Saturday August 17th, 2013
It was a beautiful night for racing on Kids Night at Berlin Raceway. The crowd saw Don Deyman battle it out with Tom Boorsma and Samantha Jansen to claim victory in the Napa Filters Racing VROA.
The Napa Filters Racing VROA Modifieds were up first; #30 Todd Cowan and #4x Arnie Snyder started out front for the 25-lap feature. Cowan was leading and being chased by #31 Larry Mollohan and #21 Tom Boorsma. While battling for position, Boorsma tapped Cowan, Cowan spun, as did Mollohan, bringing out the first caution of the race on lap 2. Boorsma took the lead on the restart and pulled away from the field and behind him, there was a 4-car battle for second. The pace of the race was slowed again on lap 4 when #84 Andrew Bartoszek spun in turn 1. Just as the field took the green flag, the yellow was back out for an incident involving #83 Loren Peterson, #55 Jeff Barsen and #3 Lou Caposey. Boorsma took off again after the restart and #59 John Evans, #16 Samantha Jansen, #20 Don Deyman and #82 Rob Parker were stacked side by side for second. Evans made it out first, but he would soon be challenged by Jansen and Deyman. Jansen got around him on lap 9 and took off after Boorsma with Deyman following her. Jansen was reeling Boorsma in with each passing lap, even with Deyman battling her for second. He pulled even with her on lap 13 and made the pass on the backstretch. With 5 laps to go, Deyman was in striking distance and he did just that, taking the lead with 3 laps to go. There was a quick yellow on that lap as well when #4x Arnie Snyder spun in turn 1. Deyman hung on to the lead to get another in the win column and the rest of the top ten were Boorsma, Jensen, Evans, #86 Bob Martin, #2 Randy Pierson, Mollohan, Parker, Peterson and Bartoszek.
The Napa Filters Racing VROA Modifieds were up first; #30 Todd Cowan and #4x Arnie Snyder started out front for the 25-lap feature. Cowan was leading and being chased by #31 Larry Mollohan and #21 Tom Boorsma. While battling for position, Boorsma tapped Cowan, Cowan spun, as did Mollohan, bringing out the first caution of the race on lap 2. Boorsma took the lead on the restart and pulled away from the field and behind him, there was a 4-car battle for second. The pace of the race was slowed again on lap 4 when #84 Andrew Bartoszek spun in turn 1. Just as the field took the green flag, the yellow was back out for an incident involving #83 Loren Peterson, #55 Jeff Barsen and #3 Lou Caposey. Boorsma took off again after the restart and #59 John Evans, #16 Samantha Jansen, #20 Don Deyman and #82 Rob Parker were stacked side by side for second. Evans made it out first, but he would soon be challenged by Jansen and Deyman. Jansen got around him on lap 9 and took off after Boorsma with Deyman following her. Jansen was reeling Boorsma in with each passing lap, even with Deyman battling her for second. He pulled even with her on lap 13 and made the pass on the backstretch. With 5 laps to go, Deyman was in striking distance and he did just that, taking the lead with 3 laps to go. There was a quick yellow on that lap as well when #4x Arnie Snyder spun in turn 1. Deyman hung on to the lead to get another in the win column and the rest of the top ten were Boorsma, Jensen, Evans, #86 Bob Martin, #2 Randy Pierson, Mollohan, Parker, Peterson and Bartoszek.
Monday August 12th, 2013
FOOTE, HARRY, SR.
