A great night of racing at Berlin Raceway, with some of the fastest cars made, might have turned tragic if not for the quick response of safety crews and the general toughness of one Johnny Benson Jr.
The ISMA Super Mod. series was in town with it’s biggest name, (Benson; a Grand Rapids native and near patron saint of Berlin), filling the stands. Unfortunately, only one lap had been completed when he got tied up with another car in turn three, causing him to slam the wall so hard the fuel tank and bladder began to leak with him trapped in the car. It sends chills down my spine recalling the fans screams of ‘FIRE’ . A stubborn one at that, as it kept re-igniting while crews used the jaws of life to free Johnny. The hush that fell over the twenty or so minutes it took to free him, was a stark change from the loudest thunder of cars that turn half mile laps near fifteen seconds with no mufflers.
Sunday morning johnnybenson.com was reporting Johnny received one broken rib and is being held for observation without a release date. Please, keep him in your thoughts or prayers.
The race did continue and Chris Perley’s No. 11(five time ISMA champ and five in a row Berlin winner from Rowley, Ma.) took the checkered ahead of the No. 78 of Mark Sammutt from London, Ont. Canada. Sammutt’s car was great at the start and restarts played in his favor, but lapped traffic and long runs worked to Perley’s advantage as he said, “ I’d come up on Mark, get real loose, and have to wait. I was so loose I should have spun out going by him. This one probably should have been Mark’s. I needed some luck tonight; I had no brakes and only one way communication, but got lucky.”
It’s a long weekend for the series, which raced Toledo Speedway on Friday, here Saturday, and straight to Stafford Springs, Ct. for a Tuesday race.
Earlier, with soon to be series owner Mike Strevel lending a hand, Wolverine Outlaw Midgets racing was dominated by the Galedrige brothers, Brad and Alfred. Throughout heats they ran first and second trading places now and then. Brad’s No. 29 came out on top this night in the feature with Alfred’s No. 26 right behind. In the winner’s circle, with nearly identical cars, they kidded and laughed about the outcome with Brad saying, “My brother raced here last year and he told me all the ins and outs of how to get around this place, so I kind of picked up off him, but I guess I still taught him some things.” He had spun out during qualifying in turn two and his team told him to back down as he was burning up tires. He went on to say, “I took that information and stuck with it, which turned out really well.”
In his second consecutive trip to the winner’s circle, Engine Pro Super Stock defending champ Brian Wiersma praised second place finisher Brian VanZalen for racing him clean in the many side by side laps they ran before he wrestled the lead from him. Wiersma came into the night just fourteen points ahead of No. 5 Ray VanAllsburg who challenged for the lead as Brian explained, “I saw him come up there and all of a sudden, get real loose, then nope he ain’t goin’ round.
Minus Johnny Benson’s problems, Berlin has had a safe, huge week with another on tap. Next week will bring a big weekend starting with Flyin’ Friday (LM,SS,YG, ASA practice) and leading into Saturday’s ASA Late Model North Series 100 (ASA, PS, 4C, ASA Autographs). Join me where speed belongs for the best entertainment value for your buck.
