The Berlin Raceway in Marne, Michigan was one of the hottest spots on the planet on Wednesday night. The best in Super Late Model racing gathered at the track to compete in the Battle at Berlin 250 – a 250-lap race with a prize money of $40,000. Among those on the field were Cup Series drivers Carson Hocevar and Erik Jones. Before getting into the former’s explosive performance, here’s a detail of the event.
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The Battle at Berlin stems from an event that was initially called “The Rowdy Race.” In its maiden year, 2009, it was put out by the Champion Racing Association in partnership with Kyle Busch and was a race of 151 laps. It was run under its current name in 2013 and has been so ever since. Many have won this fixture including Busch, Jones, and local superstar Evan Shotko.
Another point of history is that the battle was 251 laps from 2010 to 2021. It was in 2022 that it came to be under its current length. The entry list for the 2024 race was of 33 competitors. The field was set via qualifying and a last-chance race. Entrants made two consecutive qualifying laps with the quickest of the two being taken as the official time.
The fastest 22 drivers were automatically locked into the race with the others moving to the last chance race. The top four drivers of this race were moved to the battle, with positions 27 and 28 being determined by provisionals. Race cautions occur every 50 green flag laps in this event. Racing alongside drivers whom the Super Late Model racing world looks up to, Hocevar caused some serious impact.
Cup Series rookie blows Super Late Model competition out of the water
A native of Portage, Hocevar put on a stellar performance in front of his home crowd on Wednesday night. The Spire Motorsports driver was fast all night long and the quickest in qualifying as well. Though he started from Row four, he quickly took the lead on Lap 13. He battled with defending winner Bubba Pollard and Legacy Motor Club driver Jones for much of the race.
Carson Hocevar burns it down after winning the #BattleAtBerlin @CarsonHocevar X @BerlinRaceway pic.twitter.com/1j2uicVWvG
— Racing America (@RacingAmerica) August 8, 2024
Hocevar eventually shot past them in the final laps and secured his victory after leading 167 laps. It was his first Battle at Berlin victory and he admitted post-race that it meant a whole lot to him. “It’s so big,” he said in victory lane. “It’s pretty special to win here. Driving this car was so much fun to drive.” He returns to the Cup Series on Sunday, $40,000 richer.
