FORT WORTH, Texas – On the restart to begin the final stage of the SRS Distribution 250, teammates Justin Allgaier and Josh Berry battled side by side for the lead. Coming out of Turn 2, Berry lost control of his No. 8 Jarrett Industries Chevrolet Camaro and slid sideways across the lower half of the track.
“It definitely got loose,” Berry stated after his seventh place recovery. “I was just talking with William (Byron), hoping he could give me a better push. But that didn’t happen and Justin (Allgaier) got a really good restart and really not sure after that. We went into (Turn 1), I felt like I had the bottom and I don’t know if he was tight on my right rear or not.
“I need to go back and watch it, and learn and be better next time.”
Others started collecting each other separately, including Noah Gragson, Ty Gibbs, Brandon Jones and more to bring out the sixth caution of the race. With damage on the rear of the car, the pit crew attended the car to release Berry from the Damaged Vehicle Policy (DVP) clock by meeting minimum speed in order to continue in the event.
It was all Berry needed to get four JR Motorsports entries in the top 10 by the wave of the checkered flag.
“It was a great recovery,” continued Berry. “The car took some significant damage, but it held together well. My team did a great job managing it and keeping me in the race. I felt like we weren’t that bad at the end. We finished about where we should with the damage we had. It definitely could have been a lot worse, but we got a stage win so we got some stage points and a Playoff point.
“A seventh place finish heading to Charlotte.”
His Stage 2 win and the race finish accumulated 40 points in his championship hunt. From his win at Dover Motor Speedway, he is already locked into the Playoffs but the stage win did grant him an extra Playoff point. With all five teammates running in the top seven at one point earlier in Saturday’s race, Berry knows momentum is on their side. The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway next weekend.
“Typically, it’s been a tough place for JRM, but we’ve had a lot of speed this last month or so. It’s encouraging to hopefully be better there. For me, I think we’re just going to learn as much as we could. Just like today, wanted to learn as much as we could for the fall race and hope that we’re in a position to go to Phoenix.”
The Xfinity series continues their 2022 season by heading back east to North Carolina for the Alsco Uniforms 300 on May 28.