Santos Tops Litt In Frenetic Must See Sprint At Berlin

MARNE, Mich. – Just before Ryan Litt could stamp his claim on virtual ownership of Berlin Raceway Saturday night, Bobby Santos III swooped in and snatched the proverbial paperwork from the Canadian’s fingertips.

Santos made a thrilling pass of Litt with three laps left to steal the win in the Must See Racing Perfit Sprint Car Series feature at the seven-sixteenths-mile oval, officially opening the tour’s 2025 campaign after an aborted attempt at Lancaster (N.Y.) Motorplex two weeks earlier.

The Franklin, Mass., veteran chased Litt down from nearly three seconds back in the second half of the 30-lapper, as Litt struggled for multiple circuits to dispatch the slower lap car of Bobby Komisarski.

Finally, with Santos breathing down his neck, Litt made a desperation dive to the apron in turn four to get underneath Komisarski and get his No. 07 into clean air for the closing moments.

Though he made the move stick with four to go, the damage was already done, as Santos flared three-wide to the outside at the same moment.

From there, Santos used the high-line momentum to soar around both Komisarski and Litt, ultimately taking the lead on the 28th lap before going on to win by 2.242 seconds in the end.

It marked Santos’ second straight springtime win at Berlin with Must See Racing and the 11th victory of his career, breaking a tie with Jason Blonde for third on the series’ all-time win list.

“That was tough,” said Santos in victory lane. “Ryan ran such a good race. He had the disadvantage of being the leader. Sometimes being in second is an advantage, and we were lucky for that today. Hats off to Ryan and his team, though, because they put together a great race.”

The jubilation for Santos’ entire family was evident in the winner’s circle, led by his eldest son Julian.

“I definitely don’t win nearly as many races as we should,” said Santos beside his winning No. 22a, DJ Racing-prepared sprinter. “I feel like I'm letting these guys down. Julian’s winning basketball games and I’m not winning enough races out here. But we finally won a race for him today.”

Litt was going for his fourth Berlin victory in the last seven Must See Racing events at the track, and appeared to be in prime position after starting from the outside of the front row and jumping out to the early advantage ahead of polesitter and defending series champion Joe Liguori.

But as the laps wore on in Saturday’s caution-free main event, the handle on Litt’s car went away, and he fell into Santos’ grasp as he struggled with the turbulence from being trapped behind Komisarski for so long.

It all proved simply too much to overcome in the end for Litt, who joked in victory lane that he “might need to buy some space on the property” with how well Berlin has treated him in recent years.

“When you’re the guy chasing first place, you can see everything going on in front,” said Litt of Santos. “You can kind of go where the leader isn’t, right? It’s just really unfortunate. We had a great car. It was locked down until, I don’t know, 10 or 12 to go. The car just got super loose in traffic. I was really having trouble getting around Bobby [Komisarski] there. He was smoking the [right rear] tire and kind of all over the track.

“It’s just a bummer to lose one like this. It sucks. I hate getting second. I hate losing like this,” Litt lamented. “Hats off to Bobby, though; that guy’s one of the best in the country. It’s no shame losing to those guys, but yeah … it’s a bummer for the whole crew after we worked all day and had the car perfect until about 10 to go when it really counted.”

Liguori completed the podium, his best Must See Racing finish since a runner-up effort at Owosso Speedway last June, followed by Charlie Schultz and Komisarski among the top five finishers.

Saturday night’s feature ran green-to-checkered in a scant seven minutes and 17 seconds, the fastest-ever 30-lap event for Must See Racing at Berlin in its 15 years of racing there.

Eight-time USAC Silver Crown Series champion Kody Swanson kicked off the program with the fastest time in qualifying, a lap of 13.336 seconds (118.101 mph) in the potent No. 50m owned by Dick Myers.

Dorman Snyder and Liguori went on to win their respective heat races, while Swanson dropped out of heat two early with engine woes that relegated him to the rear of the starting grid for the feature.

The issues persisted and forced Swanson to retire after just one lap in the main. He finished 12th.

Of note, a new format was utilized at Berlin, with the top four in qualifying and the two heat winners going onto the die for the Perfit Pole Roll that helped to set the lineup for the 30-lap headliner.

Swanson’s dice roll ultimately saw Liguori’s number come up, putting Liguori in front at the initial green.

Next for the Must See Racing Perfit Sprint Car Series is Owosso on Saturday, June 21, during United Way Super Hero Night. It’s the first of three scheduled features at the track this year for the series.

RESULTS: Must See Racing Perfit Sprint Car Series; Berlin Raceway; Marne, Mich.; May 31, 2025

Qualifications (best of two laps): 1. Kody Swanson, 50m, Myers-13.336; 2. Ryan Litt, 07, Litt-13.340; 3. Bobby Santos III, 22a, Fieler-13.378; 4. Davey Hamilton Jr., 14, Morgan-13.520; 5. Charlie Schultz, 9s, IBT-13.568; 6. Dorman Snyder, 99, Stickney-13.631; 7. Joe Liguori, 68, Liguori-13.666; 8. Kevin Mingus, Z10, Mingus-13.750; 9. Bobby Komisarski, 7, Fogle-14.153; 10. Teddy Alberts, 44, Wolverine-14.322; 11. Tommy Nichols, 55, Nichols-14.773; 12. J.J. Dutton, 86, Dutton-15.512; 13. Andrew Bogusz, 17, Bogusz-15.742.

Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Dorman Snyder [2], 2. Ryan Litt [4], 3. Davey Hamilton Jr. [3], 4. Kevin Mingus [1], 5. Teddy Alberts [5], 6. J.J. Dutton [6]. (1:50.957)

Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. Joe Liguori [1], 2. Bobby Santos III [3], 3. Charlie Schultz [2], 4. Bobby Komisarski [5], 5. Tommy Nichols [6], 6. Andrew Bogusz [7], 7. Kody Swanson [4]. (NT)

Perfit A-Feature (30 laps): 1. 22a-Bobby Santos III [3], 2. 07-Ryan Litt [2], 3. 68-Joe Liguori [1], 4. 9s-Charlie Schultz [5], 5. 7-Bobby Komisarski [8], 6. 55-Tommy Nichols [10], 7. 44-Teddy Alberts [9], 8. 99-Dorman Snyder [6], 9. 14-Davey Hamilton Jr. [4], 10. 86-J.J. Dutton [11], 11. 17-Andrew Bogusz [12], 12. 50m-Kody Swanson [13], 13. Z10-Kevin Mingus [7]. (7:17.769)

Lap Leader(s): Joe Liguori Grid, Ryan Litt 1-27, Bobby Santos III 28-30.

Hard Charger: 55-Tommy Nichols (+4)