June 2, 2007

Andrew Nylaan scores first win

Meeuwsen, VanDyk and Groeneveld also see Victory Lane

Marne, MI— After a weather-related cancellation last week, three rain delays and three track-drying attempts tonight, racing finally returned to Berlin Raceway in dramatic fashion. 

Earlier in the day, before the rain started to fall, the Instant Cash Advance Sportsman division was able to get qualifying in.  The rain resulted in the cancellation of qualifying for the Coors Light Late Models, Engine Pro Super Stocks and De-Jay Slick Truck Pro Stocks and also the cancellation of all of the heat races.  Qualifying for those divisions were set by point standings and the evening got underway with tire scuff sessions for those three divisions.

The first division to go feature racing was the De-Jay Slick Truck Pro Stocks with #76 Ryan Gruppen and #3 Travis Nylaan leading the field to green.  Gruppen had the lead early as #20 Dave Hull and #7 Kevin DeGood were on the move, passing Nylaan on lap 3.  Their battle for the 3rd place let Gruppen get away from the pack until caution waved around lap 20 when DeGood hit the wall on the frontstretch.  On the restart, the #24 car of Lee VanDyk was all over the back bumper of Gruppen with point leader #52 Bruce Chase waiting for them to make a mistake.  All of the excitement came with one lap to go when a last lap pass saw VanDyk win by 0.164 seconds over Chase.  Gruppen came in third and the rest of the top ten were Hull, #76 Brian Tillema, #15 Scott Root, #3 Travis Nylaan, #50 Justin Regnerus, #51 Weston Jewett and #86 Ray Melinn.

The Coors Light Late Models took the track next with #57 Alan Marcott and #33 Dave Stehourwer on the front row.  Marcott was off to an early lead and the rest of field saw a lot of close racing, sometimes having seven cars battling for one position.  Lap 11 saw the lead change hands for the first and last time when #32 Ross Meeuwsen passed Marcott after a restart resulting from a spin on the backstretch by #11 Leroy Magoon.   The middle of the race saw the top five spread out and the race was on for 6th between #12 Tim DeVos, #1 Randy Sweet and #27 Billy Shotko.  The third caution for debris in turns 1 and 2 tightened the field back up, but on the restart, Meeuwsen was back on the gas and checking out. Meeuwsen went on to win the Coors Light Late Model feature and the rest of the top ten were #47 Fred Campbell, #82 Tom Thomas, #21 Terry Van Haitsma, #1 Randy Sweet, #57 Alan Marcott, #27 Billy Shotko, #12 Tim DeVos, #222 Caleb Bisacky, and #28 Scott Thomas.

Up next, school bus racing returned and drivers Bruce Chase, Andrew Nylaan, Travis Nylaan, Dave Marshall and Greg Matheson put on an excellent show for the crowd.  Travis Nylaan ended up winning the event while his brother Andrew had his bus off the backstretch and defending bus race winner Marshall tipped his bus over in turn 1.

After an extensive clean-up, the Instant Cash Advance Sportsman division took the track.  The #33 of Jerry Groeneveld and #33 Allen Davis brought the field to the green flag.  Side by side racing was the theme of this race with many good battles going on throughout the field.  The #97 car of Andy Stormzand and #22 Ken Roelofs were on a mission to get to the front, but their attempts were foiled by cautions falling late in the race. Groeneveld held on to the lead and went on to win from the pole by .0264 seconds over Stormzand.  Roelofs came in third and the rest of the top ten were #33 Allen Davis, #15 Garison Jewett, #59 John Evans, #88 Tony Daivs, #40 Dave Cutler, #38 Maurice Davis and #00 Dennis Mann.

Last, but certainly not least, was the Engine Pro Super Stock division. The #10 car of Bob Spencer and #22 Adam Hudson lead the field and it was Hudson who took advantage of his front row starting position, jumping out to an early lead.  Not far behind were #13 James Haney and #77 Andrew Nylaan.  Caution flew for the first time on lap 15 when #18 Rob Nash lost and engine and that resulted in a red flag for oil clean up.  Caution was out again 4 laps later when #8 Billy Eppink’s car started on fire in turn four, collecting #78 Tony Staffen. Everyone was OK and the fire was extinguished, but this brought out the red flag again.  On the restart, Haney jumped out to a big lead, leaving six cars to fight for 2nd place.  After a few laps, the cars were spread out and Nylaan and Hudson were battling for the 2nd position.  Caution waved again with four laps to go; #12 Josh Slade’s car climbed up Hudson’s car on the frontstretch after a close race for 3rd.  Another spectacular last lap pass was made for the win when Nylaan went around Haney on the outside and #23 Mike Bursley made the pass for 2nd on Haney on the inside. The top ten were Nylaan, Bursley, Haney, #55 Dave Lake, #5 Ray VanAllsburg, #1 Brain Wiersma, #10 Bob Spencer, #71 Kyle Ballard, #F1 Randy Veldman and #88 Tim Sweeney.

Berlin Raceway is back in action next Saturday night, June 9, for Engine Pro Super Stock Night presented by Engine Pro with a special 50-lap feature for that division.  There will also be Late Model and Pro Stock races, a 4-cylinder race, Super Stock autographs, and Used Car Night. Tickets are $12 for adult general admission, $6 for kids 6 to 12 and free for kids 5 and under. Pit passes for those 16 and over are $25. Gates open at 12:15 p.m. and the first race begins at 7 p.m.

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