Post by George Keen on Sept 27, 2009 0:30:40 GMT -4
VanHaitsma wins The Chet; Meeuwsen wins the Championship
Derek Snyder, Marietta and Hermiller also win
Marne, MI— Day two of Championship Weekend is in the books at Berlin Raceway. Taking home the trophies were Brandon Hermiller (Young Gun), Mario Marietta (Wolverine Outlaw Midgets), Derek Snyder (Auto Value Super Sprints) and Terry VanHaitsma (Coors Light Late Model). Champions were also crowned tonight: #36 Jim Anderson (Wolverine Outlaw Midgets), #42 Jason Blonde (Auto Value Super Sprints) and Ross Meeuwsen (Coors Light Late Model).
The Young Guns kicked the night off with #48 Seth Moody and #19 Dalton Haney lead the field to the green flag. Just after the green flag flew, caution was out for #32 Gabe Ensing for spinning in turn 2. After resetting the field, it was obvious that the lead was not the place to be as the leader encountered trouble every caution. Moody dropped out of the race on lap 2 and that handed the lead to Ensing. Caution was out for the second time on lap 4 when #16 Kelsey Steele spun in turn 2. #6 Brandon Hermiller was all over Ensing on the restart and the two made contact on lap 8, bringing the caution out and sending them both to the tail. The lead was then handed to Haney who enjoyed the view from the front for three laps until he spun coming out of turn 4. The new leader was #18 Mitch Meppelink and coming up behind him were Steele, Ensing and Hermiller. On the last lap, they were three wide going into turn 3 with Hermiller on the outside, Meppelink in the middle and Steele on the inside. Just before the start/finish line, Meppelink pushed it too hard and got sideways and Hermiller got by to get his fourth win of the season. As Meppelink crossed the line sideways, he collected Steele in an accident after the checkered flag flew. Meppelink did get second and the rest of the finishing order was Ensing, Steele, Haney and Moody.
The Wolverine Outlaw Midgets ran next for their 25-lap feature with #2 Adam Kramer and #33 Pat Wilda on the front row. Kramer led, but #21 Dan Bedford was quick to take it away with #85 Mario Marietta was on tail. The top two then checked out on the field and put 2 seconds between them and the rest of the field. #11D Levi Roberts was on the move after stating 10th, he was up to 3rd and trying to catch the leaders. The first caution came out on lap 16; #33 Dan Drinan was throwing sparks going in to turn 1, spun and then came to rest against the turn 1 wall. Before the field was restated, #02 Tom Fedorcyzk spun and the caution was extended. On the restart, Marietta got by Bedford and Roberts was looking to get past him as well. With 5 laps to go, Roberts and Bedford were still fighting for position, allowing Marietta to retain his lead. The next time by, Roberts dropped out of the race, but there wasn’t enough time for Bedford to catch back up to Marietta to get the win. The rest of the top 10 were #26 Al Galedridge, #36 Jim Anderson, #29 Brad Galedridge, Kramer, #23 Dave Troyer, #4 Brad Greenup, Wilda and #0 Doug Dietsch.
The 30-lap Auto Value Super Sprints were next, #70 Dorman Snyder started on the pole with #9 Chad Goff on his outside. #42 Jason Blonde wasted no time in trying to get to the front, working on #37 for position and on lap 6, Snyder was already lapping cars. The first caution of this race came on lap 7, #35 Dave Price spun out of turn 4. With the field bunched back up, Goff swung low and got past Snyder, as did Blonde; Snyder was falling back. Caution was out again on lap 15, #99 Sondi Eden had problems in turn 4. On the restart, #22 Derek Snyder made a bold move to take second from #55 Mike Ling and on the next lap, he overtook Goff. Snyder took off with and with 10 to go, he had a one and a half second lead and was stretching it out with ever lap turned. With no more cautions in the race, Snyder went on to win by 5.354 seconds over Goff and the rest of the top 10 were Ling, Blonde, #07 Jeff Banyas, #46 Jim Swain, #07 Ryan Litt, #37 Hank Lower, #20K Kyle Flint and #3A Mike Astrauskus.
