Berlin Raceway Hall of Fame

Eligibility Criteria and Selection Procedures | Hall of Fame Nomination Form (PDF download)

Members:

Member	Inducted	Category
Ralph Baker	2007	Driver
John Benson Sr.	2006	Driver
Gail Cobb	2007	Driver
Bob Knight	2006	Driver
Jimmy Meyer	2007	Flagman
Chet & Rose Mysliwiec	2005	Track Owner/Operator
Chuck Mysliwiec	2005	Track Owner/Operator
Dick Mysliwiec	2005	Track Owner/Operator
Harry Obie	2006	Car Owner/Innovator

2008 NOMINEES:

Ray Baker - Engine Builder (Spring Lake)
(b. Aug. 30, 1942) - One of the premier engine builders in Berlin Raceway history, Ray Baker has built winning engines for the likes of Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt, Sr, Neil Bonnett, and Darrell Waltrip. From 1966 to 1994, the founder and former operater of Baker Engineered Racing Engines supplied engines for Berlin drivers Bob Senneker, Butch Miller, Fred Campbell, Mike Eddy, Ed Howe, Tom Maier, John Benson Sr, Randy Sweet, Bob Sensiba and Don Rand, plus many others.

Mike Briggs - Engine Builder (Grand Rapids)
(b. July 9, 1932) - Briggs worked with Harry Obie and began building racing engines around the late '60's. Drivers who have used Briggs's racing engines have been Bob Senneker, Randy Sweet, Ed Howe, Mike Eddy, Joe Ruttman, Eddie VanderLaan, Bruce VanderLaan, Terry Senneker, and Dave Cutler. Mike is still building his race engines at Mike's Competition Engines in Grandville, Michigan.

Dick Carter - Driver (Breckenridge)
(b. Aug. 17, 1934-d. Aug. 14, 1965) - One of the greatest dirt-track racers of all time in Michigan, Carter began racing at Berlin in 1955 and won the 1957 Season Championship by lapping the entire field of cars in 100 laps. He also won the Spring Championship race in '61 and the Tri-State Championship race in '63. Carter holds the supermodified track record on Berlin's half-mile dirt track at 22.16. Carter's outstanding racing career was cut short on August 14, 1965, when he died in a crash while leading the field (after setting fast time, winning the fast car dash and winning his heat race).

Ed Howe - Driver and Car Builder (Beaverton)
(b. Dec. 9, 1938) - In addition to over 200 feature wins as a driver, Howe's company, Howe Racing Enterprises (which he still owns and operates), revolutionized the Late Model chassis. He has had drivers in his house car such as Bob Senneker, Tom Maier, Mike Eddy, Larry Moore, and Rodney Combs.

Duane Knoll - Driver (Muskegon)
(b. Nov. 29, 1933) - Knoll raced at Berlin Raceway from 1957 to 1978. He won theÝBerlin Raceway season track championship in 1963 and the Modified Championship in 1966, as well as winning 30-some features in his career at Berlin Raceway on both dirt and asphalt. He ran several classes of cars at Berlin Raceway during a career that made him known for being a very skilled, successful driver and a crowd favorite. Knoll was the last driver to win a feature on Berlin's half-mile dirt track before it was paved in 1966.

Jimmy Nelson - Driver (Flint)
(b. May 19, 1930 - d. Aug. 21, 1965) - Nelson raced at Berlin Raceway from 1960 until his death in 1965, when he suffered a horrific crashed while leading a feature race at the Grand Rapids Speedrome in 1965, just one week after the death of his friend Dick Carter. Nelson was known as a fearless hard charger and a real showman who never failed to leave the fans in awe. He was well-liked by both drivers and fans during his short but outstanding Berlin racing career.Ý

Bill Ponstein - Car Owner (West Olive)
(b. Dec. 16, 1941) - Ponstein is recognized as one of Berlin Raceway's most successful car owners during the past 15 years. Ponstein's driver, Dave Lake, captured the Pro Stock title in 2006, giving Ponstein his fourth Berlin track championship. Ponstein earlier guided Bob Holley to three consecutive Late Model titles during the 1990s. He also has fielded cars for Bob Senneker, Charlie Dunshee and Chris Orr as well as his son, Andy Ponstein; his current drivers are Lake and Ryan Gruppen. Ponstein himself raced for three years at Berlin.

