A long Michigan winter did little to disrupt Evan Shotko’s momentum at Berlin Raceway.
The defending track champion on Saturday picked up where he left off at Berlin last year by conserving his tires during the opening half of the season-opening Icebreaker before passing Blake Rowe on the final restart to claim another victory at the historic facility.
Earning a win in the Icebreaker was a refreshing change of pace for Shotko, who quickly grew accustomed to success at Berlin in 2022.
“For the past few years, we haven’t been able to start the season off very strong,” Shotko said. “I’ve got high hopes, because we have such a hot rod at the beginning of the year. It’s a long season and anything can happen.”
RELATED: Follow Berlin Raceway all year on FloRacing
After being a regular contender in Berlin weekly events at the beginning of his career, Shotko emerged as the best Super Late Model driver at the track with a dominant 2022 that saw him tally seven victories and a Michigan State Championship in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series.
During his brief-but-successful career, Shotko has developed a reputation for being one of the more intuitive drivers at Berlin, which he credits to bouncing ideas off competitors he assists through his own business, Shotko Motorsports.
That intelligence was a key factor in helping Shotko win his title at Berlin and keeping him at the front Saturday in the Icebreaker. He knew the tires would wear considerably during the 75-lap race and did not want to drive too aggressively in the early stages.
Shotko watched as pole-sitter Blake Rowe pulled away from him in the first 33 laps before a competition caution brought the field back together. Rowe’s aggression proved costly, as it only took Shotko one lap to make the race-winning pass.
Having already won the Battle at Berlin last year, Shotko had plenty of practice on perfectly executing tire strategy. He was confident he’d park his black No. 22 in Victory Lane once again Saturday as long as he avoided trouble.
“You have to run a real smart race,” Shotko said. “There’s a lot of strategy into [the Icebreaker], but I ran my own race and knew what my car could do.”
Although Shotko has not fully committed to defending his championship at Berlin, he does plan to run plenty of races at the facility with the goal of adding more victories to his growing Super Late Model resume.
Brian Campbell finished behind Shotko in second, with Andrew Scheid, Joe Bush and Chase Burda rounding out the top-five finishers in the Icebreaker.