Charlotte, North Carolina (Monday, May 18, 2015): Going into Saturday’s ARCA/CRA Super Series Berlin 125 at Berlin Raceway, 17-year old Hunter Baize was on a roll. His last two races resulted in two top-5 finishes, and he hoped to continue that trend this past weekend.
Baize came into Saturday’s event 2nd in both the ARCA/CRA Super Series Overall and Rookie points standings. In the first three CRA events of 2015, two with the ARCA/CRA Super Series and one with the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour, he has finished 7th (Toledo), 4th (Anderson), and 2nd (Springport) respectively. Berlin Raceway statically one of Baize’s stronger tracks, he scored a fast time award at the track last season in the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour event.
The Kentucky native qualified a disappointing 20th but when the green flag dropped, he didn’t stay there long. During the first quarter of the Berlin 125, Baize drove from 20th to 12th. Baize wound up finishing 9th and continued his strong start to the 2015 season.
“It was a very interesting race weekend at Berlin,” said Baize. “The guys worked so hard all weekend, and we had a very good piece for the race. We were able to come from 20th to 9th and had a ton of fun. ”
Next up for Baize and his No. 13 team is a trip to Illiana Speedway (IN) for the Calypso Lemonade Chicagoland Showdown 150 on Memorial Day, May 25, 2015. The Calypso Lemonade Chicagoland Showdown 150 will feature a special format and feature both the ARCA/CRA Super Series and the ARCA Midwest Tour. There will be two 50 lap qualifying races (one for ARCA/CRA Super Series teams for points, and one for ARCA Midwest Tour teams for points). Local teams will be placed in each qualifier to balance out qualifying races. The top 12 from each qualifier transfer to the final 50 lap Showdown. This will be Baize’s first trip to the 1/2 (0.500) mile Illiana Speedway.
This season Baize’s Van Doorn Racing Development Pro and Super Late Model race cars will carry sponsorship from Mountaineer All-Natural Firewood, B&K Wood Products, Kawasaki, Wood-Mizer, and Steel City Bolt.
