By Neha Dwivedi, Staff Writer
Josh Berry limped out of the Round of 16 with the kind of finishes no driver wants to remember. He brought up the rear in all three races, finishing 38th at Darlington, 36th at Gateway and 39th at Bristol – it knocked him out of championship contention.
Though eliminated from the postseason, the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing driver turned heads Sunday with a strong run at New Hampshire in the opening race of the Round of 12. In fact, he almost won the race.
Starting third, Berry held a Top 3 spot in Stage 1 before getting spun by Shane van Gisbergen on a Lap 82 restart in Stage 2, an incident that potentially threatened to sink his afternoon in a heartbeat.
But instead of folding, Berry and his crew went back to the grind. As the laps wound down, he squared off against Penske Racing’s Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano, at times turning faster laps than both.
His luck shifted again when Cody Ware’s spin with 45 laps to go brought the pack back together. While most teams opted for fresh tires, his crew chief, Myles Stanley, kept the No. 21 on track, handing Berry the lead and the chance to control his own fate.
On the restart, Blaney powered to second and slipped by with 39 remaining, appearing ready to sail away. Berry fought back, reeled Blaney back to within a car length but a mistake in Turn 3 closed the door on his chance to steal the victory.
A win would have been the cherry on top but Berry still took pride in the rebound.
“It was definitely an awesome day,” he said, after climbing out of his car on pit road following the checkered flag. “Had a really good car. Hat’s off to Ryan at the end. All of our cars were really strong and Ryan did a great job there.”
Bery admitted he was caught off guard when Blaney breezed past but once the dust settled, he felt he had enough pace to keep him honest in the closing laps.
Berry also tipped his cap to the No. 12 crew. Reflecting on the Lap 82 spin, he noted, “We were down a set of tires after the spin. So, I think it kind of forced our hand. We didn’t want to take our last rights (side tires) at least that early with that many laps left. We still made the most of it.
“Hats off to everybody at Wood Brothers and Team Penske, Motorcraft/Quick Lane, DEX Imaging, eero, Ford Racing. Yeah, just a shame to finish second but after the last couple of weeks, it feels good. This is definitely what we’re capable of and hopefully we can keep it going.”
Next up is Kansas Speedway, where Berry owns an average finish of 21st across four starts, with one Top 10. Nevertheless, given the speed he flashed at Loudon, his expectations are that the No. 21 will once again run at the front end of the field.
