| Josh Berry’s third-place starting position in the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway offered plenty of promise, but that promise disappeared almost immediately when a first-lap spin in Turn 2 left the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Dark Horse battered in the opening race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Berry was able to drive the car to the garage, where the Wood Brothers Racing crew went to work on repairs. He said the car bottomed out several times before the spin. “It was definitely unexpected,” Berry said. “We didn’t really fight that too bad in practice. I saw a replay of it (from the camera in Ross Chastain’s car) and you could tell that it bottomed out four or five times. You can’t save them when they’re like that.” After spending more than 100 laps in the garage, Berry returned to the track in 38th position with little opportunity to recover. The team instead focused on securing a bonus point for the fastest lap of the night, and on Lap 114 Berry delivered with a speed of 169.351 miles per hour. He carried on to finish 38th, collecting two points and leaving Darlington 16th in the Playoff standings, 19 points behind the cutoff line. After two more races – at World Wide Technology Raceway and Bristol Motor Speedway – the bottom four drivers in the standings will be eliminated from championship contention. Despite the setback, Berry remains confident that he and the No. 21 team can rebound. “It looked like a lot of people had a bad night, which we know how this goes,” he said. “We just need to avoid a bad night ourselves. I feel like we’re still within striking distance. If we just go have two good weeks, we’ll at least be in the mix once we get to Bristol.” Berry and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team now turn their focus to Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway. |
