NASCAR AT POCONO: Berry contending for Xfinity Series championship
Jul. 23—In roughly a year and a half, Josh Berry has gone from part-time and fill-in driver to NASCAR Xfinity Series championship contender.
Through 18 races, the 31-year-old driver from Hendersonville, Tennessee, has two wins, eight top-five and 10 top-10 finishes in the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. He comes to Pocono Raceway this weekend for the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 in fourth place in the point standings.
"I feel like it's been pretty good. It definitely hasn't been perfect," Berry said of his season thus far. "We know we've had some issues here and there that have held us back from getting a couple of finishes that we deserved. I feel like our cars have been pretty fast nearly every week and we're only getting better. We're excited for the second half of the season to start."
How Berry got to this point is an interesting story of perseverance and capitalizing when an opportunity presents itself.
His racing career began in go-karts, then moved on to Legends cars. In 2008, he started racing virtually on iRacing and that's when he met Dale Earnhardt Jr. The two struck up a friendship that led to Earnhardt asking Berry to join JR Motorsports' Late Model program in 2010.
So Berry quit his job as a bank teller and moved to North Carolina.
Over the next decade, Berry won a lot of races and multiple championships. But other than seven Xfinity starts from 2014-17 and one Truck Series start in 2016, he appeared destined to stay in the Late Model ranks.
"I appreciated the opportunity I did have, which was getting to race Late Models all over these great short tracks around here," Berry said. "I'm not going to lie, I thought that's what my life was going to be as long as I was able to do it."
Everything changed in 2020. Berry won 24 races to capture the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national championship. That prompted Earnhardt to give Berry a part-time 12-race deal in the No. 8 car in the Xfinity Series for the 2021 campaign.
"I think he just really appreciated what we were able to do with that Late Model program over that length of time," Berry said. I think that kind of helped me get the opportunity I got with the 8. I'm very thankful for him and everything he's done for me."
What happened next was a whirlwind that changed Berry's life.
He won at Martinsville, then posted runner-up finishes at Darlington and Dover. That led to other opportunities across all three NASCAR national series:
—Two Cup Series races at Dover in May and Michigan in August filling in for Spire Motorsports drivers Justin Haley and Corey Lajoie, respectively, when they were sidelined by COVID-19 protocols.
—Ten Trucks Series races, nine for Rackley-WAR after Timothy Peters left that team.
—Five Xfinity races for Jordan Anderson Racing.
—When JR Motorsports driver Michael Annett had a leg injury, Berry substituted five races for him in the No. 1 Chevy and had four top-10 finishes, including a win at Las Vegas in September.
While each situation was different, Berry felt as though they were auditions.
"If I wasn't able to secure a full-time ride at Junior Motorsports, I hoped one of those other opportunities would turn into something," Berry said. "I wanted to do well. It felt like it was something different every week. It definitely was a crazy, fun time to look back on."
Berry got the job. Earnhardt offered him the full-time Xfinity ride in the No. 8 car and Berry has responded with his solid season, including wins at Dover in April and Charlotte in May. Last week at New Hampshire, he earned his first career pole.
"It's just been wild, hard to explain how much my life has changed in the last year and a half," Berry said. "It's been a lot of fun and it's been a challenge stepping into the Xfinity Series like that. I feel like I've held my own fairly well and I still feel like I've got a lot left to prove."
Last year, Berry raced twice at Pocono, finishing ninth in the Xfinity race and 11th in the Truck race.
"My races there last year were kind of unique opportunities with smaller teams," Berry said. "We actually had two really good runs, so I'm excited to get back there with Junior Motorsports. It should be a great opportunity for us this weekend."
With eight races left in the regular season, Berry is looking to build momentum for the playoffs over the final seven races. He definitely is in the conversation as one of the drivers who can win the championship.
"We definitely have the team and we definitely have the speed right now in our race cars," Berry said. "We just have to execute well and maybe have a little luck on our side and I think we can do it."
Practice for the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 is scheduled for Saturday at 9:35 a.m. with qualifying to follow at 10:05 a.m. The 90-lap race gets the green flag at 5 p.m.
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