By T.J. Buffenbarger
Marne, MI – (May 2, 2015) – JoJo Helberg dominated the Must See Racing Extreme Sprint Car Series Tom Bigelow Classic Saturday night at Berlin Raceway. Driving the Steve Smith owned machine Helberg started on the front row and led every lap, holding off a late race surge by Brian Gerster before mechanical issues forced Gerster pitside. For Helberg it was his first win of the 2015 season.
“It just helped out in the beginning. I had a good feeling we were going to get out front, it was just a matter of time,” said Helberg following the victory. “At the beginning of these races I’m willing to pull whatever kind of move I have to, putting the right rear tire through some abuse, just to get to the front so I can back it down. It did help on my tire life because I did just have to pass one person rather than three. “
Helberg was originally slated to start in the second row, but when front row starter Ryan Litt was rolled to a stop on the pace laps and was forced pit side Helberg moved up to the front row and took the lead on the opening lap with Brad Wyatt falling back to second. Gerster and fast qualifier Bobby Santos, III raced for the third spot with Gerster claiming the spot with a slide job in turn three. One lap later Gerster passed Wyatt and moved into second spot.
Up front Helberg had built up a lead of over four seconds by lap six. In three laps Gerster cut that advantage in half. As the laps wound down Gerster continued to gain on Helberg through lapped traffic until a slower car held up Gerster off turn four on 23. Just after Gerster was held up he caught a break when the caution appeared for Dustin Daggett spinning out coming off turn four.
Even with Gerster driving Dick Meyers famous car coined “Sea Biscuit”, Helberg was unfazed.
“I was watching the T.V. screen on the backstretch while getting into turn three and I could tell (Wiilson) and (Santos) were racing, so I figured (Gerster) was ahead of them, “ said Helberg. “ I was just trying to save my tires and run a fine line. I gave it some good, clean, consistent laps so when I got to traffic I’d break through it as fast as I could and then take off wide open for a couple of laps just to gain some ground.”
The final seven laps appeared to be setup for a showdown between Helberg and Gerster, but during the restart Gerster’s car hesitated and allowed Helberg to pull away to a sizeable advantage. One lap later Gerster’s car was coasting around the inside of the race track due to a broken rear end. Gerster made it back to the pit area.
Up front it was all Helberg cruising to the victory over Santos, Jacob Wilson, Jason Blonde, and Ike Beasley.
Must See Racing Extreme Sprint Car Series
Tom Bigelow Classic
Berlin Raceway – Marne, MI
Saturday May 2, 2015
Qualifying: 1. 22A – Bobby Santos, III, 13.054; 2. 07W – Jacob Wilson, 13.123; 3. 50 – Brian Gerster, 13.212; 4. 50 – Brian Gerster, 13.212; 5. 71H – JoJo Helberg, 13.341; 6. 97 – Ike Beasley, 13.363; 7. 07L – Ryan Litt, 13.441; 8. 0 – Brad Wyatt, 13.554; 9. 70 – Dustin Daggett, 13.651; 10. 27 – Cody Gallogly, 13.703; 11. 88 – Jimmy McCune, 12. 26 – Jeff Bloom, 14.267; 13. 12 – John Turnbull, Jr., 14. 43 – Sam Davis, 14.621; 15. 44 – Anthony McCune, 15.703; 16. 21 – Mike Stutsman, 15.888.
Heat Race #1 (8 Laps): 1. 71H – JoJo Helberg, 2. 22A – Bobby Santos, III, 3. 70 – Dustin Daggett, 4. 07 – Ryan Litt, 5. 12 – John Turnbull, 6. 50 – Brian Gerster, 7. 88 – Jimmy McCune. DNS: 44 – Anthony McCune.
Heat Race #2 (8 Laps): 1. 27 – Cody Gallogly, 2. 97 – Ike Beasley, 3. 07W – Jacob Wilson, 4. 0 – Brad Wyatt, 5. 42 – Jason Blonde, 6. 43 – Sam Davis, 7. 21 – Mike Stutsman, 8. 26 – Jeff Bloom.
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 71H – JoJo Helberg, 2. 22A – Bobby Santos, III, 3. 07W – Jacob Wilson, 4. 42 – Jason Blonde, 5. 97 – Ike Beasley, 6. 70 – Dustin Daggett, 7. 12 – John Turnbull, Jr, 8. 43 – Sam Davis, 9. 50 – Brian Gerster, 10. 0 – Brad Wyatt, 11. 21 – Mike Stutsman, 12. 27 – Cody Gallogly, 13. 44 – Anthony McCune, 14. 26 – Jeff Bloom, 15. 88 – Jimmy McCune, 16. 07 – Ryan Litt.