Cap Henry top gun in COMP Cams End-of-the-Year Shootout
Cap Henry in a wet victory lane (Jim DenHamer photo)
Erie, MI (September 30, 2018) – Cap Henry (Republic, OH) returned to victory lane in Lane Racing’s (Armada, MI) J&J Auto Racing #4 for the second year in a row for the Engine Pro Sprints On Dirt presented by ARP season finale. The COMP Cams End-of-the-Year Shootout at Berlin Speedway also overwhelmingly repeated as part of the season’s biggest dirt track race in Michigan.
There was nothing easy about the event, to say getting the show in was challenging would be an understatement. The huge crowd braved frigid temperatures but rain, predicted to move in after 2:00 AM, made an early visit to the raceway. Before the sprint feature, the AELMT 50-lap feature was halted at 28 laps due to relatively light but persistent rain. Eventually, after much track prep by the Berlin track crew, the race was completed. Before the sprints could roll out, rain increased. Once again, the track crew went to work and the sprint car feature cars showed their determination to race by working the track for 31 laps. Not wanting to take time to refuel the cars, the feature was reduced to 20 laps from the scheduled 30.
Ryan Ruhl (Coldwater, MI) was overall fast qualifier overall. Joining Ruhl, Engler Machine & Tool heat Lane Automotive/MSD Ignition Fast Master, were Ricky Ferkel (Mt. Pleasant, MI) in the COMP Cams heat and Max Stambaugh (Elida, OH) in the RockAuto.com heat.
Cap Henry won the Engler Machine & Tool heat, Josh Turner (Osseo, MI) won the COMP Cams heat, and Dylan Westbrook (Scotland, ON), won the RockAuto.com heat.
Boston Mead (Onsted, MI) won the B-main. Andrew Scheid was impressive, motoring around the high side of the track to finish 2nd from his 7th starting position. Chad Blonde (Litchfield, MI), Steve Irwin (Fenton, MI), and John Gurley (Mishawaka, IN) also transferred to the feature.
Dylan Westbrook Ohsweken Speedway 360 sprint track champion, took the lead at the start of the feature from the pole with Ryan Ruhl right behind. Westbrook gradually opened up a several car length lead while fifth starter Cap Henry worked his way up to 2nd. As Westbrook was held up by heavy traffic, Henry was able to charge by him in turn 3 on lap 9. From there on, Henry was the class of the field taking a commanding lead while Westbrook did his best to hold on to 2nd. A lap 14 caution gave Westbrook a shot at Henry, but Henry maintained his mastery of the challenging track to cruise to the victory.
Ryan Ruhl took 3rd, Tyler Gunn (Napoleon, OH) 4th, and Zane DeVault (Plymouth, IN) 5th. 2018 SOD champion Chad Blonde struggled early in the night, but earned the KSE Hard Charger Award to finish 6th from his 18th starting spot.
As the checkered flag flew over the COMP Cams End-of-the-Year Shootout, the skies opened up; it wouldn’t have been possible to have run two more laps.
