Lake Scores Back-to-Back Wins
Hull, Yonker and Roelofs also Triumphant; Track Record Shattered by Terry Senneker

Marne, MI-- Area church groups came out in droves to support their pastors in the highly-anticipated Faster Pastor race as a part of All Faiths Night at Berlin Raceway. Dave Hull (De-Jay Slick Truck Pro Stock) celebrated in victory lane, as did Coors Light Late Model Driver Tim Yonker, Dave Lake of the Engine Pro Super Stocks and Ken Roelofs from the Instant Cash Advance Sportsman division.

For numerous fans in attendance as part of church groups for All Faiths Night, the fourth annual Faster Pastor race was their main event. The races got under way at sunset and there were two eight-lap shootouts. The first race saw Bob Pohler of Trinity Reformed Christian Church take the win over Jeff Elders (Jenison Christian School) and Mike VanBuren (Fellowship Reformed Church). The second race was a crowd-pleaser as well; Allen Pickett of Knapp Street Reformed Church took the win and Brad Laninga (Providence Christian Reformed Church) came in a close second. The rest of the churches that provided pastors for the Faster Pastor races were: Little Farms Chapel- Bob VanManen, Ottawa Reformed Church- Marv Jacobs, Resurrection Life Church- Dawn Jones, St. Lukes Lutheran Church- David Olsen, Pine Grove Community Church- Steve Vanderwest, Muskegon First Free Methodist Church- Carlos Ramos, Grace Lutheran Church- Joel Hoyer, United Church of Wayland- Nancy Zerban and Green Country Church- Pete Alley.

In the De-Jay Slick Truck Pro Stock race, #80 Jason Hoogerhyde and #15 Scott Root lead the field to the green flag. Root had the lead early while #20 Dave Hull and Hoogerhyde sorted it out for 2nd and the rest of the field had tight racing throughout. The first caution of the race came on lap 7; #11 Nick Bonstell spun coming out of turn 3. On the restart, Hull was challenging Root for the lead and #76 Brian Tillema was using the outside lane to get to the front. Hull took the lead from Root on lap 14 and Tillema went after Root which let Hull run away from the field. Once Tillema got around Root, he started to chase down Hull, but Hull held him off and took home the trophy. The rest of the top ten were Tillema, Root, #76 Ryan Gruppen, #15 Weston Jewett, #50 Justin Regnerus, #17 Ryan Meldrum, #97.9 Ryan Schnabel, #7 Kevin DeGood and #61 Jack DeJong.

The Coors Light Late Models took the track next for their 50-lap feature; #28 Scott Thomas and #88 Tim Yonker were on the front row. Yonker took the lead from S. Thomas on the first lap and showed his strength by pulling away from the field. Meanwhile, #82 Tom Thomas was in a hurry to get to the front, moving up four places in three laps. By lap 6, Yonker was putting cars a lap down and that is also when the first caution of the race occurred. There was a wreck in turn 3 involving #222 Caleb Bisacky, #30 Bryan Clay and # 4 Joel Baker; #14 Steve Needles and #12 Josh Slade were also involved. Yonker got a good restart when the field was shown the green flag and #37 Terry Senneker was starting to move up. Earlier in the afternoon, Senneker had set the track record for Late Models by running a 14.843. Back-to-back cautions happened on laps 15 and 16; the former saw another caution when #55 Chris Anthony and #21 Terry VanHaitsma spun on the frontstretch while the latter involved Needles and #4 Joel Baker. The next 27 laps went caution-free and Yonker’s car was hooked up; he had a ½ lap lead on second-place T. Thomas. His lead was diminished when the final caution of the night came out on lap 43. With seven laps to go, there was no stopping Yonker. He won his first race since June of 2006 by a commanding 2.684 seconds over T. Thomas. #32 Ross Meeuwsen, Senneker, #28 Scott Thomas, VanHaitsma, #27 Billy Shotko, #12 Tim DeVos, #24 Lee VanDyk and #1 Randy Sweet completed the top ten.

The 30-lap Engine Pro Super Stock race was started by #71 Kyle Ballard and #55 Dave Lake, but this division had trouble completing the first lap. There were two caution flags that slowed the start of the race, both involving #26 Chris Muyskens and #X Ray Clay. Once they got going, Lake was eager to pick up where he left off, so he grabbed the lead and left Ballard and #10 Bob Spencer to sort it out for 2nd. Spencer made it by Ballard on lap six and then tried to reel Lake in. Spencer and Lake had a great battle going on for the lead; they ran five laps side by side and #98 Bob Bliss was about to join them when a caution came out for the #3 car of Travis Nylaan. On the restart, Spencer tired to get back to the side-by-side battle with Lake, but another caution halted his progress; Clay’s car was off the backstretch. Two laps later, the red flag was displayed when #12 Josh Slade and #5 Ray VanAllsburg went off the backstretch. Once the race was restarted, Lake was able to hold off Spencer to get back-to-back victories.

The Instant Cash Advance Sportsman provided the final race of the night, #52 Nick Sherrington and #22 Ken Roelofs started on the front row. Roelofs took the lead from the start, but Sherrington and #44 Brian VanZalen didn’t let him get far. Caution was out early in this race; #551 Matt VanHorssen spun in turn 1. On that restart, Sherrington was challenging Roelofs for the lead, but Roelofs was holding his own. It seemed as if no one could catch Roelofs, but with one lap to go, VanHorssen brought out the caution again and this tightened the field back up. With one lap to make it happen, Sherrington tried, but Roelofs beat him to the stripe by .118 seconds. VanZalen, #33 Allen Davis, #6 Terry Bockheim, #57 Allan Troup, #40 Dave Cutler, #48 Brandon Wright, #38 Maurice Davis and #00 Dennis Mann rounded out the top 10.

The night was capped off by a beautiful fireworks display.

Berlin Raceway is back in action next Saturday night for the Super Stock Spectacular, with a 75-lap Engine Pro Super Stock feature headlining the program. The De-Jay Slick Truck Pro Stock and Instant Cash Advance Sportsman divisions will also be in action. There will be an on-track autograph session with the Super Stock and Sportsman drivers and it’s also Reading Club Night, which means the return of the fan favorite School Bus Races! Tickets are $12 for adult general admission, $6 for kids 6 to 12 and free for kids 5 and under. Pit passes for those 14 and over are $25. Gates open at 12:15 p.m. and the first race begins at 7 p.m.