Kalamazoo, MI
Kalamazoo, MI
Went to be with the Lord on August 12, 2013 at age 83. Harry was born August 10, 1930 in Vicksburg, Michigan to the late Harry R. and Ruby (Young) Foote. Harry married Edith L. Lomas on June 21, 1951. She preceded him in death on April 11, 1992. Harry grew up in Vicksburg, where he loved to go dancing at the dance halls as a young man. Harry's love for race cars became a lifetime passion as he began racing in the early 1950's and continued racing for the next five decades. He raced at many tracks, including Hastings Speedway, Centerville, Mottville, Prairie River, Jones, Galesburg, Kalamazoo, South Bend, Kalamazoo Fairgrounds, Hartford, M-40… just to name a few. His familiar pink and white #0 is well known to many. There were a few years when he did not race and still stayed involved at the local track by being the flagman or driving a wrecker or the track clean up truck. He took on the nickname "Old Buzzard" in the late 1980's and was fondly called "Clyde" by family members. He was definitely a man of many talents. Harry was a crane operator by trade and retired from Kalamazoo Metal Recyclers. Harry married his first wife Beverly and they had three children, Harry Richard, Violet and Larry. Sadly, Harry Richard passed away in infancy. His second marriage was to Edith Lomas and this union produced seven more children. Edith passed away in 1992. A few years later, Harry was reunited with a childhood friend, Donna Winn, who survives, and they were together ever since, including buying a home in Florida, where they spent many winters. Harry is survived by his sons, Larry (Judy) Foote, Harry (Marge) Foote, Jr., Danny (Katie) Foote, John (Sandy) Foote and Jerry (Belinda) Foote; daughters, Violet (Stan) Skrzypek, Susan (Steve) Lewis, Linda (Tony) Britton and Sandy Whitmore; many grandchildren, great and great-great grandchildren. Services will be held 11 o'clock Friday from the Langeland Family Funeral Homes, Portage Chapel, 411 E. Centre Ave. Visitation will be 2-4 and 6-8pm Thursday. Interment will be in Vicksburg Cemetery. Memorials may be directed to Life Span Hospice of Calhoun County. Please visit Harry's personalized web page for directions, online guestbook or to leave a condolence. www.langelands.com.
See more at: Mlive.com
See more at: Mlive.com
Monday July 15th, 2013
Saturday July 13th, 2013
The Mike Becker Memorial Napa Filters Racing VROA 42-lap feature was next; #30 Todd Cowan and #74 Steve Fuller led the field to the green flag. Fuller took off with the lead from the drop of the flag and the field was stacked two by two behind them, all jockeying for position. The first caution of the race came out on lap 7 when the #43 of Terry Byrne spun on the front stretch. After the restart, Fuller again took off with the lead, but this time, the #21 of Tom Boorsma and #3 Lou Caposey weren’t letting him get too far ahead. Caposey took the lead on lap 12, leaving Boorsma and Fuller to fight it out for second. Lap 14 saw the second caution of the race when #4x Arnie Snyder spun coming out of turn 3. Caposey retained the lead through the restart and Boorsma was still in second. Directly behind them, the #2 of Randy Pierson was holding off a hard-charging pack comprised of #20 Don Deyman, #82 Rob Parker and #80 Billy Eppink. At lap 21, the yellow was out for the half-way break. Once the cars had a chance to refuel, they were sent back on to the track to complete the final 21 laps. Caposey continued to lead, Boorsma was in second, being challenged by Deyman. The yellow was out on lap 26 for Snyder who made contact with the outside wall. Boorsma grabbed the lead on the restart, but Caposey was quick to take it back and they were both under fire from Deyman. Deyman was up to second with 10 to go and just a few laps later, he was all over Caposey for the lead. With 1 to go, Deyman made contact with Caposey, but Caposey was able to hold on to it. Deyman gave it all he could, but to no avail. Caposey took the checkers and the rest of the top ten were Deyman, Boorsma, Eppink, #59 John Evans, #43 Terry Byrne, Pierson, Parker, Peterson and Cowan.
