MOORESVILLE, NC :: Josh Berry will be a busy man over the next few weeks as he looks ahead to three big races.
With a victory at Myrtle Beach Speedway last weekend, Berry now finds himself locked in to the Myrtle Beach 400 next month – the final race Berry will run in 2014. That race will come exactly eight days after he makes his second career start in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for JR Motorsports. However, before those races, Berry has one more win he hopes to collect at Hickory Motor Speedway as he enters Saturday’s race with the title of track champion.
“I feel pretty good about where we’re at right now with our program,” Berry said. “Last week was our first week with a new Hedgecock car and we feel like it’s going to be really good going in to HIckory this weekend. I feel really good about it.”
Josh Berry has never raced in the Myrtle Beach 400 but he knows the challenge and, after Saturday’s win, he feels confident about his chances of winning the race.
“I feel like that race is going to be a tough one,” Berry stated. “It always is. If circumstance plays out a little differently compared to others because of tire conservation, I feel like we proved last week we had a car that can win there and beat cars that are going to be there. I think we should be right there up in the mix with them.”
Berry’s aware of the role tire management plays in to Myrtle Beach and says that so much of how the race plays out depends on cautions.
The Myrtle Beach 400 will come one week after Berry competes in the season ending race for the NASCAR Nationwide Series at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida. Berry made his first career start in the NASCAR Nationwide Series back in August at Iowa Speedway where he scored a 12th place finish racing for JR Motorsports. Berry’s excited to compete once again in NASCAR’s top ranks and plans to make the most of the opportunity presented to him by Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
“I’m really excited for it,” Berry remarked. “I feel pretty good about it. It should be a pretty big challenge going to a mile and a half but, overall, I know we’ll have a good car and they’ve been good on the mile and a half tracks so we’ll see how we are when we get there but I think we have a shot at getting a solid finish.”
Berry’s plans for next season very much depend on how he runs at Homestead. A strong performance at the South Florida racetrack could land Berry more opportunities in the soon-to-be-renamed NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) next season.
“I’m kind of in the situation that it depends on my performance on Homestead,” Berry explained. “I’ll run Late Models some next year but I’m hoping to add some NXS races if we have a good run at Homestead. It’s not easy to get those opportunities. We’ll see how it goes I guess.”
While Berry knows the next month could make or break his career, the former Motor Mile Speedway and reigning Hickory Motor Speedway champion isn’t letting the pressure get to him.
“It’s hard to put a lot of pressure on yourself in this situation. It doesn’t do any good. It’s pressure my racing career is dependent on these last couple races. The direction could be greatly changed with a good finish or a bad finish. I’ll just have to do a good job managing that and focusing on the racing part of it and the rest will take care of itself.”
