September 1, 2007

VanHaitsma finally breaks into Victory Lane
G. Jewett, VanDyk and Bloom also win

Marne, MI-- It took Terry VanHaitsma a little over two years to find Victory Lane in the Coors Light Late Model division, but the wait paid off Saturday night, as he held off #27 Billy Shotko to claim his first-ever checkered flag. Garison Jewett earned his second Instant Cash Advance Sportsman victory of the season, while Lee VanDyk of the De-Jay Slick Truck Pro Stock division notched win number 6 and Auto Value Super Sprint driver Jeff Bloom picked up a win in a thrilling night of racing.

In the Instant Cash Advance Sportsman division feature, #33 Allen Davis and #67 Mike Welch started on the front row; Davis was able to get the advantage and lead the first lap. While Davis and Welch were single file, the rest of the field were involved in great side-by-side racing. #89 Kirk Meissner and #40 Dave Cutler were battling for 3rd; Cutler looked like he was going to pull away, but Meissner was fighting back. Other notable battles were between #15 Garison Jewett and #22 Ken Roelofs and between #6 Terry Bockheim and #81 Marc Coleman. Davis was pulling away with the lead, but caution flew on lap 5; #51 Sara Moerman spun coming out of turn 1. On the restart, Jewett was working on Roelofs for 5th and Meissner and Cutler joined the fun. A three-wide battle on lap 7 saw Jewett and Roelofs splitting Meissner and after Jewett got around Meissner, he was on a mission to get to the front. By lap 14 Jewett had caught Davis and was challenging for the lead, but caution was out again because #6 Terry Bockheim got loose going into turn 1. Bockheim collected it, but got in to Roelofs; #88 Tony Davis and #59 John Evans were also collected. Jewett got a good restart and was able to pull to the inside of A. Davis and with four laps to go Jewett made the pass for the lead. Jewett held off the competition to get his second win of the season and the rest of the top ten were A. Davis, Bockheim, Meissner, Welch, Coleman, #57 Allan Troup, Evans, Cutler and T. Davis.

The De-Jay Slick Truck Pro Stocks took the track next; #80 Jason Hoogerhyde and #50 Justin Regnerus lead the field to the green flag. The excitement started on the first lap when there was a 3-wide battle for 4th between #24 Lee VanDyk, #15 Scott Root and #7 Kevin DeGood; while cars were stacking up behind him, Regnerus drove away with the lead. Caution was out early for a spin in turn 1 involving #23 Andrew MacIntosh, DeGood and #76 Ryan Gruppen. VanDyk was on #51 Weston Jewett for 3rd when the race got restarted and #52 Bruce Chase was also charging though the field. It only took a few laps for VanDyk to clear Jewett, get by Hoogerhyde, make the pass on Regnerus for the lead and pull away from the field. VanDyk went on to win his 6th race of the season in dominating fashion, 2.596 seconds in front of #76 Brian Tillema. Regnerus, Root, #11 Nick Bonstell, Hoogerhyde, #76 Ryan Gruppen, Chase, #3 Travis Nylaan and Jewett rounded out the top ten.

The Coors Light Late Model division a saw another new face in Victory Lane; last week Billy Shotko got his first victory and taking the checkers this week was Terry VanHaitsma. The 50-lap feature started with #47 Fred Campbell and #28 Scott Thomas on the front row. Campbell edged S. Thomas for the lead, but S. Thomas was working the outside lane and passed Campbell on lap 2. Meanwhile, #27 Billy Shotko and #21 Terry VanHaitsma were working their way to the front. Caution waved on lap 6 when point leader #82 Tom Thomas had a mechanical failure on his car that caused him to spin coming out of turn 2 and go off of the backstretch. After a short red flag to clean up, VanHaitsma and Shotko continued their charge. VanHaitsma was challenging #32 Ross Meeuwsen while Shotko was trying to pass Campbell and on lap 16, they both won their battles. Lap 24 saw VanHaitsma pass S. Thomas for the lead after an exciting battle; Shotko was also able to get by S. Thomas. Once VanHaitsma got the lead, there was no turning back. Even after numerous restarts, VanHaitsma showed that he his car was hooked up. A multi-car wreck on lap 43 brought out the second red flag of the race; #22 Caleb Bisacky, #28 Scott Thomas, #70 Ted Omlor, #19 Nick Shotko and #57 Alan Marcott were all involved. With seven laps to go, VanHaitsma got a great restart and pulled away from the field to get his first-ever victory in the Coors Light Late Model Division. B. Shotko, Meeuwsen, #15 Brian Maxim, Marcott, #11 Leroy Magoon, Omlor, #6 Dave Zagaiski, S. Thomas and #33 Monte Tolan were the top ten.

The Auto Value Super Sprints returned to Berlin Raceway and they provided an exciting finale for the fans. Earlier in the day #50 Brain Gerster won qualifying, driving his car around the track in 13.053 seconds which translates to 120.800 miles per hour! On the start #71 Curt Shumaker made a bold move and passed 4 cars before he got to turn 3. By lap 3, #26 Jeff Bloom made a pass for the lead, but Shumaker wasn’t far behind. In lapped traffic, Shumaker was able to grab the top spot for a few laps, but with two laps to go, Bloom got the lead back and went on to win by .424 seconds. Shumaker, #42 Jason Blonde, #55 Dave Baumgartner, #61 Mike Ling, #50 Brian Gerster, #07 Ryan Litt, #8 Chad Goff, #4 Troy Underwood and #7 Tyler Underwood completed the top ten.

Next up at Berlin Raceway is a 4-in-1 Show; the 4-Cylinder class will be back in action and the Train Races are also scheduled to return to the track. Gates open at 12:15 p.m. and the show begins at 7 p.m. 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.

Complete results and points will be available Wednesday, September 5.

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