The final race of the evening was put on by the Coors Light Late Models for the running of The Chet 100. Going in to the feature, #32 Ross Meeuwsen, who had hit the wall during practice, had just a 17 point lead over #21 Terry VanHaitsma. Starting on the front row were #7 Justin Claucherty and #71 Kyle Ballard and the field raced clean until lap 4 when #19 Nick Shotko spun on the frontstretch. Claucherty picked the inside to restart, but before the field made a green lap, caution was out again for a clean spin involving the #28 of Scott Thomas. Claucherty got a good restart and the car on the move was #21 Terry VanHaitsma who had started 10th and was up to 5th on lap 7. #12 Tim DeVos passed Meeuwsen for second on lap 11 as VanHaitsma got past #27 Billy Shotko for fourth. DeVos was cutting in to Claucherty’s lead bit by bit, but on lap 23, DeVos dropped out of the race for problems with his car. Claucherty’s lead turned in to 3.5 seconds since Meeuwsen and VanHaitsma were still fighting for every inch. VanHaitsma got around him on lap 31, as did #82 Tom Thomas and they had a 4.6 second deficit to make up. VanHaitsma was cutting it down and it was only a matter of time before he got to Claucherty’s bumper. He was there on lap 48, side by side for the lead on lap 49 and took the lead on lap 50. Thomas followed through and then the leaders came in to traffic. The #4 of Joel Baker appeared to be holding them up and the leaders went three-wide with him on lap 54. On lap 57, Meeuwsen took third and VanHaitsma was pulling away. With 25 laps to go, the leaders were back in traffic, but were able to clear it and keep going. Ten laps were left and VanHaitsma and Thomas were nine seconds ahead of Meeuwsen, who was two seconds ahead of Anthony. All of that went out of the window on the next lap when a caution brought everyone back together. VanHaitsma continued to lead after the restart and held on to it for the final laps to win the Chet and his second race of the season. Thomas came in second and the rest of the top ten were Meeuwsen, Anthony, #61 Alec Carll, #222 Caleb Bisacky, B. Shotko, N. Shotko, S. Thomas and #71 John Grega. With VanHaitsma winning, Meeuwsen had to finish at least 3rd to win and he did just that, winning back-to-back Championships by just three points!
Next Saturday, October 3 is Burnips Equipment 4-Cylinder Championship Night and Bus Mania. The 4-Cylinders will settle their season-long point battle and will be joined by Spectator Drags, Trash Can Bowling and fan-favorite School Bus Races. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for kids 6-12, kids five and under are free; the first event will start at 6 p.m. For more information, please visit our Web site at www.berlinraceway.com.
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Lisa Walker
Berlin Raceway
lwalker@berlinraceway.com
616-677-5000
Derek Snyder, Marietta and Hermiller also win
Marne, MI— Day two of Championship Weekend is in the books at Berlin Raceway. Taking home the trophies were Brandon Hermiller (Young Gun), Mario Marietta (Wolverine Outlaw Midgets), Derek Snyder (Auto Value Super Sprints) and Terry VanHaitsma (Coors Light Late Model). Champions were also crowned tonight: #36 Jim Anderson (Wolverine Outlaw Midgets), #42 Jason Blonde (Auto Value Super Sprints) and Ross Meeuwsen (Coors Light Late Model).
The Young Guns kicked the night off with #48 Seth Moody and #19 Dalton Haney lead the field to the green flag. Just after the green flag flew, caution was out for #32 Gabe Ensing for spinning in turn 2. After resetting the field, it was obvious that the lead was not the place to be as the leader encountered trouble every caution. Moody dropped out of the race on lap 2 and that handed the lead to Ensing. Caution was out for the second time on lap 4 when #16 Kelsey Steele spun in turn 2. #6 Brandon Hermiller was all over Ensing on the restart and the two made contact on lap 8, bringing the caution out and sending them both to the tail. The lead was then handed to Haney who enjoyed the view from the front for three laps until he spun coming out of turn 4. The new leader was #18 Mitch Meppelink and coming up behind him were Steele, Ensing and Hermiller. On the last lap, they were three wide going into turn 3 with Hermiller on the outside, Meppelink in the middle and Steele on the inside. Just before the start/finish line, Meppelink pushed it too hard and got sideways and Hermiller got by to get his fourth win of the season. As Meppelink crossed the line sideways, he collected Steele in an accident after the checkered flag flew. Meppelink did get second and the rest of the finishing order was Ensing, Steele, Haney and Moody.
