There may be 4 races remaining within the 2024 NASCAR Cup Collection common season, however Josh Berry is probably going centered on considered one of them just a little greater than the others.
A win for Berry on the Richmond Raceway would catapult him into the 2024 NASCAR Cup Collection playoffs, however he would not be the primary driver to clinch a postseason berth with a large win at Richmond. In 2004, it was Jeremy Mayfield who broke by way of for an enormous win that clinched him a spot within the inaugural Chase for the NEXTEL Cup.
As a short-track ace, the 0.75-mile observe performs proper into Berry’s wheelhouse. Berry’s racing background consists of plenty of late-model racing, and he obtained his first NASCAR Xfinity Collection win on the half-mile Martinsville Speedway in 2021.
The 33-year-old from Hendersonville, Tenn. has put collectively a strong rookie season — it caught the eye of the Wooden Brothers, who signed Berry for 2025 — however to no person’s shock, the brief tracks have been the place his expertise has absolutely been capable of shine by way of.
After 4 straight finishes of twentieth or worse to start the season, the high-banked half mile of Bristol noticed Berry earn a then-season-best end of twelfth. After qualifying second, Berry led 25 laps in a race that turned out to be a battle of tire preservation. His inexperience led him to fall by way of the sphere in Stage 3, however it was nonetheless a exhibiting to be happy with.
At Richmond’s first date on the calendar on Easter Sunday, Berry led two laps and improved on his season-best end with an Eleventh-place effort. The Monster Mile of Dover introduced a 14th-place end result, and whereas not brief tracks, finishes of third and tenth at Darlington and Charlotte, respectively, proved to the world that Berry was able to competing within the Cup Collection.
The final two short-track races at Iowa and New Hampshire produced finishes of seventh and third, respectively, and it appears that evidently Berry has sufficient expertise on the entrance to lastly contend for his first profession win.
With subsequent Sunday’s race at Richmond additionally going down at evening, Berry can depend on his notes from March and the boldness that comes from operating on the entrance of the Cup Collection race.
If he will make the playoffs, he wants a victory, and whereas he actually might win at both Michigan, Daytona or Darlington, Richmond is the one observe left on the regular-season schedule that performs fully to Berry’s energy.
Sure, Berry’s maiden voyage within the Cup Collection has been strong to date, but when he needs a standout second to stick within the scrapbook, a walk-off win at Richmond to clinch a playoff bid — a la Mayfield in 2004 — would simply qualify as a memorable second and a feel-good story of an underdog breaking by way of.
