The second half of the Solid Rock Carriers Crystal Coast 125 was filled with numerous accidents that took out several strong competitors and dwindled the field to just 10 cars by the time the checkered flag.
The chaos all happened behind 2017 CARS LMSC Tour champion Josh Berry, who withstood a late charge from fellow Late Model veteran Deac McCaskill to pick up his first career victory at Carteret County Speedway.
“We’ve had a really good car all weekend since we got here,” Berry said. “We thought it would be best to ride around for a bit, but at halfway, we decided to make a move at it and I was able to get the lead. Luckily we were in front of all that mess.”
After starting on the outside of the front row alongside Chad McCumbee, Berry immediately lost second place to Layne Riggs and settled into a rhythm behind the two front runners as the laps ticked away.
Following a handful of cautions that include a brief delay for a power outage in Turn 1, Berry was finally able to get past Riggs on a restart before running down and passing McCumbee on Lap 73.
McCumbee would attempt to take the lead back from Berry on a couple more restarts, but he lost several positions after being trapped on the high side, which paved the way for drivers such as Bobby McCarty and Deac McCaskill to enter the battle for the lead.
McCaskill began to run down Berry over the course of a long run, but his momentum was stymied by an untimely debris caution, which led to a series of restarts that culminated into a major accident in Turn 3 that involved McCarty, Riggs, McCumbee and several others.
The accident left Berry and McCaskill to settle the race amongst themselves, but McCaskill ultimately had nothing for Berry, who pulled away to secure his third win of the 2019 CARS LMSC Tour season.
Berry knew that McCaskill would put up an intense fight for the win expected his long-time opponent to catch him if the cautions had not started to fall late in the race, but he was thrilled to bring home another victory for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and all of his crew members at JR Motorsports.
With McCarty finishing in 12th due to the damage he sustained in the multi-car pileup in Turn 3, Berry will leave Carteret County with the points lead in hand, but he stated that he does not plan to take anything conservatively with only three races left on the schedule.
“We had a good lead a month go, so these things can evaporate quick,” Berry said. “You have to stay on it and keep working hard every day to try and stay up front. To hold off [McCarty], we’re going to have to be in the Top 3, so we’re just going to keep racing hard and be up there at the end.”
Sammy Smith, who started the race in 24th after breaking a transmission in qualifying, rebounded to finish in the third position despite getting involved in a couple of accidents. Riggs brought his wounded Late Model home in fourth, while Justin S. Carroll rounded out the Top 5.
Solid Rock Carriers Crystal Coast 125 Results:
1. 88 Josh Berry
2. 08 Deac McCaskill
3. 12 Sammy Smith
4. 99 Layne Riggs
5. 91 Justin S. Carroll
6. 77 Trevor Ward
7. 63 Tyler Matthews
8. 81 Mini Tyrrell
9. 07 Camden Gullie
10. 16 Chad McCumbee
11. 7 Brandon Clements OUT
12. 22 Bobby McCarty OUT
13. 2 Brandon Pierce OUT
14. 57 Justin Carroll OUT
15. 2y Joshua Yeoman OUT
16. 74 Ronald Hill OUT
17. 51 Matt Cox OUT
18. 17p Stacy Puryear OUT
19. 4 Jonathan Findley OUT
20. 90 Terry Carroll OUT
21. 54 Drew Dollar OUT
22. 19 Cameron Bowen OUT
23. 1 Craig Moore OUT
24. 19c Jessica Cann OUT
