By T.J. Buffenbarger
MARNE, MI (August 24, 2024) — MARNE, MI (August 24, 2024) — Tyler Roahrig completed a sweep of the 500 Sprint Car Series two-night tour of Michigan by winning the feature event Saturday night at Berlin Raceway.
Roahrig backed up his victory Friday at Kalamazoo Speedway by passing Jake Trainor on lap 26 and managed lapped traffic to open a 2.047 advantage at the finish.
For Roahrig, it was a second win in front of a crowd that has seen him grow up racing sprint cars and are now getting to see his exploits in open wheel machinery.
“It’s big. I love racing in West in West Michigan,” said Roahrig. “It’s kind of where I grew up. This is big late model country. I’ve got some laps and some friends here and whatnot. So, I love racing here, and I wanted to show them all what we can do in a sprint car.”
2023 Little 500 champion Jake Trainor was able to get the jump on Roahrig to take the lead early in the 40-lap main event. Trainor was able to maintain the lead until lap 26 when Roahrig got under him to take the lead. From there Roahrig pulled away for his third 500 tour victory during the 2024 season.
After the race Roahrig wanted to talk about how well Trainor raced him as much as he did about winning the race himself.
“He was fast, and the line he was running was putting me in a position to where it really exploited the weakness in my car, so good on him for that,” said Roahrig of racing with Trainor for the win. “It just played out that I got by him right as we got to lap traffic. I kind of used a lap car as a pick.”
“Jake’s an incredible talent. We all saw that at the Little 500 last year and his team are first class guys. They’re professionals and I expect them to be fast when they show up. They are always going to be one of the cars to beat, just like Swanson. I enjoy racing with all these guys.”
Trainor, Kody Swanson, Bobby Santos III, and Billy Wease rounded out the top five.
Dameron Taylor made a last moment decision to come to Michigan pay off by winning both USSA Kenyon Midget features at Berlin.
“I didn’t unload the car until yesterday at about eight o’clock in the morning,” said Taylor. “I took all the dirt stuff off and left at 9:45 in the morning to go to Kalamazoo.”
While Taylor would typically want to be more prepared for a race weekend than that, considering the circumstances coming away with two victories would make the drive back Indianapolis go faster.
“To do everything last minute and still be able to come out on top like that, that means a lot,” said Taylor in victory lane. “That’s not the way to do it, but the fact that we was able to do it and get it done makes it special.”
500 Sprint Car Tour
Berlin Raceway
Marne, Michigan
Saturday, August 24, 2024
Feature (40 Laps):
1. 56-Tyler Roahrig
2. 29-Jake Trainor
3. 33-Kody Swanson
4. 22A-Bobby Santos III
5. 80-Billy Wease
6. 55F-Taylor Ferns
7. 67-Kyle O’Gara
8. 1-Dakota Armstrong
9. 24-Jackson Macenko
10. 31-Tim Creech
11. 40-Nathan Byrd
12. U2-Derek Bischak
13. 64-Cole Sink
14. 4-Donnie Adams Jr.
15. 74-Tony Main
16. 82-Nick Landon
17. 18-Landon Butler
18. 53-Justin Harper
19. 19B-Shane Butler.
USSA Kenyon Midgets
Feature #1
1. 8-Dameron Taylor
2. 39-Evan Hammond
3. 15-Landon Brown
4. 2-Jeff Hill
5. 26-Clayton Gains
6. 84-Ryan Huggler
7. 15H-Buddy Hollmeyer
8. 02-Jason Petty
9. 21-Kyle Sheard
10. 20-Trisdon Brown
11. 88-Clayton Bohanon
12. 10-Logan Huggler
13. 42-Lee Pierse
14. 48-Ryan Shilkuska
Feature #2:
1. 8-Dameron Taylor
2. 39-Evan Hammond
3. 15H-Buddy Hollmeyer
4. 84-Ryan Huggler
5. 21-Kyle Sheard
6. 20-Tridson Brown
7. 10-Logan Huggler
8. 88-Clayton Bohanon
9. 02-Jason Pettery
10. 48-Ryan Shilkuska
11. 42-Lee Pierce
12. 26-Clayton Gains
13. 2-Jeff Hill
14. 15-Landon Brown