Carson Hocevar wins his first Battle at Berlin at home track in Michigan

In an event that featured drivers from all across North America, it was one of West Michigan’s own who stood out above the rest at Berlin Raceway on Wednesday night.

In a race that was paying out a record $40,000 to the winner, Portage native Carson Hocevar held off some of the nation’s best drivers to win the TEKTON Battle at Berlin 250.

The NASCAR Cup Series driver was fast all night long. He set the fastest time during qualifying earlier in the day, which earned him an extra $1,000. While Coopersville’s Evan Shotko took the initial lead in the race, Hocevar quickly moved up from his starting position on the fourth row to take the lead on Lap 13.

Hocevar held the lead through a red flag up until Lap 93, when reigning Battle at Berlin winner Bubba Pollard took the lead. Following a caution on Lap 109, Hocevar made a daring three-wide pass just a few laps after the restart. He stayed near the front of the field, having some battles with Pollard for most of the race.

The event came down to a fight between Hocevar, Pollard, and Byron native Erik Jones following a sanctioned competition caution with just 16 laps to go. Hocevar was able to shoot by Jones once the green flag dropped and cruised the rest of the way to the checkered flag.

Hocevar led 167 laps on Wednesday night. He said it was an exciting race to run, and finally winning at his home track for the first time in three years meant a lot to him.

“It’s so big,” Hocevar said in victory lane. “It’s pretty special to win here. Driving this car was so much fun to drive. This place is tough with this [American Racer] tire. I don’t think I, or anybody else has enjoyed them since they switched to them...maybe if they put a race like that on, I’m going to beg to keep them on.”

The former NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver admitted it was tough to battle for most of the race with Jones and Pollard.

“Racing with Erik and Bubba, those guys are super good...I was just trying to hold off Bubba as much as I could to keep myself on the front row for the last restart.”