In what looked like Ryan Newman’s race to lose all night, Kyle Busch made some smart and aggressive moves late in the Berlin Main Event after saving tires all night and crossed the line in front of the pack for his second straight SRX win. The news before the race was all about Johnny Benson, Jr. replacing Paul Tracy, who was suspended after he caused a hard wreck with Ken Schrader the week before. Kasey Kahne made an appearance in the race, his first time racing something with fenders since his NASCAR retirement 5 years ago. Unfortunately, things did not go well for Kahne and he ended the race in 11th, just ahead of Benson.
Keeping with the tradition of special guests at SRX, Johnny Agar and his family gave the starting command. You may recognize Johnny and his dad Jeff from their joint-entry in Ironman competitions. Johnny was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, but worked with his family and medical team to overcome obstacles and cross the finish line under his own power. You can learn more about Johnny and his family at johnnyagar.com.
As the cars lined up for Heat 1, rain moved (back) in to the area. Drivers would be battling against the clock and against the weather. With Kyle Busch on the pole and Johnny Benson outside, the field took off. Ryan Newman started earlier battling his way up the field, moving from 9th to 4th by the time the heat ended. There were several strong battles during the heat. Kevin Harvick and Marco Andretti battled for 4th for several laps. For the last 10 laps, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski battled for lead. Busch slid high and Keselowski got inside and did a crossover for the lead. Busch crossed back over and took the lead back. Keselowski re-crossed-over and took the lead back from Busch. Heat 1 ended with Keselowski taking the checkered flag and the field racing for the garage as the rain started to pour down.
During the rain delay, Ryan Newman served as a pit reporter and provided some interesting interviews. When the rain finally moved out, it was time to dry the track. There are no jet dryers though. To dry the track, all the safety personnel hopped in different safety vehicles and made laps. The track finally dried enough to get back to racing, but to save a little time from the rain delay, Heat 2 gets cut back to 25 laps/12 minutes.
With the inverted field, Heat 2 starts with Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne in Row 1. Unfortunately, they both moved backwards during the race and ended the heat 11th and 12th. Hailie Deegan was up as high as 2nd and ended 4th, passing Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart. Ryan Newman battled his way from 9th to win Heat 2.
For the Main Event, the field lines up with Ryan Newman and Brad Keselowski in Row 1, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick Row 2, Hailie Deegan and Helio Castroneves Row 3, Ken Schrader and Johnny Benson Jr Row 4, Bobby Labonte and Marco Andretti Row 5, Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart Row 6. Because of the rain delay, caution laps will count until Lap 75 to make up time. The field spread out pretty quickly and within 25 laps, Brad Keselowski is 5 seconds from lapping Marco Andretti before the caution flies. When the field goes back green, Helio Castroneves battles up from 5th to 2nd, passing Keselowski for the lead at the halfway point.
With 34 laps to go, Kyle Busch starts to make his move. He’s been saving tires for a while so he has plenty of tire to battle with. Busch, Keselowski, and Castroneves go 3-wide with Busch to the outside, Keselowski to the inside. Castroneves gets loose in the sandwich but recovers as Busch takes the lead with 25 to go. Busch keeps the lead for the remainder of the race, despite the competition happening amongst the rest of the pack. Busch, Keselowski, and Newman make it to the podium, with Andretti, Deegan, Schrader, Stewart, Castroneves, Labonte, Harvick, Kahne, and Benson finishing out the field.
SRX travels to Eldora Speedway for the 5th race of the season.
