While the Battle at Berlin 251 CRA Super Late Model race is still three weeks away, the entry list is already shaping up as one of the most impressive and star-studded of the short track season.
In addition to Super Late Model mainstays like Bubba Pollard, Travis Braden and Dalton Sargeant, the $10,000 to win mid-week event has also drawn entries from NASCAR stars like Chase Elliott, Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek.
All told, Berlin Speedway will be the place to be on Tuesday, June 16 and CRA tour director Glenn Luckett knows it too.
“The entry list so far for the Battle at Berlin 251 is very impressive,” Luckett said. “Our fans are going to see a great race with a ton of talent from NASCAR, CRA and some of the top short track drivers in the country — all at one of the most challenging tracks in the country.
“And they’ll be racing for one of the best payouts for a Super Late Model race put up by Berlin Raceway.”
The event has become one of the most anticipated Midwestern Super Late Model races in recent seasons, attracting the biggest names in the industry and a live Speed 51 pay-per-view broadcast in 2014.
The race will feature an overall purse north of $100,000. In addition to the 10k to win, the race will pay $8,000 for second, $6,500 for third and $2,000 to start (up to 30 starting spots) — one of the most lucrative cashouts in the discipline.
Current NASCAR K&N Pro Series East championship leader William Byron defeated Elliott last month in a CARS Tour event at Hickory Motor Speedway and has really come into his own this season. Now he hopes to translate that momentum into his biggest win to date at the Battle at Berlin.
“Anytime I get to run a Super Late Model race it’s exciting for me,” Byron said. “This will be my second race with LFR Chassis this year and we can’t wait to get to Berlin. The payout is really strong.
“I’ve never been to Berlin but it should be an awesome race. There is great competition in store for the fans.”
While Berlin has always been hard on Ross Kenseth, the second-generation driver says he feels the same way about the opportunity a field of this magnitude presents to his Generation 3 Motorsports operation.
“It’s a challenging track for me,” Kenseth said. “I’ve had good runs there but haven’t been able to put the whole race together. I love the challenge of going back each year, especially being so close to (former race team Boyne Machine Racing) and all those guys that supported me the past several years.”
The Battle is also the first event of the JEGS/CRA Triple Crown which will pay over $100,000 if a driver can post victories at Berlin, in the Redbud 300 at Anderson and the Winchester 400 in October. There is also a $10,000 bonus if a driver can win two of the three.
Additionally, if a driver does not even win two of the three, the driver who scores the most points during the Triple Crown will receive a $5,000 bonus and be considered champion of the three-pronged event.
Below is the current entry although it is subject to addition or change over the next several weeks.
- Barry Hartwell
- Travis Braden
- Kyle Joned
- Donnie Wilson
- Dalton Armstrong
- Matt Hall
- Dominique Van Wieringen
- Dalton Sargeant
- Brandon Hermiller
- Paul Shafer Jr.
- Jordan Pruitt
- John Hunter Nemecheck
- Chase Elliott
- William Byron
- Hunter Baize
- Mark Lambert
- Terry VanHaitsma
- Eddie Van Meter
- Chris Koslek
- Ross Kenseth
- Rick Turner
- Bubba Pollard
- Grant Quinlan
- Wes Griffith Jr.
- Terry Senneker
- Chad Finley
- Brian Campbell
- Christopher Bell
- Erik Jones
- Eddie Hoffman
- Thomas Woodin
- Andrew Nylaan
- Jay Niewiek
- Mason Mingus
- Brett Robinson
- Alec Carll
