LOUDON, N.H. – Josh Berry had the most abysmal opening round of the playoffs since the current version of the playoff format was introduced in 2014, finishing last in all three races. Though he failed to advance to the Round of 12, he rebounded in a seismic way during Sunday’s Mobil 1 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Throughout the weekend, Berry’s Wood Brothers No. 21 Ford was among the quickest cars in the “Granite State,” capping off a Team Penske sweep of the podium in qualifying. That remained the case during the race.
Berry placed fourth in the opening stage, but his miserable fortune returned to begin Stage 2. He tangled with Shane van Gisbergen while battling inside the top 10, as the No. 21 car was spun through Turns 1 and 2.
“Those things happen here all the time – and it’s a choice,” Berry said of the collision with van Gisbergen. “It’s a choice on a restart, whether you’re going to leave your right front in there and wreck him or you’re going to live to fight another day. On all of these restarts, there is choice after choice after choice. Even if I did come down a little bit, I have cut him plenty of breaks over the course of the year. Just live to race another lap – there is still 200-something laps to go.”
It was apparent that Berry had among the best cars, as the No. 21 Ford maneuvered through traffic at ease. By the end of the stage, he was already back inside the top 10.
Amid a long green-flag stint to begin the final stage, Berry was among the final cars to hit pit road for fresh tires at Lap 241 though he was chasing down quasi-teammates Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano as they battled for the race lead.
When the final caution flew on Lap 255 for a clash between Cody Ware and Austin Dillon, No. 21 crew chief Miles Stanley kept Berry on the track to become the race leader. It didn’t take Blaney long to get back by but Berry used long-run speed to get back on the heels of the No. 12 car as he went into tire-saving mode.
“He gained a few car lengths over the course of two or three laps and I picked the pace up a little bit and I didn’t have the pace to pick up,” Blaney stated. “It was the first time we did two (tires) all day and it changed my car to where it wasn’t what it was before.
“He came on quickly for a while. I wouldn’t say it was defense mode, but it was searching around to try and find pace and a line that worked better than what I was doing. I 100% expect Josh to try and go win that race. That was fun racing him. I appreciate no bumper being laid.”
With 12 laps remaining, hustling into Turn 3, Berry got loose over the bumps and lost a sizable margin to Blaney. The No. 12 car was able to hold on for the victory, with Berry finishing runner-up. It was his first top-five effort since scoring his first Cup Series victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March.
“It’s like I’ve said the last few weeks, we’ve had good cars, our pit crew has done a good job – we’ve just had some [expletive] luck for three weeks, really, is the best way to put it,” Berry added. “Today was a great battle to fight through the spin and get back up there and get a good finish.”
The series heads to Kansas Speedway next weekend where Berry finished sixth in May.
“It felt nice to have a strong car as we did and we’ve got to keep building on it,” Berry said. “We had a good run at Kansas in the spring. Hopefully we can be a little better and do it again.”