June 30, 2007

Koslek gets first win of season; Blonde wins AVSS
Stormzand, VanDyk and T. Thomas add to their win totals

Marne, MI--- Berlin Raceway played host to the Auto Value Super Sprints series presented by Auto Value Bumper to Bumper. The lightning-quick sprint car series did not disappoint the 4,600 fans on hand. Earlier in the evening, #26 Jeff Bloom of Bangor, MI posted a 13.007-second qualifying lap, which translates to an incredibly quick 121.227 mph, just about a half-mph off the track record set last September by 2005 AVSS champion Cameron Dodson. Berlin's four local divisions also took the track, making the racing program a jam-packed 5-in-1 show.

The Instant Cash Advance Sportsman division started the night of feature racing; #15 Garison Jewett and #57 Alan Troup were on the front row. On the start, the cars were side by side, but by the time the first lap was complete, Jewett took the lead. Point leader #97 Andy Stormzand was on the move early, starting in 6th and challenging for Troup 2nd by lap 5. The first caution of the night came out for a spin in turn 4; #48 Brand Wright went around and collected #00 Dennis Mann and #88 Tony Davis. The caution allowed Stormzand catch up to leader Jewett; just after the restart Stormzand took the lead and drove away from the field. Two more caution flags flew before Stormzand cruised to his fifth victory of the season. The rest of the top ten were Troup, #59 John Evans, #33 Allen Davis, #44 Brian VanZalen, #81 Marc Coleman, #11 Tim Stuart, #22 Ken Roelofs, #40 Dave Cutler and #38 Maurice Davis.

The De-Jay Slick Truck Pro Stock division took the track next and #3 Travis Nylaan and #76 Ryan Gruppen led the field to the green flag and the initial start saw single file racing. That didn’t last for long as point leader #52 Bruce Chase and #76 Brian Tillema were moving swiftly though the field. Chase was in the process of making a pass on #7 Kevin DeGood for 4th on lap 3 when the first caution came out for #15 Scott Root spinning out of turn 4. After clean-up, leader Nylaan got a great restart, but caution was out a few laps later when Chase hit the wall coming out of turn 4, it appeared that he had a flat tire; #11 Nick Bonstell also spun to avoid Chase. After the restart, there was a great battle for 4th between DeGood, #24 Lee VanDyk and Tillema resulting in a three wide pass; VanDyk and Tillema split DeGood coming out of turn 4. VanDyk made quick work of DeGood and Tillema, passed Gruppen for 2nd on lap 14 and two laps later, VanDyk was the new leader. VanDyk proceeded to run away from the field and won his 4th race of the season over Tillema by 2.348 seconds. Nylaan, Gruppen, DeGood, #23 Andrew MacIntosch, #86 Ray Melinn, #61 Jack DeJong, #97.9 Ryan Schnabel and #80 Jason Hoogerhyde rounded out the top ten.

The Engine Pro Super Stock cars were next on the track; #6 Bob Bliss and #77 Andrew Nylaan were on the front row. Early in the race #123 Chris Koslek showed strength, racing 3-wide with Nylaan and #X Ray Clay for 2nd. In another 3-wide race, #23 Mike Bursley, #1 Brian Wiersma and #55 Chris Anthony were battling for 3rd. While the 3-wide racing was going on, Bliss was getting away, but after Koslek got by Nylaan and Clay, he was on a mission. Koslek caught Bliss and they ran side by side for 3 laps before Koslek made the pass for the lead on lap 9. Bursley was also fighting his way though the field, he made it to 2nd place by lap 11. Koslek had a large lead, but it was all erased by a caution on lap 25; #4 Joel Baker spun his car in turn 4. With 5 laps to go in the race, Koslek did all he could to hold off Bursley and after a great restart, Koslek went on to get his first win since July 2005. Bursley, Wiersma, Clay, Bliss, #55 Dave Lake, Nylaan, #71 Kyle Ballard, #5 Ray VanAllsburg and #22 Adam Hudson were the rest of the top ten.

After a wild wreck last weekend, the Coors Light Late Models were by far the most cautious division of the night; their feature race went caution-free. The #57 of Alan Marcott and #47 of Fred Campbell started on the front row and it didn’t take long for Campbell to get the lead away from Marcott; he lead the first 10 laps of the event until his engine broke, retiring him from the race. Campbell’s misfortune turned the lead over to #21 Terry VanHaitsma who started to pull away from the field. Not far behind was #82 Tom Thomas, he slowly chopped down VanHaitsma’s lead and after many laps of stalking, Thomas took the lead on lap 35 and checked out. VanHaistsma had to settle for 2nd and the rest of the top ten were #12 Tim DeVos, #57 Alan Marcott, #55 Chris Anthony, #28 Scott Thomas, #8 Dakota Carlson, #30 Brian Clay, #11 Leroy Magoon and #27 Billy Shotko.

The 30-lap Auto Value Super Sprints feature was last and it was a blaze of speed. Just 10 of the 22 cars finished on the lead lap, as #42 Jason Blonde hit the finish line with a 2.201 second margin of victory over second place #61 Mike Ling. The rest of the top ten were#97B Ike Beasley, #26 Jeff Bloom, #9 Chad Goff, #71 Curt Shumaker, #4 Troy Underwood, #35 Ryan Katz, #98 Kevin Feeney and #19 Jimmy McCune. The evening was topped off by a spectacular fireworks show off of the backstretch.

Berlin Raceway is back in action next Saturday, July 7, for the ARCA Request Foods/GFS 200, plus the De-Jay Slick Truck Pro Stock division. There will also be $1 Beer and $1 Hot Dogs all night long. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 on the day of the race (half price for kids 6 to 12 and free for kids 5 and under). Pit passes for those 16 and over are $30. Gates open at 12:15 p.m. and the first race begins at 7 p.m.

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