Saturday July 6th, 2013
The Napa Filters Racing VROA Modifieds were first up with a 25-lap feature; #74 Steve Fuller and #55 Jeff Barsen led the field to the green flag. Fuller led the first few laps before being over taken by Barsen and just behind them was the #1 of Tony Davis. The rest of the field was stacked up behind them two and sometimes three wide. This tight racing caused the first caution of the race on lap 7 when the #2 of Randy Pierson spun between turns 1 and two, the #7 of Jimmy Lawson and #4 of Don Smith were also involved. As the field was coming around to complete the lap, the caution was back out when the #4x of Arnie Snyder spun between turns 3 and 4. The field got would back up and Barsen and Fuller continued to show the way. Just 3 laps later, the caution was back out, this time for Bartoszek who spun on the frontstretch. On the restart, it was Parker who took off with the lead, behind him Barsen was trying to hold off #20 Don Deyman for second. Deyman made the pass and began to reel in Parker; on lap 16 Deyman was the new leader. With 5 to go, #59 John Evans was in second and giving it his all to catch up with Deyman, but there wasn’t enough time to get side by side with him. Deyman took the win and the rest of the top ten were Evans, Bartoszek, Parker, Barsen, #3 Lou Caposey, #74 Steve Fuller, #2 Randy Pierson, #80 Billy Eppink and #83 Loren Peterson.
Saturday June 22nd, 2013
“Summer at the City” entertained the crowd an Hot Summer Night- Saturday, June 22nd at Auto City. The VROA Modifieds took center stage, but the smallest division provided the most thrills.
Veteran Lou Caposey set fast time for the Vintage Mods with a 17.84. Randy Pierson and Jim Lawson took heat race wins. Glenn Parker jumped ahead to start the 30-lap feature and led the first 5 laps. John Evans took the lead, but one lap later Lawson took over and pulled away and took the win by more than half a lap. The real battle happened for the runner-up spot, with 6 cars fighting it out until the final lap. In the end second place belonged Terry Byrne followed closely by Evans, Tom Boorsma and Caposey.
Veteran Lou Caposey set fast time for the Vintage Mods with a 17.84. Randy Pierson and Jim Lawson took heat race wins. Glenn Parker jumped ahead to start the 30-lap feature and led the first 5 laps. John Evans took the lead, but one lap later Lawson took over and pulled away and took the win by more than half a lap. The real battle happened for the runner-up spot, with 6 cars fighting it out until the final lap. In the end second place belonged Terry Byrne followed closely by Evans, Tom Boorsma and Caposey.
Saturday June 8th, 2013
It was a beautiful night for racing, the card was stacked and crowd on hand was treated to an exciting night of racing on Napa Filters Racing VROA Modified night.
Up next were the Napa Filters Racing VROA Modifieds, #30 Todd Cowan and #83 Loren Peterson led the field to the green flag, but it was #74 Steve Fuller who grabbed the lead early and the field jockeyed for position behind him. With the field racing close, the first caution came out on lap 4 when Peterson spun and that collected #7 Jimmy Lawson, #59 John Evans and #82 Rob Parker. As the field was restarted, the caution was quickly out again when the #2 of Randy Pierson spun on the backstretch. The field got a clean restart and the #80 of Billy Eppink was quick to get side by side with Fuller, Eppink took the lead on lap 8 and brought #84 Andrew Bartoszek with him. Lurking in fourth was #20 Don Deyman who had been steadily working his way to the front since the drop of the green flag. On lap 12, he was battle with #21 Tom Boorsma who was trying to take second away from Bartoszek and this let Eppink slip away. Deyman took second with 10 laps to go, but he had to make up 2 seconds to catch up to Eppink. While he was able to chip away at the lead, it was just too much to make up in the amount of laps that remained. Eppink scored the trophy and the rest of the top ten were Deyman, Bartoszek, Boorsma, Parker, Lawson, Fuller, #4 Don Smith, #42 Terry Byrne and #55 Jeff Barsen.
