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Berlin Raceway (MI) Officials Announce HoF '17 Class
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Berlin Raceway’s Hall of Fame will soon be adding three new members.
The Class of 2017, featuring Fred Campbell, Ross Eppink and the late Bill McGowan, will be honored Saturday during the track’s races. The induction ceremony will be held in conjunction with Berlin’s annual season-ending awards banquet on Nov. 3 at the Trillium Event Center in Spring Lake.
The list of inductees has been detailed by the track below.
Fred Campbell
No driver in Berlin’s 67-year history has won more track championships than Campbell, who captured a total of ten in all. Each of Campbell’s titles came in the Late Model division, earning his first in 1979 and his last in 2002. Campbell, of Battle Creek, won four consecutive crowns from 1979-through-1982, before adding titles in 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 2001 and 2002.
One of Campbell's most memorable Berlin victories came on May 22, 1989. Campbell beat out some of the Midwest's top drivers when he captured the ARTGO 200.
Ross Eppink
Ross Eppink began his career at Berlin in 1975 after he took his wife’s 1967 Camaro and turned it into a race car. He slapped the No. 186—his squad number with the Marne fire department—on it. It was the start of a more than 30-year career, which saw Eppink race a wide variety of cars, including Late Models, Super Stocks, Sportsman, Thunder Cars, Hobby Stocks and 4-Cylinder. He eventually retired in 2009.
He also has built chassis for a number of drivers, including Dave Lake, Mike Bursley, Bruce Chase and his son, Billy Eppink.
Bill McGowan
McGowan, who passed away in 2011, enjoyed a racing career that spanned 44 years as a mechanic, car owner and crew chief. Some of his biggest successes came at Berlin when he teamed up with Berlin Hall of Fame driver Bruce VanderLaan in the 1980s. VanderLaan, with McGowan as crew chief, won Late Model titles in 1985 and 1986 before tying Fred Campbell for the 1988 championship. He earlier owned a 6-Cylinder that Gene Eding drove to the track championship in 1974.
The Class of 2017, featuring Fred Campbell, Ross Eppink and the late Bill McGowan, will be honored Saturday during the track’s races. The induction ceremony will be held in conjunction with Berlin’s annual season-ending awards banquet on Nov. 3 at the Trillium Event Center in Spring Lake.
The list of inductees has been detailed by the track below.
Fred Campbell
No driver in Berlin’s 67-year history has won more track championships than Campbell, who captured a total of ten in all. Each of Campbell’s titles came in the Late Model division, earning his first in 1979 and his last in 2002. Campbell, of Battle Creek, won four consecutive crowns from 1979-through-1982, before adding titles in 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 2001 and 2002.
One of Campbell's most memorable Berlin victories came on May 22, 1989. Campbell beat out some of the Midwest's top drivers when he captured the ARTGO 200.
Ross Eppink
Ross Eppink began his career at Berlin in 1975 after he took his wife’s 1967 Camaro and turned it into a race car. He slapped the No. 186—his squad number with the Marne fire department—on it. It was the start of a more than 30-year career, which saw Eppink race a wide variety of cars, including Late Models, Super Stocks, Sportsman, Thunder Cars, Hobby Stocks and 4-Cylinder. He eventually retired in 2009.
He also has built chassis for a number of drivers, including Dave Lake, Mike Bursley, Bruce Chase and his son, Billy Eppink.
Bill McGowan
McGowan, who passed away in 2011, enjoyed a racing career that spanned 44 years as a mechanic, car owner and crew chief. Some of his biggest successes came at Berlin when he teamed up with Berlin Hall of Fame driver Bruce VanderLaan in the 1980s. VanderLaan, with McGowan as crew chief, won Late Model titles in 1985 and 1986 before tying Fred Campbell for the 1988 championship. He earlier owned a 6-Cylinder that Gene Eding drove to the track championship in 1974.
