Big names of the ARCA ReMax Series and five time vocalist of the year Lee Greenwood seemed to inspire local racers In the Kerkstra Services Pro Stock division and Young Guns to new heights. Two drivers who were so far winless this season found the Mountain Dew winner’s circle and broke win streaks in their classes.
Lee Greenwood’s make up concert, due to last year’s rain out, between qualifying and features went on in spite of a few brief showers. In true professional style he pumped up the crowd with a forty-five minute set of number one hits and even some saxophone playing covers culminating with his greatest ‘Proud to Be An American’, done while drivers carried a huge Stars and Stripes to the finish line. He then treated the crowd to our Nation Anthem to start the race night.
Young Guns driver Brandon Hermiller, in his No. 6 HS Die car, overcame Dalton Haney’s dominating lead of the first ten laps as the No. 19 quickly got loose in the last five laps and fell to a last place finish. After the two had an officially reviewed close call, when Brandon went to pass, it was all Hermiller who posted a best lap time of 18.521 which rivals Pro Stock times. He and Haney were the only two drivers to drop below the 19 second mark which shows how fast Dalton’s car was early on.
Ryan Gruppen’s fast lap of 18.481 in his first Pro Stock win of the season wasn’t much faster than the Young Guns racers who also run Pro Stock level cars; a testament to the skill level of Berlin Raceway’s ‘kids’. His No. 76 is currently in fourth place in the division points standings behind the only teams to have posted the nine total wins on the season showing how close he’s been at times. The 25 lap feature had multiple lead changes with the front row, created by draws and switches by top qualifiers, dropping off due to great stretch and turn passes by Ryan the other top finishers Regnerus, Hull and Tillema, in that order.
ARCA teams running in the Wolverine Power Systems 200 were the big draw of the evening. Wolverine’s Glenn Emmert was pleased with the large turnout and proud to have the company sponsor the race for the last couple of years at Berlin. The traveling series is home to many great teams including that of seventy-five year old James Hylton who was Rookie of the Year for 1966 and has numerous wins on the Nascar circuit including the Richmond and Talladega 500s. Unfortunately he posted a DNF due to a hard rear end hit after a spin coming out of turn four.
Several cautions from wrecks and a mandatory pit stop for all teams changed leaders but the Valvoline No. 6 of Justin Lofton started and finished the race with the lead. From the pole he ran in front of second place Matt Merrell until just before the half way point when he chose to pit under caution. With the pit set up at Berlin drivers were forced to stop at the track entrance and wait for the back of the line if they couldn’t make it out ahead of the pace car. But just like in Sprint Cup races the cycling brought Lofton to the lead again and he ran a flawless last thirty- seven laps right up to a caution on very last lap. In the series, with single file restarts, the green, white, checkered finish came on lap 204. Luckily Berlin’s safety crew and Sani-Sweep worked fast while laps were counted off under yellow flags, even cleaning up the front stretch debris of Frank Kimmel's No. 44 Ansell / Menards double hit in under four caution laps. With only a lap to finish he went from third to the DNF list. Through each restart, only one time in the evening could someone find a way around Lofton’s quick shifting. On the last one he wasn’t to be denied and Merrell, and Chad Finley who placed third, had to settle.
Series leader Parker Kligerman No. 77 posted a sixth place finish, loosing a bit of ground to Lofton who is only 100 points behind going into the next race at Pocano. Lofton’s was one of the few cars to finish without a scratch, including Kligerman, in the rough and tumble scrapping that saw the No. 18 car take flight off the turn three barrier tires, landing behind the scoreboard without a front end.
A long night of music and racing couldn’t be stopped by rain or wrecks and all went home, or too their next stop (Nashville, in the case of Lee Greenwood) safe and happy. Next week Berlin celebrates it’s 59th anniversary with fireworks Coors Lite Late Models, Engine Pro Super Stocks, Kerkstra Services Pro Stocks, and VROA’s. Though as Dick Lee, Berlin and Michigan’s track historian, pointed out in this weeks column the racing here goes back as far as James Hylton.
