MOORESVILLE, NC :: This weekend’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race will see a name Late Model Stock Car fans are familiar with.  Josh Berry, who has six wins on the season, is looking forward to the challenge of racing against NASCAR starts like Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott in Saturday night’s U.S. Celluar 250 presented by New Holland at Iowa Speedway.

“I’m excited,” Berry said.  “It’s all I would ever dream for as a short track racer.  This is the kind of deal where people who have had more success than me dream of this kind of opportunity.  I’m really excited.  I’ve worked hard with the team to prepare myself.  I’m confident those guys will bring a good car to the racetrack.  Hopefully we get a solid finish.”

Berry’s excitement hasn’t deterred him from preparation.  Berry has been watching footage, clicking off laps on iRacing and getting counseling from his JR Motorsports teammates to prepare for Saturday night’s race at the 7/8-mile facility in Newton, Iowa.

“I will use iRacing as a tool but I’ve mainly using telemetry, video, in-car cameras and race broadcasts to learn the track,” Berry stated.  “I’ve got a lot of help from Regan Smith, Harvick and Chase Elliott.  Just taking in as much information as you can.  It’s a bigger racetrack but they’re all racetracks and race cars.”

He explained how watching the race broadcasts and the on-board cameras helps him.

“The in-car cameras are a big help because you can see the line and hear the throttle and when they’re lifting.  The race broadcast helps you see how the race will materialize.  You’d be stupid not to do that. You’ve got to prepare yourself for the race.”

Berry went with the team to Iowa Speedway earlier this year to get a look at the track and also travelled to Indianapolis Motor Speedway during last weekend’s Brickyard 400 festivities.

“I went with the team to Indianapolis and the first Iowa race.  That was nice to see the track from the spotter’s stand.  I went to Indy and spoke with Harvick and the amount of information that guy had was mind blowing.  He’s really good.  I feel like the stuff he helped with, I can put to good use.”

If things go well at Iowa, Berry could run more races for JR Motorsports in the NASCAR ranks.

“There’s nothing scheduled but, if it goes well, then I believe there will be some more, not sure if it’s this year or next year.  There’s the potential for that.  Going in to this, I’m under the understanding that if it’s successful, we’ll do it again.”

Berry will continue to run in Late Model racing, at least for now.  He’ll again run the Fall Brawl, the Martinsville DuPont Credit Union 300 and possibly the Myrtle Beach 400.  Berry currently leads the standings at Hickory Motor Speedway over his teammate, William Byron, but will likely surrender that lead unless Byron drops out of the race or weather doesn’t cooperate at Hickory.  That doesn’t bother Berry though. For him, it’s a small price to pay for living a dream.

The NASCAR Nationwide Series U.S. Celluar 250 presented by New Holland from Iowa Speedway can be seen live on ESPN at 8pm EST on Saturday night, August 2nd.