Josh Berry during the Xfinity Series race at Michigan International Speedway. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
BROOKLYN, Mich. – Josh Berry earned a second-place finish Saturday afternoon in the Cabo Wabo 250 at Michigan International Speedway.
Berry started the weekend on a powerful note as his No. 8 JR Motorsports car rocketed to the pole position during qualifying on Friday afternoon. Berry maintained that speed throughout Stage 1, contending to lead laps with Justin Allgaier, with Allgaier passing Berry on a Lap 23 restart. He couldn’t get back past his teammate before the stage break and claimed second in the opening segment.
The Hendersonville, Tennessee native slipped back into the ninth position at the start of Stage 2 but worked his way back up to seventh by the end of the stage. Throughout Stage 3, Berry navigated back up to second and outlasted teammate Brandon Jones in a late restart. However, the battle between the JRM drivers allowed John Hunter Nemechek, who dominated the second half of the race, to pull away with his fifth win of the season.
After the race, Berry reflected on the last laps of the race and why he elected to take the top lane for the final restart when the bottom was available.
“We just felt really tight that last run,” Berry said. “I thought I was kind of inching in on [Nemechek] for a while and then we kind of leveled out. It was tough there I felt like I hated to pick behind him there, but the bottom just got so slick there at the end and I felt like that was going to give us our best shot. Overall, we were just a little too tight to make a run at him there.”
“We’re just going to keep after it, right, ” Berry added. “We’re getting better at the right time> Definitely a good day for JR Motorsports and we’ll be in victory lane soon. Our cars are faster and we’re making better decisions and that’s just making it a lot easier for me. Hats off to these guys, we’ve still got to be a little better, but today was a really good day, and we’re just going to keep working. I think that if we keep doing the right things the results will come.”
The No. 8 car has shown consistent speed this season, although that hasn’t paid dividends in victory lane. However, the future Stewart-Haas Racing product has eight top-five finishes along with 13 top 10s. He sits fifth in driver’s points, and while he’s not locked into the playoffs, he sits comfortably at 126 points above the cutline.
Two road courses — Indianapolis and Watkins Glen — lie ahead on the Xfinity schedule before a trip to Daytona International Speedway at the end of August. Events at Darlington Raceway and Kansas Speedway conclude the regular season.
