XPS’ Berner Will Feel Right at Home at Summit Motorsports Park

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It’s not exactly his hometown track, but with the Summit Racing Equipment logo featured all over Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, it might as well be.So while it might not be homecoming for Pete Berner and his Summit Racing Equipment Extreme Pro Stock car this weekend, the Summit Racing Equipment Ohio Drags IV is one event he’s had his eye on all year.“I’m really looking forward to this,” Berner said. “It will be great to meet all the folks at Summit. I know they have a phenomenal operation, so I’m excited to see it in action. “All the people I’ve met from Summit so far are very hardworking and very supportive of our team. I appreciate their support and hope some of that rubs off on us this weekend. It would be awesome to go back to back with the Rockingham postponement being finished this weekend as well.”With his Summit Racing Equipment GXP on display, Berner toured the company headquarters, which is located not far from Norwalk, this week and came away impressed with the sparkling facility.But Berner is just as focused on performing well at Summit Motorsports Park.After a miserable end to July off the track and a forgettable time on the track at the Hardee’s Gateway Drags in early August, Berner seemed to right the ship and find some good fortune at Rockingham two weeks ago.He qualified second in XPS at Simpson Dragstock VII, running a 4.06 before rain postponed the event.It was a stark difference from a July that included a car accident en route to an event and a first-round loss at the Gateway Drags that wasn’t helped by injuries suffered in the car accident.“I think we’ve got our ducks in a row now. We made some impressive runs at Rockingham, and we’ll do our best to carry that momentum forward,” Berner said. “We believe we still have some left, so we’re excited to see what it can do. It should be a very exciting event.”Amidst the excitement is plenty to check off on Berner’s to-do list.He’s currently hanging on to eighth place in the points standings, which would currently put him in the final spot for the Speedtech “Battle For The Belts” at next months’ LenMar Motorsports ADRL World Finals VI, but two races still have to be completed this weekend.That means things could go two ways: Either Berner hangs onto that spot or perhaps even improves it, or drivers like Cale Aronson and Jeff Dobbins, who is just 74 points behind Berner, catch him with impressive weekends of their own.While the second scenario is entirely possible, Berner only has his sights set on staying in that championship chase by having a memorable weekend.“I’m the most excited I’ve been all year,” Berner said. “We’ll be giving it our all and going all out this weekend.”Berner also can’t think of a better place to get his first ADRL win - even if it isn’t technically his hometown track.“Summit has been just phenomenal in supporting us and they certainly deserve some trophies,” Berner said. “I’m not going to worry about any of the other competitors out there because I put enough pressure on myself without adding any from the competition.“We’ll be prepared this weekend, that’s for sure.”

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