Taylor sweeps Berlin double header
Dameron Taylor hoists the trophy in victory lane at Berlin. (Aaron Skillman photo)
By Ken de la Bastide
MARNE, MI – For the third time in the past four races Dameron Taylor pulled into victory lane. Taylor captured both ends of the Kenyon Midget Series doubleheader at the Berlin Raceway oval both times holding off Evan Hammond, who is seeking that first career win.
By winning two of the three races, Taylor claimed a $200 K&K Marketing Wolverine Trifecta bonus and now has four wins this season for a career total of 32.
Hammond captured the K&K Marketing Fast Qualifier award by setting a new track record of 17.093-seconds to start the night.
In the first feature at Berlin Raceway, Hammond and Taylor started in the third row following the invert. Kyle Sheard took the lead at the start chased by Landon Brown and Jase Petty. Brown took the lead on the second lap with Taylor moving into second on the fourth circuit and into the lead on lap seven.
Hammond slipped around Brown on lap ten and closed on Taylor, finishing less than 4-tenths behind the race winner with Brown coming home in third followed by Jeff Hill and Clayton Gaines.
Point leader Ryan Huggler started 14th and drove to a sixth place finish earning the Advanced Racing Suspension Hard Charger honors.
The second feature saw Gaines take the lead at the start chased by Taylor, Petty, Jeff Hill and Hammond. Taylor took the lead on the second lap with an inside pass entering turn three. The caution flag waved on lap six when Gaines and Hill made contact while running second and third.
On the restart, Taylor continued to lead with Hammond again running second and Huggler, who started 13th in the field working his way to the front of the pack. Buddy Hollmeyer passed Huggler on the final lap to claim the third spot with Sheard coming home in fifth.
“The first time we came here, I screwed up,” Taylor said in victory lane of the 2023 races. “The car was a little free at the start, but I knew it would tighten up. To take both features means a lot to me,” he said. “I'm just excited.”
Hammond said he made a mistake in the first race, but was pleased with the two second place finishes. “That first win is coming,” he said. “I just have to keep doing what I'm doing, being consistent and getting better little by little.”
Hollmeyer finished seventh in the first feature and scored a podium in the second race. “We were a little off pace all night,” he said. “I just had to be patient and save our tires and found myself to be a little bit better at the end.
“I'm a dirt track guy, so I'm trying to improve on asphalt,” Hollmeyer said.