NEWTON, NC :: Josh Berry has been stripped of his victory after his car failed postrace technical inspection following Saturday night’s race.  The disqualification hands the victory to Dillon Bassett, his fifth win of the 2014 season.  Late Model Stock Car rookie Todd Gilliland was also disqualified, stripping him of a fifth place finish.

Berry spoke with RACE22.com about the disqualification earlier today, saying that the disqualification was the result of the door bars on the right side of the car being too low.

“We went through it Satuday night after the race,” Berry told RACE22.com.  “We know.  They found an issue with our car on the right side with the door bars being low.  It’s a mistake from the get go when the car was built and we put it together.  This is a new car we built this year and it was a mistake.  We changed some things on it to try to get better and we moved the right side frame rail and it turned out to be wrong.”

Berry says he and his race team are already working on fixing the chassis to make it legal and in accordance with Hickory Motor Speedway track rules.  He also said his disqualification could be the tip of the iceberg for many more to come at the 3/8-mile track in Newton, North Carolina.

“We’re in the process of getting it put back together,” Berry explained.  “It’s a big deal fixing it and, to be honest, there are a lot of cars out there in the same boat we’re in so, I think it might be a good thing and open a can of worms because these cars and chassis, they’re going to have to pay a little more attention to it.  If I start that, I accept that responsibility.  But there are a lot of cars out there that are not right but ours was not right either so we will fix it and be back out there to race.”

Kevin Piercy, Hickory Motor Speedway general manager, confirmed the disqualification and said the track’s website has been updated to reflect the disqualifications of both Berry and Gilliland.  Piercy said he was not at liberty to discuss the specifics of the disqualification.

“They’re great folks and very respectful and they’re a class act group of people,” Piercy said.

Calls to NASCAR Whelen All American Series Director Lynn Carroll have not been returned.

Dillon Bassett inherited the win as a result of Berry’s disqualification with Ashley Huffman, Landon Huffman, Austin McDaniel, Justin Bolton, Justin Crider, Kate Dallenbach, Nick Leitz, Shane Lee and Steven Wallace rounding out the top 10.  Berry was credited with a 23rd place finish and Gilliland credited with 24th in the 24 car field.

The next race at Hickory Motor Speedway will be on Saturday night with feature events for both the Late Model Stock Car and Limited Late Model divisions.

Official Race Results

1. #44 Dillon Bassett
2. #7 Ashley Huffman
3. #75H Landon Huffman
4. #12 Austin McDaniel
5. #15 Justin Bolton
6. #7S Justin Crider
7. #25D Kate Dallenbach
8. #4 Nick Leitz
9. #0 Shane Lee
10. #66 Steve Wallace
11. #9 William Byron
12. #5H Bret Holmes
13. #22 Dan Moore
14. #25 Matt Piercy
15. #88D Doug Barnes
16. #67H Jacob Harrell
17. #12B Annabeth Barnes
18. #43 Jesse LeFevers
19. #87 Hayden Woods
20. #45 Dalton Sargeant
21. #31G Kaz Grala
22. #58 Tyler Ankrum
23. #88B Josh Berry
24. #98 Todd Gilliland