneker rounded out the top five.

In the 30-lap Standale Lumber Sportsman feature, points leader #21 Terry Van
Haitsma spun on lap 10 and was sent to the back, but managed to work his way all the way back up to sixth position by the end of the race. But the night
belonged to #24 Lee VanDyk, who won his second straight Powerflex Trophy
presented by Hastings Manufacturing Co. sponsored by Engine Pro of the
season. #20 Dave Hull finished a season-high second, followed by #55 Dave
Lake, #86 Ray Melinn and #77 Andrew Nylaan.

The 35-lap Engine Pro Super Stock feature was tame this week, with just two
cautions (a lap one incident involving #5 Ray VanAllsburg, #76 Warren Speet,
#16 Andrew Conklin and #33 Jerry Groeneveld, among others, and a late flag
for a spin by #8 Billy Eppink and #13 James Haney on the frontstretch). #1
Brian Wiersma took the lead on lap 3 and led to the end, claiming his fifth
Clevite Trophy presented by The Dana Corp. sponsored by Engine Pro of the
season and extending his points lead to 197 over #98 Bob Bliss. #9 Nick
Shotko finished second, followed by #H7 John Smith Sr., #53 Chris Modzeleski and Bliss.

Racing action resumes Saturday night, August 21, for a weekly points race
presented by Lane Automotive. Tickets are $11 in advance and $12 at the gate
for general admission and $25 for pit passes. Gates open at 11 a.m. and the
first race begins at 7 p.m.

Complete race results and point standings can be found online at
www.berlinraceway.com.