LEBANON, Tenn: The No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team, led by the quietly improving Josh Berry, is steadily rising.
Berry enters Sunday’s Ally 400 at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway looking for his third straight top-10 finish this year at his hometown track.
A native of Henderson, Tenn., Berry could even put an exclamation point on his recent performance surge with his first career Cup victory in the 19th race of the season.
Yet, Berry is fully cognizant that this race won’t be a walk in the park. The 1.333-mile superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn., has been a stronghold for Chevrolet, which has clinched victory in the first three Cup Series races held there.
On Sunday afternoon, Berry is not just another contender, but strategically trying to position himself to break that manufacturer tradition and lead Stewart-Haas Racing to its first win of 2024.
“It’s exciting to be back here in Nashville,” Berry said Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway. “Obviously, growing up here I came here as a kid to watch races, so I’m excited to be back here in the Cup Series. I think the way we’ve been running it’s encouraging that we can come and have another good race.”
Berry, the avid Late Model standout kicked off his Nashville weekend with a trip to the historic Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville, where he delivered a strong top-five effort.
“Thursday night was a lot of fun,” added Berry. “I wish I would have run a little bit better. We moved forward throughout the race and got to fifth, but just needed to be a little bit faster and have a little bit better track position to compete for the win.
“It was my first time there and my first time working with that group and I had a lot of fun. It was fun to go back there and race and to see a lot of people. Hopefully, we can go back and do that again.”
Inching forward in the summer stretch, Berry knows it’s essential to keep his name in the headlines. Should the Nashville victory fall short, he is poised to make every conservative effort to put himself in the Cup Series Playoffs when they begin in September at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway.
“We’ve had good pace the last couple of weeks, but really the last couple of months have been a big step in the right direction,” explained Berry. “Even earlier in the year we saw potential in several races, but we weren’t able to put the whole piece together. I feel confident in our group. I think our cars are handling well.”
His four top-10s this season came in the last six races, including a season-high third at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway in May and last weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Berry gave a nod to his Stewart-Haas Racing team, led by crew chief Rodney Childers, for bringing faster race cars to the track.
“I think they’re faster,” sounded Berry. “I’m getting more comfortable and getting more used to Cup racing in general. I feel like as we go through this summer stretch, this should be another good opportunity for us to run well, and there are several other tracks coming up too that I feel good about.”
With the confidence headed in the right direction, the five-time Xfinity Series winner believes his No. 4 team can win between Nashville and the regular-season finale at Darlington Raceway in early September.
“I think so, yeah,” remarked Berry when asked if he could win. “We’ve led laps at Iowa. We were in contention on a late restart obviously at New Hampshire. I’m not saying that I feel like we’re expected to or should win, but I think we can.
“I think our cars are getting competitive enough. It might take the right sequence of events, I guess, but we keep finding ourselves in this position, sooner or later something is gonna happen.”
Coincidence or not, Berry’s strong finishes are coming at the right time. With the recent announcement of the dissolvement of Stewart-Haas Racing at the end of the 2024 Cup Series season, Berry is auditioning for a ride.
While strong finishes will certainly add clout to Berry’s resume, his future remains clouded, although Berry seems confident he will return to the Cup Series in 2025.
“I feel good about having a spot in the Cup Series next year,” said Berry. “I feel like our results have been really strong the last couple of months. I don’t really know other than winning a race at this point is the only thing left that I can do. We’ve finished in the top five. We’ve ran up front. We’ve led laps. We’ve showed the potential that we can do, so I think that’s been a big confidence boost for me.
“I really think that whole situation, at least for myself and our team, you find a lot about yourself when your back is against the wall, and everybody is performing at a really high level, the highest probably we ever have, and we’re fighting together, and I feel like opportunities will come.”
Follow Chris Knight on X (Twitter) @Knighter01 or email at [email protected].