Qualifying – Lane Automotive/MSD Ignition Fast Masters (fast qualifiers)
| Group | Time | # | Driver |
| Engler Machine & Tool Heat | 14.525 | 71H | Ryan Ruhl |
| COMP Cams Heat | 15.051 | 0F | Ricky Ferkel |
| RockAuto.com Heat | 14.967 | 51 | Max Stambaugh |
Heat Races, $100 to win, $30 for 2nd
| Engler Machine & Tool Heat #1 | |||
| # | Driver | Contingency | |
| 1 (2) | 4 | Cap Henry | |
| 2 (4) | 71H | Ryan Ruhl | |
| 3 (1) | 7J | Joe Swanson | Benic Enterprises |
| 4 (3) | 68G | Tyler Gunn | Racing Optics |
| 5 (8) | 7 | Shawn Valenti | |
| 6 (6) | 27B | Boston Mead | |
| 7 (5) | 46 | Robert Huisken | |
| 8 (7) | 77 | Andrew Scheid | |
| COMP Cams Heat #2 | |||
| # | Driver | Contingency | |
| 1 (1) | 4T | Josh Turner | |
| 2 (2) | 7z | Zane DeVault | |
| 3 (4) | 0F | Ricky Ferkel | Benic Enterprises |
| 4 (5) | 3A | Mike Astrauskas | Racing Optics |
| 5 (7) | 8 | Justin Ward | |
| 6 (8) | 3G | John Gurley | |
| 7 (3) | 0 | Steve Irwin | |
| 8 (6) | 31 | Matt Kinzinger | |
| RockAuto.com Heat #3 | |||
| # | Driver | Contingency | |
| 1 (1) | 47x | Dylan Westbrook | |
| 2 (2) | 49T | Gregg Dalman | |
| 3 (4) | 51 | Max Stambaugh | |
| 4 (6) | 10S | Jay Steinebach | Racing Optics |
| 5 (3) | 5QB | Quentin Blonde | |
| 6 (5) | 5B | Chad Blonde | |
| 7 (7) | 91L | Alexis Adgate | |
| 8 (8) | 33 | Jeremy Ferguson | |
| B-Main | |||
| # | Driver | Contingency | |
| 1 (1) | 27B | Boston Mead | |
| 2 (7) | 77 | Andrew Scheid | |
| 3 (3) | 5B | Chad Blonde | |
| 4 (5) | 0 | Steve Irwin | |
| 5 (2) | 3G | John Gurley | |
| 6 (8) | 31 | Matt Kinzinger | |
| 7 (9) | 33 | Jeremy Ferguson | |
| 8 (4) | 46 | RobertHuisken | |
| 9 (6) | 91L | Alexis Adgate | |
Feature
| # | Driver | Awards | Contingencies | |
| 1 (5) | 4 | Cap Henry | ||
| 2 (1) | 47x | Dylan Westbrook | Jim Coffey & Son | Rod End Supply |
| 3 (2) | 71H | Ryan Ruhl | Rod End Supply | |
| 4 (10) | 68G | Tyler Gunn | Schoenfeld Headers | |
| 5 (6) | 7z | Zane DeVault | ATL Racing Fuel Cells | |
| 6 (18) | 5B | Chad Blonde | Allstar Performance | |
| 7 (9) | 51 | Max Stambaugh | ||
| 8 (16) | 27B | Boston Mead | ||
| 9 (15) | 5QB | Quentin Blonde | King Racing Products | |
| 10 (17) | 77 | Andrew Scheid | ||
| 11 (12) | 10S | Jay Steinebach | Keizer Aluminum Wheels | |
| 12 (13) | 7 | Shawn Valenti | ||
| 13 (8) | 0F | Ricky Ferkel | ||
| 14 (11) | 3A | Mike Astrauskas | ||
| 15 (3) | 49T | Gregg Dalman | ||
| 16 (14) | 8 | Justin Ward | ||
| 17 (4) | 4T | Josh Turner | ||
| 18 (20) | 10S | Jay Steinebach | ||
| 19 (7) | 7J | Joe Swanson | ||
| 20 (19) | 0 | Steve Irwin |
KSE Racing Products Hard Charger – Chad Blonde (+12)
BR Motorsports Contingency (feature top 10 draw) – Tyler Gunn
DMI (Diversified Machine) Contingency (feature 12-16 draw) – John Gurley
Perfit Corporation Lucky Dog – Steve Irwin
Allstar Performance Better Luck Next Time – Andrew Scheid
For more information about COMP Cams, go to www.compcams.com. Visit Berlin Raceway at www.berlinraceway.com. Follow Berlin Raceway on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wherespeedbelongs.
To learn more about Engine Pro, go to www.enginepro.com. For more information about ARP, go to www.arp-bolts.com. Follow SOD at www.sprintsondirt.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sprintsondirt.
