Berryman Wins Mansfield Again, Rebman beats the Supers

Doug Berryman of Fremont, OH came from the sixth starting position to win the thirty lap HOSS/ Marathon sprint feature at Mansfield Speedway Saturday night. Berryman passed Dave Baumgartner (Rapp 14) on lap 23 to score his second Mansfield HOSS win in a row. Baumgartner held second place ahead of second fastest qualifier Don Townsend (Rebman 77R) as polesitter Greg Wheeler (Swanson 7) soldiered home fourth and Hank Lower (MHE 37) finished fifth.

Sunshine was the order of the day and the temperatures were perfect for an afternoon of racing. Pit lane quickly became a buzz of racecars as the HOSS field came out to qualify. Early in the session Ike Beasley o f West Bloomfield, Michigan, put a 13.921 second lap on the board for all to see. This a was his first competition in a winged sprint car on asphalt, but having already secured the 2004 WOWMS title, his resume’ prompted Mike Blake to plug the flaming foot into his orange 81 for this night. Blake revealed Ike is the car’s ninth different pilot in 2004 to join the racing rotisserie. Joe Rebman came out a few minutes later and promptly deposited his still unpainted Shaw chassis on top of the heap with a 13.410 first lap. His second lap went awry as he scrubbed precious hundredths chasing the track record of 13.340 (McCune). Don Townsend made a great lap bringing his 77R (Rebman) machine across to a 13.500 clocking. Doug Berryman’s 1R clocked at 13.688 seconds, giving the Rebman Truck Service the fastest three cars. Joe again received the Indy RV Center Fast Qualifier Award for his quick time.

The first heat race paired Chris Jagger (27) and Jerry Caryer (75C) on the front row of the eight-lap affair. Hank Lower looked strong early but Rebman overtook the point and drove off impressively to win the race. Behind Rebman came Lower and the 19 of Jimmy McCune (Durnwald). The second heat went to Greg Wheeler over Dave Baumgartner and the 98 of John Kettlewell. The third heat saw Michael Tarlton (Tarlton 9) jump out to an early lead but Sondi Eden (Batts 6) chased the leader down with time to make a move. Eden and Tarlton danced the lap two laps in lockstep as third place Berryman looked on.

The feature was rolled out and all twenty-six, yes twenty-six pavement kings with wings took the green flag! Greg Wheeler and Hank Lower were on the front row and Lower took command entering the first turn. Wheeler followed but began to fade in the early going. By lap five Dave Baumgartner had caught Lower and overtook the leader in turns one and two. Baumgartner pulled out to a credible lead throughout the mid race laps but Jimmy McCune and Joe Rebman were closing the gap. Things began to change when suddenly Rebman wheeled his black 77 to the infield with overheating ills. Moments later McCune mounted spewed a dab of fire as he too pulled off the track. A broken power steering line was his demise. Doug Berryman continued to cut through the leader’s dust and by lap 20 was able to measure up the beautiful blue 14. Baumgartner gallantly tried to retake the lead but Berryman was too strong. The final laps flew into the evening air as Doug Berryman cruised to the big win. Baumgartner was the first to congratulate Doug and spoke highly of his fellow Buckeye. “Doug is a great racer and he had what it took to win. I’m really proud of my team and Telegraph Brake Service and Lyden Oil my sponsors!” Berryman crawled out of the yellow 1R and after pictures was ecstatic with evening’s event. “We had a really tough first part of the season,” Berryman related. “But we kept going. Bruce, Phil, Jamie, they didn’t stop trying and we are rally on a roll now!” Berryman is looking to stretch his late season dominance into the fall, going first to Madison, WI, next Saturday then on to Ft. Wayne, Indiana’s Baer Field Speedway for the MARC Times Invitational. The Rebman regiment may turn its sights on the USCS fall schedule as well. The southern states series has become a favorite haunt for the team this season. Marvin may be in for some long hauls dragging the Rebman Racing wagon throughout the South.

After the scheduled events of the evening had been completed, two HOSS sprints cars and two MSA Supermodifieds were pushed off for a King of the Mansfield Hill ten-lap shootout race. Joe Rebman lined up beside the Dave Shullick, Jr super and Charlie Schultz’s super took to the second row with Doug Berryman. At the green flag it was a great sight to see four of the fastest cars dive into the first corner. Down the backstretch Shullick and Rebman raced hard for the lead as Rebman went into turn three ahead of the field. Rebman’s new Shaw chassis was on rails as he grew his lead to two, three, then four seconds. Earlier overheating was remedied by venting the new bodywork as the black 77 turned laps of 13.56 (lap 6) and 13.78 (lap 10) on the way to an overwhelming victory and $500. Unofficially turning early laps in the 13.3-second range, Rebman remarked, “This new car is just plain fast. I wish we could have stayed in the feature but it got a little too hot. We sure got this one though!” as he brandished the 5ft tall trophy. Special thanks to Chris and all of the Mansfield staff for the special event but also for starting all 26 cars and making the feature race better than ever.

Results 9-11-04-Mansfield Motorsports Speedway

Qualifying-1) 77-Joe Rebman; 2) 77R-Don Townsend; 3) 1R-Doug Berryman; 4) 19-Jimmy McCune; 5) 14-Dave Baumgartner; 6) 81-Ike Beasley; 7) 37-Hank Lower; 8)7-Greg Wheeler; 9) 6-Sondi Eden; 10) 40-Tim Cox; 11) 98-Jonathon Kettlewell; 12) 10-Ron Koehler; 13) 75C-Jerry Caryer; 14) V-Jimmy Taylor; 15) 9-Michael Tarlton; 16) 27-Chris Jagger; 17) 7X-Jason Kemp; 18) 28-John Witter; 19) 14D-Dave Lawrence; 20) 11-Tom Paterson; 21) 43-Sam Davis; 22) 06-Rodney Ziemek; 23) 88-Frank Neil; 24) 38-Ted McKibben; 25)46-Dale Wood; 26)35-Ed Kenens DNQ

Indy RV Center Fast Qualifier Award: Joe Rebman

Heat One-77-Rebman, 37-Lower, 19-McCune, 40-Cox, 75C-Caryer, 27-Jagger, 14D-Lawrence, 11-Paterson

Heat Two-7-Wheeler, 14 Baumgartner, 98-Kettlewell, V-Taylor, 7X-Kemp, 43-Davis, 46-Wood, 06-Ziemek

Heat Three-9-Tarlton, 6-Eden, 1R-Berryman, 81-Beasley, 28-Witter, 88-Neil, 38-McKibben, 35-Kenens, 10-Koehler

Feature-1R-Berryman, 14-Baumgartner, 77R-Townsend, 7-Wheeler, 37-Lower, 40-Cox, 10-Koehler, 81-Beasley, 98-Kettlewell, V-Taylor, 14D-Lawrence, 9-Tarlton, 75C-Caryer, 28-Witter, 27-Jagger, 7X-Kemp, 43-Davis, 88-Neil, 11-Paterson, 06-Ziemek, 46-Wood, 19-McCune, 35-Kenens, 38-Mckibben, 77R-Rebman, 6-Eden

Julian Construction Hard Charger Award: Dave Lawrence