Up next were the Napa Filters Racing VROA Modifieds, #30 Todd Cowan and #83 Loren Peterson led the field to the green flag, but it was #74 Steve Fuller who grabbed the lead early and the field jockeyed for position behind him. With the field racing close, the first caution came out on lap 4 when Peterson spun and that collected #7 Jimmy Lawson, #59 John Evans and #82 Rob Parker. As the field was restarted, the caution was quickly out again when the #2 of Randy Pierson spun on the backstretch. The field got a clean restart and the #80 of Billy Eppink was quick to get side by side with Fuller, Eppink took the lead on lap 8 and brought #84 Andrew Bartoszek with him. Lurking in fourth was #20 Don Deyman who had been steadily working his way to the front since the drop of the green flag. On lap 12, he was battle with #21 Tom Boorsma who was trying to take second away from Bartoszek and this let Eppink slip away. Deyman took second with 10 laps to go, but he had to make up 2 seconds to catch up to Eppink. While he was able to chip away at the lead, it was just too much to make up in the amount of laps that remained. Eppink scored the trophy and the rest of the top ten were Deyman, Bartoszek, Boorsma, Parker, Lawson, Fuller, #4 Don Smith, #42 Terry Byrne and #55 Jeff Barsen.
Saturday May 25, 2013
Saturday May 25, 2013 - Mlive.com
The #4 of Don Smith and #80 Billy Eppink led the Napa Filters Racing VROA Modifieds to the green flag of the 25-lap race. Smith kept the lead as the field raced side by side behind him. The first car to break out of the pack was #21 Tom Boorsma and he was battling Smith for the lead. Lap 10 saw the first caution that involved #7 Jimmy Lawson, Boorsma, #20 Don Deyman, #3 Lou Caposey, #59 John Evans and #55 Jeff Barsen. Once the race was restarted, Smith continued to lead with the #43 of Terry Byrne giving chase, however just one lap later, the caution was out again. The #80 of Billy Eppink spun coming out of turn 4. After a quick caution, the field was restarted and this time it was Boorsma back up to second, challenging Smith for the lead. On lap 17, Boorsma started to drop back and #3 Lou Caposey charged to the front and took the lead on lap 18. Lap 21 saw the third caution of the race when #82 Rob Parker spun in turn 3. Caposey got a good restart and the battle was on for second. Just as the field came around to complete lap 23, #74 Steve Fuller clipped Smith and this caused a multi-car pile-up in turn 1 which resulted in the end of the race. Caposey got the win and the rest of the top ten were Fuller, Smith, Boorsma, Lawson, Byrne, Eppink, Parker and #2 Randy Pierson.
Saturday May 18, 2013
The Napa Filters Racing VROA Modifieds started the show off with a 25-lap feature; #30 Todd Cowan and #21 Tom Boorsma were on the front row. Boorsma shot off with the lead and the rest of the field raced side by side behind him. The first caution was a result of the side by side racing in the rear of the field; after contact with another car, the #83 of Loren Peterson smacked the wall coming out of turn 4. Boorsma retained the lead after the restart and the field stayed close until the next caution that happened on the front stretch on lap 9 involving Cowan, #3 Randy Pierson and #4 Don Smith. The field was restarted and after the restart was a change for the lead; #7 Jimmy Lawson was now the leader for the moment. Just four laps later is the #84 of Andrew Bartoszek in front, while the #20 of Don Deyman was flying through the field. He took the lead on lap 18 and was able to lead until the end. Deyman got his second win of the season and the rest of the top ten were Bartoszek, Boorsma, Lawson, #3 Lou Caposey, #43 Terry Byrne, #74 Steve Fuller, #82 Rob Parker, #59 John Evans and #55 Jeff Barsen.
