September 8, 2007

Bush delivers dominating performance
Clay, VanDyk, Roelofs and DeVos add to win totals

Marne, MI-- Joe Bush, Ken Roelofs, Ray Clay and Tim DeVos all scored win number two in their respected divisions while Lee VanDyk notched win number seven in the De-Jay Slick Truck Pro Stock division in a thrilling night of racing. Bush, VanDyk and DeVos were dominate forces in the Coors Light Late Model, De-Jay Slick Truck Pro Stock and 4-Cylinder divisions while Clay and Roelofs were involved in close on-track battles in the Engine Pro Super Stock and Instant Cash Advance Sportsman divisions.

The evening started with the return of the 4-Cylinder class, an unprecedented 38 cars showed up at Berlin Raceway! The 4-Cylinders once again put on a great show for the crowd; #26 Brian Thome and #21 John Pluger were on the front row. The racing was exciting; excellent battles were happening everywhere on the track for every single position and the drivers were pushing their cars to the limit in the 15-lap feature. #4 Tim DeVos went on to win the 4-Cylinder feature and he is the first-ever back-to-back 4-Cylinder winner.

The Instant Cash Advance Sportsman 20-lap feature rolled next, #51 Sara Moerman and #11 Tim Stuart started on the front row. Stuart took the lead early and due to tight racing, caution was out on lap 2. #15 Garison Jewett and #59 John Evans made contact and collected #38 Maurice Daivs and #8 Sadie Klein. After a lengthy clean-up, there was a single-file restart; #6 Terry Bockheim and #88 Tony Davis were navigating through the field. While trying to pass #22 Ken Roelofs for 2nd, Bockheim got loose and had to back off. This let Roelofs pursue leader Stuart. With two laps to go, Roelofs got around Stuart and got his 2nd win of the season. Stuart, Bockheim, T. Davis, #81 Marc Coleman, #57 Allen Troup, #33 Allen Davis, #97 Andy Stormzand, #89 Kirk Meissner and #67 Mike Welch were the top ten.

In the 25-lap De-Jay Slick Truck Pro Stock division, #11 Nick Bonstell and #3 Travis Nylaan were on the front row. After two laps of side-by-side racing, Nylaan cleared Bonstell for the lead and began to check out. Further in the pack, #15 Scott Root and #76 Brian Tillema were battling for 6th, #52 Bruce Chase and #24 Lee VanDyk were also moving through the field. VanDyk had just passed Chase for position as Bonstell caught up to Nylaan and challenged him for the lead. Nylaan and Bonstell were racing hard and after contact was made between the two Nylaan’s car spun coming out of turn 3, almost collecting VanDyk. After the restart, VanDyk was on Bonstell's bumper and by lap 19 VanDyk passed Bonstell for the lead. VanDyk visited Victory Lane for the 7th time this season and the rest of the top ten were Tillema, Bonstell, #76 Ryan Gruppen, Root, #50 Justin Regnerus, #80 Jason Hoogerhyde, Chase, #51 Weston Jewett and #44 Brian VanZalen.

The Engine Pro Super Stock division had a little trouble getting their race started. Before the first lap was complete, there was a three-car pile up in turn 3; #6 Bob Bliss got out of shape and while the other drivers were trying to avoid the incident, #15 Pete Ruttan spun and collected #123 Chris Koslek and #15 Mat McClarren. After a long clean up under the red flag, the race was completely restarted with Bliss and #12 Josh Slade on the front row. On lap 2, Slade passed Bliss for the lead and deeper in the field, fast qualifier #23 Mike Bursley was on the move. After starting 11th, Bursley had cracked the top 5 by lap 13. The battle for the lead was heating up when #X Ray Clay caught Slade; their two-car battle soon turned into a 4-car battle when #5 Ray VanAllsburg and Bursley caught up to them. Bursley made quick work of VanAllsburg and started in on Clay. Clay was still working on Slade, passing him on the outside for the lead on lap 23 and Bursley was able to follow though. For the final seven laps, Bursley was stalking Clay, but Clay was able to hold him off and get his second victory of the season by .217 seconds. Bursley, Slade, VanAllsburg, #1 Brian Wiersma, #8 Billy Eppink, #6 Bob Bliss, #76 Warren Speet, #88 Tim Sweeney and #77 Andrew Nylaan completed the top ten.

Providing the finale of the evening was the Coors Light Late Models. This raced featured a lot of green flag racing, #9 Luke Krick and #33 Dave Stehouwer lead the field to the green flag. #101 Joe Bush showed muscle early in the race, he took the lead from Stehouwer on lap 5 and never looked back. The only caution of the night flew on lap 9, #28 Scott Thomas spun coming out of turn 4. This caution allowed the field to catch up to Bush, who had checked out, but Bush got a great restart and proceeded to drive away from the field. With Bush out of sight, the battle was on for 2nd, #47 Fred Campbell and #27 Billy Shotko battled most of the race. The cars of #82 Tom Thomas and #10 Johnny Benson were also strong, but no one had enough to catch Bush. Bush got his second win of the season and the rest of the top ten were Campbell, Shotko, T. Thomas, Benson, #15 Brian Maxim, #222 Caleb Bisacky, S. Thomas, Krick and #33 Monte Tolan.

Up next at Berlin Raceway is the Boyne Machine 400; a two-day event. Friday, September 14 will feature qualifying and heats for Berlin’s local division and for the CRA Super Series, Dashes for Cash, School Bus Races, $1 Beer and $1 Hot Dogs and a Post-Race Party in the Pits with The Law. Saturday, September 15 will be a night packed with feature racing: the CRA Super Series will run 125 laps, Late Models will race 150 laps and Super Stocks, Pro Stocks and Sportsman will also have extended races. Double points will also be on the line in all four divisions. Tickets for Friday, September 14 are $12 for adults and $30 for pit passes; tickets for Saturday, September 15 are $20 for adults and $35 for pit passes. A two-day combo ticket costs $30 for adults and $60 for pit passes. Tickets are half-price for children 6-12, 5 and under are free. Must be 16 to enter the pits.

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