Treyten Lapcevich joined Nitro Motorsports following Thad Moffitt’s drop to part-time status following a partner withdrawal. Lapcevich thoroughly delivered, leading flag-to-flag to win the ARCA Menards Series race at Berlin Raceway on June 14.
Lapcevich scored the first win of his career. The victory is also the first for Nitro in its first year of competition.
“Yessir, man, I don’t even know what to say,” Lapcevich told FOX Sports in victory lane. “Just a big thanks to Nitro Motorsports. Shannon [Rursch, his crew chief] and the guys had this thing hooked up.
“Super thankful. I haven’t been in the seat a lot this year, and these guys came together and made this possible for me, so super excited and just a huge thanks to all the guys at Nitro for truly giving me a rocketship.”
Lapcevich captured the pole earlier on Saturday and led, per the broadcast, all but one lap.
“Yeah, really just tried to get the comfort with the car on the restarts,” Lapcevich continued. “Just had to understand how hard I could push it in turn 1, and that second half of the race really, you know, started to come to life on the restarts and be able to defend a lot better and retain the lead.”
Max Reaves finished second, the first time he has not gone to ARCA victory lane in his early career. Reaves has won his first three ARCA Menards Series East races but was denied the win in his national series debut.
Lawless Alan finished third as the highest series regular. Points leader Brenden Queen came home fourth followed by Lavar Scott in fifth.
Venturini Motorsports teammates Isabella Robusto and Mason Mitchell finished sixth and seventh, respectively, with Jason Kitzmiller in eighth, Matt Kemp in ninth and Willie Mullins in 10th.
The 200-lap race at the 0.4375-mile short track featured a flurry of cautions but only for single-car incidents. Lapcevich was not to be denied, taking crew chief Shannon Rursch to Berlin victory lane two years after Rursch’s driver Jesse Love lost there in the final laps.
ARCA Results from Berlin
ARCA heads to another short track for its next race. The series will visit Elko Speedway, the shortest racetrack on the schedule. That 250-lap race at the 0.375-mile short track will take place on Saturday, June 21 at 9 p.m. ET with TV coverage provided by FOX Sports 2 and available on the FOX Sports App.
Mark Kristl joined Frontstretch at the beginning of the 2019 NASCAR season. He is the site's ARCA Menards Series editor. Kristl is also an Eagle Scout and a proud University of Dayton alum.