Season ticket sale numbers at Berlin Raceway this season are higher than ever before, “times four,” said Berlin general manager Jeff Striegle.
When Striegle looks at the names of people who are buying season tickets for the Marne, Michigan, track this season, some are fans who have been going to the paved oval track for years and decades, some are brand new, and some are second and third generations of Berlin families.
“I think what makes it even more special is some of the people I know who have been coming here for three, four, five decades are now bringing their grandchildren to the racetrack and introducing them to what racing is and what we do here at the track,” Striegle said.
Striegle also knows many of those new fans learned about Berlin Raceway thanks to the track’s win in the Advance Auto Parts “Advance My Track Challenge” last year. The NASCAR-sanctioned track accrued the most fan votes among 22 NASCAR tracks across the country in the contest last summer.
RELATED: Advance My Track Challenge returns for 2022
The win came with a $50,000 prize, which Striegle said the track plans to use in three ways, one of which is a project that has already begun. A new fan deck is currently being built in Turn 2, which will be about 5,000 square feet and hold at least 250 fans.
When the deck is complete, Berlin officials also plan to make enhancements to the track’s main concession stand, and they’re also looking at starting a nonprofit organization to work with disadvantaged youth in western Michigan.
“I’m very proud to say that, when it’s complete, I think we’re going to have the best hospitality deck in all of short track racing,” Striegle said. “Winning it was such a big deal for the Berlin Raceway in so many different facets that we were not only able to better serve our race fans, including our hospitality, but also reach out and give back to the community.”
Berlin Raceway, which opened in 1951, has a long history as one of the premiere short tracks in the country. One of the things Striegle said those at the track like to brag about is the fact Berlin has hosted 11 NASCAR Hall of Famers at one point in their career. Names like Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Rusty Wallace.
Other drivers like Bob Sennekar, the winningest driver in the history of the American Speed Association National Tour, NASCAR Busch Series and Truck Series champion Johnny Benson, and Tim Steele, an ARCA Re/Max Series national champion, also got their start at the track.
Carson Hocevar, who currently races in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, is also a former Berlin track champion, and he returns to his home track as often as he can.
Saturday night will be a homecoming for @CarsonHocevar as he returns to @BerlinRaceway for the season-opening Icebreaker!
DETAILS: https://t.co/7t7iAoEJkf pic.twitter.com/eZn7g1lKXY
– NASCAR Roots (@NASCARRoots) April 21, 2022
Striegle has his own history at Berlin. He has been going to races there since his dad started bringing him when he was 10. He has raced there himself and owned race cars that raced there. While he said he wasn’t necessarily looking for another job – Striegle is also a radio broadcaster for the Motor Racing Network, calling NASCAR races nearly every weekend – he said when the opportunity to manage the facility came up, “I couldn’t turn it down, because I just have so much passion for this place.”
“It’s something that has been special to me and my family for years and years, and when the opportunity came, I had to accept,” he added.
There are so many other fans at Berlin with similar histories of years and years of going to races there, but winning the Advance My Track Challenge also helped bring new attention to the staple in the community.
“Even though we have been here for 71 seasons prior, I sometimes feel like fans may forget that we’re here,” Striegle said. “I think, with the media attention that winning the challenge brought us, it reminded people who may not have been here in a long time that we’re still here.
“And obviously a key factor is, it introduced Berlin to people who might like racing that didn’t even realize we were here. … Hopefully we’re going to see new people and new faces coming through the gates this year all because of the Advance My Track Challenge.”
Track Profile: Everything to know about Berlin Raceway
With a busy summer ahead, Striegle said he is most excited about the diversity of racing that will compete at Berlin in 2022. The track runs super late models on a regular basis, and it will also welcome wing and non-wing sprint cars, outlaw late models, and modifieds, among others.
Berlin had to cancel its season-opener last weekend due to weather, but things are looking much better for this weekend’s Berlin Icebreaker, featuring 4-cylinders, sportsman, limited late models and super late models. Racing begins at 4 p.m. ET.
“I’m trying to figure out where to put all the cars and the people, because I know they’re going to be here,” Striegle said.
“I think when we think about the history and we look around the facility, we see names and car numbers that just resonate what it was and what it is today.”