The Wolverine Outlaw Midgets ran next for their 25-lap feature with #2 Adam Kramer and #33 Pat Wilda on the front row. Kramer led, but #21 Dan Bedford was quick to take it away with #85 Mario Marietta was on tail. The top two then checked out on the field and put 2 seconds between them and the rest of the field. #11D Levi Roberts was on the move after stating 10th, he was up to 3rd and trying to catch the leaders. The first caution came out on lap 16; #33 Dan Drinan was throwing sparks going in to turn 1, spun and then came to rest against the turn 1 wall. Before the field was restated, #02 Tom Fedorcyzk spun and the caution was extended. On the restart, Marietta got by Bedford and Roberts was looking to get past him as well. With 5 laps to go, Roberts and Bedford were still fighting for position, allowing Marietta to retain his lead. The next time by, Roberts dropped out of the race, but there wasn’t enough time for Bedford to catch back up to Marietta to get the win. The rest of the top 10 were #26 Al Galedridge, #36 Jim Anderson, #29 Brad Galedridge, Kramer, #23 Dave Troyer, #4 Brad Greenup, Wilda and #0 Doug Dietsch.
The 30-lap Auto Value Super Sprints were next, #70 Dorman Snyder started on the pole with #9 Chad Goff on his outside. #42 Jason Blonde wasted no time in trying to get to the front, working on #37 for position and on lap 6, Snyder was already lapping cars. The first caution of this race came on lap 7, #35 Dave Price spun out of turn 4. With the field bunched back up, Goff swung low and got past Snyder, as did Blonde; Snyder was falling back. Caution was out again on lap 15, #99 Sondi Eden had problems in turn 4. On the restart, #22 Derek Snyder made a bold move to take second from #55 Mike Ling and on the next lap, he overtook Goff. Snyder took off with and with 10 to go, he had a one and a half second lead and was stretching it out with ever lap turned. With no more cautions in the race, Snyder went on to win by 5.354 seconds over Goff and the rest of the top 10 were Ling, Blonde, #07 Jeff Banyas, #46 Jim Swain, #07 Ryan Litt, #37 Hank Lower, #20K Kyle Flint and #3A Mike Astrauskus.
The final race of the evening was put on by the Coors Light Late Models for the running of The Chet 100. Going in to the feature, #32 Ross Meeuwsen, who had hit the wall during practice, had just a 17 point lead over #21 Terry VanHaitsma. Starting on the front row were #7 Justin Claucherty and #71 Kyle Ballard and the field raced clean until lap 4 when #19 Nick Shotko spun on the frontstretch. Claucherty picked the inside to restart, but before the field made a green lap, caution was out again for a clean spin involving the #28 of Scott Thomas. Claucherty got a good restart and the car on the move was #21 Terry VanHaitsma who had started 10th and was up to 5th on lap 7. #12 Tim DeVos passed Meeuwsen for second on lap 11 as VanHaitsma got past #27 Billy Shotko for fourth. DeVos was cutting in to Claucherty’s lead bit by bit, but on lap 23, DeVos dropped out of the race for problems with his car. Claucherty’s lead turned in to 3.5 seconds since Meeuwsen and VanHaitsma were still fighting for every inch. VanHaitsma got around him on lap 31, as did #82 Tom Thomas and they had a 4.6 second deficit to make up. VanHaitsma was cutting it down and it was only a matter of time before he got to Claucherty’s bumper. He was there on lap 48, side by side for the lead on lap 49 and took the lead on lap 50. Thomas followed through and then the leaders came in to traffic. The #4 of Joel Baker appeared to be holding them up and the leaders went three-wide with him on lap 54. On lap 57, Meeuwsen took third and VanHaitsma was pulling away. With 25 laps to go, the leaders were back in traffic, but were able to clear it and keep going. Ten laps were left and VanHaitsma and Thomas were nine seconds ahead of Meeuwsen, who was two seconds ahead of Anthony. All of that went out of the window on the next lap when a caution brought everyone back together. VanHaitsma continued to lead after the restart and held on to it for the final laps to win the Chet and his second race of the season. Thomas came in second and the rest of the top ten were Meeuwsen, Anthony, #61 Alec Carll, #222 Caleb Bisacky, B. Shotko, N. Shotko, S. Thomas and #71 John Grega. With VanHaitsma winning, Meeuwsen had to finish at least 3rd to win and he did just that, winning back-to-back Championships by just three points!
Next Saturday, October 3 is Burnips Equipment 4-Cylinder Championship Night and Bus Mania. The 4-Cylinders will settle their season-long point battle and will be joined by Spectator Drags, Trash Can Bowling and fan-favorite School Bus Races. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for kids 6-12, kids five and under are free; the first event will start at 6 p.m. For more information, please visit our Web site at www.berlinraceway.com.
###
Lisa Walker
Berlin Raceway
lwalker@berlinraceway.com
616-677-5000