By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
Josh Berry, Late Model Stock Car driver for JR Motorsports, was able to score his first victory of the 2018 CARS Response Energy Tour season at Hickory Motor Speedway.
Throughout the Throwback 276 weekend at Hickory, Berry showed speed throughout two practice sessions. Ultimately, he started the race from the cat bird’s seat after qualifying on the pole.
When the green flag fell, Berry was able to hold onto the lead until Lap 75. During the lap, Layne Riggs was able to catch Berry and put the nose to his bumper coming off of Turn Four. Berry briefly lost control of his car and slid out of the racing groove.
Riggs was able to hold the lead for about 27 laps until a caution for Mason Diaz racked up the field for a late-race restart. Riggs chose the inside lane, while Berry was on the outside. When the field went green, Berry showed that he had the stronger car between the two.
After being passed by Berry, Riggs began to fall back through the field. Once Lee Pulliam passed Riggs, he became a threat to the show Berry was putting on. However, there were not many laps left for Pulliam to catch Berry before he crossed the finish line to take the checkered flag.
“We had an awesome car tonight,” Berry said. “Typically, it was a little bit against what we do by leading like that, but we just didn’t want to get caught up in the pack, lose track position and start beating and banging and tearing stuff up. I just felt like that we had a good enough car to try to manage it while in the Top 3. Lee was good there at the end, but it was too little, too late for him.”
Pulliam finished second, Timothy Peters, Bobby McCarty, and Riggs rounded out the top-five.