The closing laps of the 2016 Myrtle Beach 400 saw JR Motorsports driver Josh Berry locked in a fierce battle with his then-teammate Christian Eckes. The young rookie from Greenville, New York had passed Lee Pulliam, who had one of the fastest cars throughout the evening, for second place with less than 10 laps to go, and looked to track down Berry in order to score his first victory in Late Model competition.
Eckes had successfully reeled Berry in as the laps continued to wind down, and managed to pull alongside his veteran teammate during the final lap of the race. Coming off Turn 4, the two made slight contact with one another, which caused Berry to make slight contact with the outside retaining wall, giving Eckes the momentum to pass Berry for the win in a photo finish.
Berry initially expressed frustration at his teammate for racing him aggressively in the final laps, but has since moved on from the incident. The veteran Late Model driver hopes to take advantage of the lessons learned from last year’s race in order to have a chance at victory on Saturday evening.
“It’s obviously a tough way to lose a race,” Berry said. “It was an unusual weekend for us last year. We struggled a bit in practice, and we really didn’t qualify that well. We made a lot of changes that really put in a position to win, but Christian was just better than us at the end.”
After coming off a 2016 season that saw him win five CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour races, and finish in the Top 5 in every single event that he competed in, Berry managed to improve upon his success for the 2017 season. Along with making a one-off appearance in the Xfinity Series for Jennifer Brown at Kansas Speedway, Berry added four more wins to his CARS Tour resume, including a sweep of both races at Concord Speedway, which he remains undefeated at in CARS LMSC Tour competition.
Berry capped off his stellar season in the CARS LMSC Tour season finale at South Boston Speedway, where championship leader Layne Riggs suffered a broken transmission after 28 laps, which allowed Berry to take the points lead. Despite struggling with the car all evening, Berry was able to maintain a comfortable advantage over his teammate Anthony Alfredo, who was also mathematically eligible to win the championship, and finished in the 10th position, which secured him his first CARS LMSC Tour championship.
With the championship locked up, Berry turned his attention to the remaining exhibition Late Model races on his schedule. In the Rodney Cook Classic at Ace Speedway, Berry managed to survive the attrition rate and bring his #88 The Decal Source Late Model home in the 5th position, despite being involved in an accident earlier in the race, continuing his team’s momentum going into the Myrtle Beach 400.
Saturday’s 225-lap Late Model feature will be the first time that Berry has raced at Myrtle Beach Speedway all season, as the planned CARS Tour race at the track was cancelled due to a conflict with the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 test session. Berry stated that although he would have liked to run the CARS Tour event at Myrtle Beach in September, he does not believe that its cancellation will affect his approach for the Myrtle Beach 400.
“In 2016, we came down here and raced twice before the 400, and won each time,” Berry said. “At the end of the day, I still feel like we have a good notebook of information from this place, and I think we should be in good shape when it comes time to race.”
Berry is confident that he will have one of the strongest cars in the field when the green flag drops tomorrow evening, as he has finished in the Top 5 twice in his three Myrtle Beach 400 starts, with the lone exception coming in 2015 when he was knocked out of the race by an accident on Lap 70. Like most of his fellow competitors, Berry plans to implement a conservative strategy during the opening laps of the event in order to save his tires and have a strong competitive car in the final laps.
Berry will be competing in the Myrtle Beach 400 on the same weekend that his boss, Dale Earnhardt Jr., will be making his final career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start in the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Berry praised Earnhardt for all of the support that he has provided him over the years, and hopes to build on their successful relationship with a victory in the Myrtle Beach 400.
“I’m excited for Dale,” Berry said. “I hope that I get to race with him some and that he decides to mess around with some Late Models next year. He’s been a great friend of mine, and has supported me, and it would sure be awesome if me or Alfredo could win for him this weekend.”
Berry will have to contest with a strong field of cars in order to deliver a victory for Earnhardt, as all of the Jumpstart Motorsports cars, led by veteran Tommy Lemons Jr., posted consistently fast practice times throughout the afternoon. Berry will also have to contend with 2017 Myrtle Beach Late Model track champion Lee Pulliam, who posted the fastest time in the fourth practice session, and won the Myrtle Beach 400 in 2013.
