Josh Berry describes his first full NASCAR Cup Sequence season as an expertise.
Berry, 34, breaks it down into completely different emotional sections. It begins with the thrill of coming into the collection as a rookie and taking up the No. 4 automobile at Stewart-Haas Racing, a automobile that had been dominant with Kevin Harvick and crew chief Rodney Childers.
However earlier than the staff had even made it to Daytona, it appeared everybody within the trade knew what was coming for the group, apart from these concerned. By Could, it was made clear when Gene Haas and Tony Stewart issued a joint assertion confirming the doorways would shut on the finish of the 12 months. It left over 300 workers, together with Berry, looking for what got here subsequent.
“It’s been an expertise. It’s been a problem, for certain,” Berry tells RACER. “But it surely’s one thing that I’m nonetheless so grateful to have had the chance to race within the Cup Sequence with that staff. It was loads of enjoyable.”
It’s not a stretch to say there have been distractions for Berry. Ideally, the one issues he would have been targeted on had been being a rookie, adapting to a brand new staff, and a protracted Cup Sequence schedule. As a substitute, the early-season rumors had been onerous to not learn or hear.
The staff benefited from Haas and Stewart’s affirmation of what would occur. Berry felt the announcement coincided with part of the schedule the place he ran properly, which opened doorways for his 2025 plans. These plans see him taking up the famed No. 21 at Wooden Brothers Racing.
“Numerous races we had been actually aggressive: Iowa, New Hampshire, the primary Richmond,” Berry says. “There have been loads of races – the Coke 600 will get forgotten as a result of it was rain-shortened – that had been actually strong races for us.
“All of these stand out to me as respectable alternatives to win and sadly, it didn’t plan, however we had been in rivalry to win a number of of these races. You have a look at Daytona and the chance we had there. The Darlington races had been different ones the place we ran properly.”
Berry and the staff picked up 4 top-10 finishes and two top-five finishes. The inaugural occasion at Iowa Speedway was maybe their most memorable and bittersweet efficiency as Berry led 32 laps late earlier than it got here right down to tire methods on pit street beneath the ultimate warning. Childers put 4 tires on Berry, who got here off pit street behind a trio of drivers who had taken two.
The laps led had been essentially the most for Berry in a single race. He led not less than one lap in 10 races all through the season.
Berry led 32 laps at Iowa, finally ending seventh after a late-race determination to vary all 4 tires didn’t repay. Danny Hansen/Motorsport Photographs
“The lowlights are onerous to say,” Berry says. “As enjoyable as Daytona was, how that ended was actually powerful. I feel in all probability the most important lowlight was the Southern 500 simply because we had been in a extremely great spot on the finish of that race and technique acquired away from us, and truthfully, I used to be making an attempt to get an excessive amount of and put myself in a nasty place and ended up wrecked. Particularly after wrecking at Daytona. That was a tricky one for certain, and one I undoubtedly want I had again.”
In the summertime race at Daytona, Berry ended up on his roof, sliding throughout the pavement on the backstretch and hitting nose-first into the within wall. This occurred with two laps to go as Berry led the skin lane.
He completed twenty sixth at Daytona and thirty first every week later at Darlington. These had been two of the ten DNFs the staff collected.
Berry felt essentially the most snug on brief tracks and what he described as oddball intermediates like Darlington and Dover. There was a “big distinction” to studying the way to drive the Subsequent Gen automobile at locations like Pocono Raceway or the high-speed Michigan Worldwide Speedway than Berry had been used for 2 and a half seasons within the Xfinity Sequence.
“These are the areas I want to enhance essentially the most,” he says. “Truthfully, I feel we noticed enchancment, not consistency, however enchancment all year long.”
“It’s a grind, for certain and that’s what everybody says and looking for that stability of the work you’re placing in to organize versus the time you’re away and with household takes time to determine,” Berry continued. “These are the most important issues that stand out.
“The 2 off weeks had been good to have, however it’s a protracted 12 months indubitably. The attention-grabbing half is it looks like you’ve so many seasons inside one season. As I stated earlier, you begin, and everyone seems to be jacked up, and you then undergo the spell of what’s going on with the staff. Then, we gained loads of momentum by summer season and a few races that acquired away from us.
“Quite a bit occurs in a season.”
Sadly for Berry, what didn’t occur for him was claiming Sunoco Rookie of the Yr honors. Berry completed 107 factors behind Spire Motorsports contender Carson Hocevar. Though there was disappointment at his finish for arising brief, Berry credited Hocevar for doing a terrific job to earn the award.
And there once more, Berry appears to be like on the races that didn’t pan out.
“We simply weren’t capable of maintain tempo with him, and he acquired some sturdy momentum going towards the final third of the season,” Berry says. “He did a terrific job and is a good expertise.
“Clearly, I’m dissatisfied we didn’t win, however there was solely going to be one winner. It was a good battle till, truthfully, Daytona. It appeared we by no means acquired again in rivalry after the swing we had there and Darlington.”
The expertise and classes of a rookie season will go ahead with Berry. He and Wooden Brothers Racing started getting ready for 2025 earlier than the ultimate checkered flag fell in 2024.
“I (had) already tried on a firesuit for subsequent 12 months and labored on seat issues,” Berry says. “I confirmed as much as media day this 12 months and not using a firesuit and wore Kevin’s (Harvick). So, I really feel way more forward of issues. Group Penske and the Wooden Brothers do a terrific job of staying on high of all the things.
“We’re going to work on some issues early within the offseason after which get a while off. However in January, we’ll be able to hit the bottom operating.”
