Track Specs: Orange County Speedway, .375-mile oval/200-lap feature
Berry’s finish: 1st
Cox’s finish: 17th
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (April 26, 2021) – When big money is on the line in the CARS Racing Tour, betting on Josh Berry could turn out to be very profitable.
The 30-year-old Tennessee native, who had raced for JR Motorsports on Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, swept to his second consecutive victory in the Old North State Nationals on Sunday at Orange County Speedway and collected a $30,000 winner’s check in the process. Berry drove his No. 8 All Things Automotive/iRacing Chevrolet to victory in last year’s event, held in October at South Carolina’s Greenville-Pickens Speedway, also worth $30,000.
William Cox III, driving the No. 88 Capital Chevrolet/Sokal Media Group Chevrolet for JR Motorsports, finished 17th on the day after recovering from a cut tire early in the race.
The triumph was Berry’s 20th in CARS Tour competition, 12 more than the next driver in line, and it was his 87th victory for JRM dating back to 2010. The paycheck also swelled his career CARS Tour earnings to $214,000, the most in series history.
Berry qualified fifth for the 200-lap event and settled into sixth place after the initial green flag. The first caution flag waved at lap 25, and Berry ducked down pit road for fuel as a way to get track position. The rest of the field came at lap 46, which cycled the 2020 NASCAR Weekly Series national champion to the lead.
Once at the head of the field, Berry stayed there, essentially leading the rest of the way. He took tires with 60 laps remaining and held off longtime friend Deac McCaskill for the victory. Berry led 153 of the 200 laps to earn the big check and another CARS Tour victory.
Cox qualified 16th in the 28-car field and had his hands full from the drop of the green flag with a loose Capital Chevrolet/Sokal Media Group Chevrolet. Early on, the loose condition caused the young driver to slide sideways off Turn 4 and clip the outside wall, which did nothing to help the handling issue.
The caution at lap 25 allowed Cox to bring the car down pit road for fuel and adjustments to tighten up his No. 88 Chevrolet, and he was sorting out the changes when the right rear tire went flat. Returning to pit lane under green-flag conditions, Cox got a new right rear tire and went back out after losing multiple laps.
Over the remaining distance, the young driver kept pushing, making up the laps lost on pit road and finishing 17th, on the lead lap.
Josh Berry, driver No. 8 All Things Automotive/iRacing Chevrolet team
“It was a really amazing day today. Our All Things Automotive/iRacing Chevrolet was a little off, but we made a good call for some track position and I was able to hold onto it. This is a tough race to win, so to be able to go back-to-back is really special. Big thank you to all our guys for the hard work. That was a tough one.”
William Cox III, driver No. 88 Capital Chevrolet/Sokal Media Group Chevrolet team
“It was a very rough day, having to keep the car underneath me for 200 laps, but I did all I could to finish the race. Thanks to my sponsors Capital Chevrolet, Sokal Media Group, Christensen Arms and Autec Car Wash Systems for supporting me and thank you God for keeping me and all the other drivers safe.”