July 28 , 2007

Troup claims first victory on 57th Anniversary Night
VanDyk, Bursley and Thomas add to win totals

Marne, MI-- Berlin Raceway celebrated the 57th anniversary of this historic track Saturday night, and a packed house was witness to some great racing from Berlin's four local divisions and the visiting Vintage Racing Organization of America. Seven laps were added to the Coors Light Late Model division in celebration of 57th Anniversary Night and as a throw back to the early days of racing, Australian Pursuits were run instead of the regular heat races.

The De-Jay Slick Truck Pro Stock division was the first of the local divisions to run; #20 Dave Hull and #7 Kevin DeGood found themselves on the front row. On the start, Hull had the advantage and DeGood followed in his tire tracks as #52 Bruce Chase was engaging in a 3-wide battle with #80 Jason Hoogerhyde and #11 Nick Bonstell. Bonstell got loose and was sideways coming off of turn 4, but he saved it and kept racing. Last week’s winner #15 Scott Root was steadily moving through the field, as was #24 Lee VanDyk. VanDyk took the lead from Hull on lap 8 and started to drive away. VanDyk cruised to his 5th win of the season and the rest of the top ten were #76 Brian Tillema, #52 Bruce Chase, #15 Scott Root, #80 Jason Hoogerhyde, #3 Travis Nylaan, #51 Weston Jewettt, #61 Jack DeJong, #76 Ryan Gruppen and #20 Dave Hull.

Fifty-seven laps of Coors Light Late Model racing were next; #19 Nick Shotko and #101 Joe Bush lead the field to the green flag. Shotko had the advantage early, but Bush was not letting Shotko out of his sight. Bush was making moves on the inside of Shotko, but #82 Tom Thomas was on the move as well; challenging Bush for 2nd. Their battle let Shotko pull away, but once Thomas passed Bush on lap 20, it only took three laps to catch and pass Shotko for the lead. Thomas pulled away from the field and began lapping cars on lap 38; leaving Shotko and #15 Brian Maxim to battle for 2nd place. They had a four-lap, side-by side battle before Maxim made the pass, but that just let Thomas run away from the field. Thomas got his 4th win of the season by 8.393 seconds and Maxim, N. Shotko, #1 Randy Sweet, Bush, #28 Scott Thomas, #27 Billy Shotko, #8 Dakota Carlson, #21 Terry VanHaitsma and #25 Ted Omlor rounded out the top ten.

The Engine Pro Super Stock division provided 30 laps of exciting racing and their feature was called by special guest announcer John Shipman. #23 Mike Bursley and #55 Dave Lake started on the front row and they had an eight-lap battle for the lead before Bursley was able to make the pass. Caution was out early when #88 Tom Stricklen #78 Tony Staffen spun in turn 3 collecting #10 Bob Spencer. The restart was clean; Bursley and Lake pulled away from the field while #1 Brian Wiersma and #5 Ray VanAllsburg battled for 3rd. Wiersma took the spot from VanAllsburg on lap 18 who got passed by #15 Scott Root a few laps later. With one lap to go, Wiersma caught Lake and made the pass for 2nd place while Bursley took the checked flag for the 4th time this season. The rest of the top ten included Wiersma, Lake, VanAllsburg, #15 Mat McClarren, #13 James Haney, #X Ray Clay, #6 Bob Bliss, #12 Josh Slade and #22 Adam Hudson.

In the 20-lap Instant Cash Advance Sportsman division, side-by-side racing was a common theme. Once the feature got started, it took three laps to establish a leader; #00 Dennis Mann overtook #59 John Evans. Tight racing for the 2nd position lead to the first caution of the night, Evans spun coming out of turn 2 on lap 5 in a single-car incident. On the restart, #57 Allan Troup got by Mann and left him in a 6-car battle for 2nd. Caution was out again seven laps later when #40 Dave Cutler and #33 Allen Davis got together on the backstretch. Cutler was able to save it, but Davis’ car ended up off of the backstretch. After the field was restarted, point leader #97 Andy Stormzand edged Mann out for 2nd and was in hot pursuit of Troup, chopping time off of his lead every lap. Stormzand ran out of time as Troup went on to win his first-ever race at Berlin Raceway. Stormzand, Mann, #6 Terry Bockheim, #22 Ken Roelofs, #81 Marc Coleman, #15 Garison Jewett, #88 Tony Davis, #2 Shawn Simon and #48 Brandon Wright finished in the top ten.

The Vintage Racing Organization of America also made a special appearance at Berlin Raceway as part of Anniversary Night. The #86 car of Bob Martin won the 20-lap feature earlier in the evening. The night was capped off with a post-race fireworks show.

Racing resumes next Saturday, August 4, for a 4-in-1 show. It is also Sportsman Night (30 Laps for that division), Sportsman autographs and Spectator Drags. Tickets are $12 for adults, half price for kids 6 to 12 and free for kids 5 and under. Pit passes for those 16 and over are $25.

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