By Seth Eggert, Staff writer
MARTINSVILLE, VA – As one of the most iconic trophies in racing continues to elude Josh Berry, he and his JR Motorsports No. 88 All Things Automotive Chevrolet shattered the track record in qualifying.
In seven attempts to win the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway, Berry has a best finish of 13th, in 2014 and 2015. The Hendersonville, Tenn. native uncharacteristically failed to qualify for the 2013 running.
One year ago, Berry had been leading when he and Peyton Sellers made contact on a restart. Both drivers spun. Berry and lost a lap in the ensuing melee while Sellers emerged relatively unscathed. The 28-year-old finished 19th, one lap down.
Berry explained that his team built off of the momentum from last
year’s event.
“I’ve never got the pole here before, so we’ll see. We had a great car last
year. We just tried to build from that momentum. I learned a lot last year,
about this place and a lot about myself. We just really, really, really wanted
to pick up where we left off last year. I feel like we’ve done that.”
Last year, Berry’s teammate, Sam Mayer failed to qualify. This year, he’s teamed with Super Late Model standout, and seventh-place qualifier Bubba Pollard.
Track conditions have proven to be a challenge in Berry’s quest for the clock. A hot and slick track in the daytime practice and qualifying were different from the test session. With the 300-lap race under the lights, the conditions will change once again by the time the green flag waves.
The CARS Tour Late Model Stock regular admitted that the changing track conditions have proven to be a challenge his team is ready for.
“I’m not going to lie. We really didn’t have the best start to practice. I mean, it’s hot, slick and different than what we’re having at nighttime, different than what it was at the test, as well as tomorrow.
“We worked on it a little bit and I thought by the end of it I felt pretty confident where we were at. Obviously, we made the right adjustments there for qualifying and we were able to put down a really good lap.”
By virtue of his recording-breaking pole run, Berry, as well as Pollard, are locked into the feature and will not need to compete in either of the heat races. The top-20 qualifiers from Friday night advance to the feature.
The race will be streamed live and for free on FansChoice.tv
He won this race for those who don’t know.
We kow that. And we had Seth there to cover the action. If you would like to read that story, you can find it here.
https://kickinthetires.net/josh-berry-finally-conquers-the-paperclip-with-dominant-win/