Track Specs: Goodyear All-American Speedway, .400-mile oval/150-lap feature
Berry’s finish: 1st
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Nov. 15, 2021) –--Josh Berry knows a thing or two about winning big Late Model races. The 31-year-old JR Motorsports driver saved his tires over the first 100 laps of Sunday’s Battle of the Stars at Goodyear All-American Speedway and bolted to a $10,000 victory over the remaining 50 laps to earn his 90th victory for JRM in Late Model competition.
Carrying the familiar colors of All Things Automotive and iRacing, Berry topped the practice charts on Saturday over a 25-car field and put the No. 8 Chevrolet on pole for the 150-lap, three-stage race on the .400-mile oval. Aware of the need to save tires, Berry immediately gave up the lead to Chad McCumbee and ran his pace over the first 25 laps, eventually falling back into the top five as others swarmed to the front.
Berry finished the first 50 laps in fourth place and headed back for the second 50-lap segment with the same idea in mind. Biding his time and saving his tires, Berry ended the second segment in fifth, avoiding a potential trouble spot when he and McCumbee each tried to let the other go in hopes of catching the inversion in a good spot. The inversion wound up being just two cars, so Berry would begin the final segment from fifth.
Over the final 50 laps, Berry had saved enough of his tires to make a run at the lead, which he took from McCumbee on a restart with 45 laps remaining. He raced the rest of the way in clear command to pull out the victory, his sixth of the season and 90th of his career with JRM.
Justin Johnson wound up second behind Berry, with Connor Hall, Carter Langley and Conner Jones the rest of the top five. McCumbee finished sixth, with Tate Fogleman, Brandon Clements, Camden Gullie and Kenneth Mercer the top 10.
The JRM Late Model team will be in action again this weekend, when Carson Kvapil will drive the No. 8 at Florence (S.C.) Motor Speedway in the annual Florence 400.
Josh Berry, driver No. 8 All Things Automotive/iRacing Chevrolet team
"We had a pretty good All Things Automotive/iRacing Chevrolet when we unloaded, so we really just spent time tweaking on it and learning a new track. It seemed like tire wear would be pretty big, so we knew we had to be able to manage that. The race was 150 laps and caution laps didn't count, so that makes for a long time on a set of tires. We executed our plan and were fast at the end when it counted and were able to get another win. It was a lot of fun racing with the Late Model team again, and we're looking forward to racing with Carson Kvapil this weekend at Florence."