The winner of the Lane Automotive/Allstar $50.00 product certificate was Don Deyman
The winner of the Keyser Manufacturing 5th Place Sucks $50.00 product certificate was Lou Caposey
The winner of the Lane Automotive/Allstar $50.00 product certificate was Don Deyman
The winner of the Keyser Manufacturing 5th Place Sucks $50.00 product certificate was Lou Caposey
Saturday May 4, 2013 Race - Mlive.com
Saturday May 4, 2013
The Napa Filters Racing Vintage Modifieds were up first with a 25 lap feature; #4X Arnie Snyder and #80 Billy Eppink started on the front row. Eppink took off with the lead early being chased by #84 Andrew Bartoszek and the field stacked up behind them. Bartoszek was gaining on Eppink, but that battle would have to wait as the first caution of the race came out; Snyder spun his car in turn 1 and lap 5 and collected #21 Tom Boorsma. Eppink maintained the lead after the restart and this time it was #43 Terry Byrne putting the pressure on him for the top spot with #20 Don Deyman close behind. Deyman passed Byrne and then swiftly passed Eppink on lap 9, but a caution on the same lap would slow the race again. Once the green was in the air, Deyman was on the gas and was able to put a second and a half between himself and Eppink within a couple of laps. The battle for second was getting exciting between Eppink Byrne and Bartoszek, but that was put on hold as #83 Loren Peterson brought out the third yellow of the night on lap 15. On this restart, Byrne was able to hang with Deyman and give him a good challenge for the lead. On lap 19, the caution was out again for Peterson. Deyman was able to maintain the lead after the restart, but before a lap was complete, the caution was out again when #30 Todd Cowan spun on the backstretch. With the time limit approaching, the restart was single file and it was once again Deyman and Byrne battling for the top spot. It was Deyman's night, he went on to get the checker and the rest of the top ten were Byrne, #3 Lou Caposey, Eppink, Bartoszek, #7 Jimmy Lawson, #59 John Evans, #2 Randy Pierson, #4 Don Smith and Peterson.
The Napa Filters Racing Vintage Modifieds were up first with a 25 lap feature; #4X Arnie Snyder and #80 Billy Eppink started on the front row. Eppink took off with the lead early being chased by #84 Andrew Bartoszek and the field stacked up behind them. Bartoszek was gaining on Eppink, but that battle would have to wait as the first caution of the race came out; Snyder spun his car in turn 1 and lap 5 and collected #21 Tom Boorsma. Eppink maintained the lead after the restart and this time it was #43 Terry Byrne putting the pressure on him for the top spot with #20 Don Deyman close behind. Deyman passed Byrne and then swiftly passed Eppink on lap 9, but a caution on the same lap would slow the race again. Once the green was in the air, Deyman was on the gas and was able to put a second and a half between himself and Eppink within a couple of laps. The battle for second was getting exciting between Eppink Byrne and Bartoszek, but that was put on hold as #83 Loren Peterson brought out the third yellow of the night on lap 15. On this restart, Byrne was able to hang with Deyman and give him a good challenge for the lead. On lap 19, the caution was out again for Peterson. Deyman was able to maintain the lead after the restart, but before a lap was complete, the caution was out again when #30 Todd Cowan spun on the backstretch. With the time limit approaching, the restart was single file and it was once again Deyman and Byrne battling for the top spot. It was Deyman's night, he went on to get the checker and the rest of the top ten were Byrne, #3 Lou Caposey, Eppink, Bartoszek, #7 Jimmy Lawson, #59 John Evans, #2 Randy Pierson, #4 Don Smith and Peterson.
Mike Becker
It is with great sadness that we announce the loss of one of our family members.
Mike Becker lost his battle with cancer on February 27, 2013. I know many of you have great memories of Mike. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers.
Thank you to our family and friends for all of your support!
We are very grateful to all of those who came and brought food for the funeral luncheon.
Dad would be very proud of how everyone came together.
The family of Mike Becker!
Articles for Mike Becker
http://obits.mlive.com/obituaries/grandrapids/obituary.aspx?pid=163359271
http://www.mlive.com/autoracing/index.ssf/2013/02/popular_berlin_raceway_driver.html
Mike Becker lost his battle with cancer on February 27, 2013. I know many of you have great memories of Mike. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers.
Thank you to our family and friends for all of your support!
We are very grateful to all of those who came and brought food for the funeral luncheon.
Dad would be very proud of how everyone came together.
The family of Mike Becker!
Articles for Mike Becker
http://obits.mlive.com/obituaries/grandrapids/obituary.aspx?pid=163359271
http://www.mlive.com/autoracing/index.ssf/2013/02/popular_berlin_raceway_driver.html