Johnny Roberts - Driver (Wheeler)
(b. January 18, 1931) Roberts raced at Berlin Raceway from 1955 to 1961. He changed the racing landscape at Berlin in 1957 when he built a radically new race car, the first true Super Modified race car to race at Berlin. His speedy new Super Modified car forced the rest of the field to imitate him in order to keep up. Throughout his career Roberts was almost unbeatable. The mid-season championships in 1957, 1958 and 1959 were among many victories in his seven-year Berlin Raceway career.

Glen Rocky - Driver (Muskegon)
(d. Sept. 13, 1959) - Rocky began his racing career in 1947 with the Track Masters racing club, which leased the "Marne Speedway" half-mile dirt track for two years before it became Berlin Raceway in 1951. He spent most of his racing career as a consistent front-runner at Berlin, winning a career-high 10 Super Modified features in 1958. Rocky also drove sprint cars around the Midwest and raced in the Little 500. It was on September 13, 1959 that Glen Rocky lost his life in a 4th turn crash at Berlin Raceway.

Robert "Smokey" Steele - Car Builder, Engine Builder and Track Maintenance (Grand Rapids)
(b. 1924 - d. 1976) - Smokey was a race car builder, engine builder and crew chief for fellow Hall of Fame nominee Bob Knight from 1957 to 1964. Together they won several championship races at Berlin Raceway in cars owned by track owner Chet Mysliwiec. In addition, his "day" job was maintaining Berlin Raceway, including grading and watering the dirt track surface, for Mysliwiec. He was the grandfather of current Berlin driver Tim Steele.

AJ Stehouwer - Car Owner and Race Official (Walker)
(b. Feb. 3, 1924 - d. 1998) - A.J. was a car owner during Berlin's dirt era, from 1951 until Berlin paved its track in 1966. He was then hired as pit steward, a position he held until retiring in 1989. A.J. ran the entire pits during that time, handling lineups on restarts and making the decision on who was running where. In addition, Stehouwer was the mayor of Walker for 11 years. He was the father of current Berlin Raceway driver Dave Stehouwer and Dave's car owner/crew chief, Ed Stehouwer.

Bruce Vanderlaan - Driver (Grand Rapids)
(b. Nov. 21, 1952) - VanderLaan, son of fellow nominee Gordy Vanderlaan, began his Berlin racing career in 1975 and raced up until 1999, although less frequently in the '90s. In a five-year period during the mid-1980s while driving for Bill McGowan, VanderLaan racked up 44 Late Model feature wins and 45 second-place finishes, making him the most dominant Berlin racer during the 1980s. Bruce finished in the top 10 in 75% of his races during that time period, and finished in the top five in 40% of his races. Bruce won the '83,'85,'86 and tied for the '88 Late Model season championships at Berlin Raceway.

Eddie Vanderlaan - Driver (Grand Rapids)
(b. April 7, 1933 - d. November 24, 1991) - Brother of fellow nominee Gordy VanderLaan, Eddie was one of Berlin Raceway's top drivers from 1953 to 1976. He was Berlin's Rookie of the Year in 1953 and won the season championship in 1962. Eddie was successful on dirt as well as on asphalt after the track was paved in 1966.

Gordy Vanderlaan - Driver (Grand Rapids)
(b. July 25, 1928) - Brother of fellow nominee Eddie VanderLaan and father of nominee Bruce Vanderlaan, Gordy raced at Berlin Raceway for 12 years, beginning when the track opened in 1951 and ending in 1962, when he was forced to retire from racing due to a non-racing injury. He was a three-time track champion (1952, 1955 and 1959). He also won the longest race ever held at a short track in Michigan when he finished first at the 500-lap race at the Ionia Fairgrounds (a race that was promoted by Chet Mysliwiec).

Bill Wiltse - Driver (Grand Rapids)
(b. June 17, 1923 - d. November 5, 1993) - Wiltse began racing at Berlin when the track opened in 1951 and raced here through 1959, racing jalopies, stock cars and Super Modifieds. Bill won the 1952 mid-season championship and the 1959 Michigan state championship race.