Josh Berry’s 2024 NASCAR rookie season has gotten off to a rocky start, but he believes there’s still plenty of time to turn things around.
Berry faced a lot of changes at the beginning of this year. His first full-time Cup racing schedule, a new organization at Stewart-Haas Racing, and the introduction of Ford Performance’s updated “dark horse” Mustang into competition.
All of this, along with several accidents on the track and on pit road, meant his No. 4 team at SHR got off to a disappointing start. “We’re happy with where we’re at right now,” said Berry, who has yet to earn a top-10 finish this season. “I ran better than the last time. The data shows it for us, so we just keep going and the results will come. ”
There is plenty of evidence that Berry can be successful at this level. He won five races in three full-time seasons in the Xfinity Series and also had a strong showing in Cup while serving as a reserve driver for Hendrick Motorsports during the 2023 season. The 33-year-old Berry finished second in the Richmond event as a substitute for Chase Elliott and 10th in the Dover event as a substitute for Alex Bowman. So far this year, Berry’s best results have come at the short Cup Series tracks of Bristol and Richmond, where he finished 12th and 11th, but is only 28th in the series standings.
He also crashed during the Atlanta and Texas races. No Ford driver has won yet this season, but Berry doesn’t necessarily think that has anything to do with the new and improved bodywork introduced this season. “I feel like if our car was going the way we wanted it, we were going fast. Even in Texas, we saw that on the short routes,” Berry said. “Despite the accident, I was very close to finishing in the top 10.” “There were races where I didn’t go as well as I wanted, and there were races where I was really fast but had a miserable day in the pit lane,” he said.
It’s the result of everything coming together.” “The reality is that it’s difficult to win at this level. I don’t think there’s any need to panic. I think we can continue to grow as a No. 4 team. If we continue to do the right things, we can get even better results. I feel that.”
keep up with the competition
In fact, at Talladega last Sunday, three Ford drivers — Noah Gragson, Michael McDowell and Brad Keselowski — were in position to fight for the win on the final lap, but McDowell’s poor block on Keselowski caused Toyota’s Driver Tyler Reddick allowed the escape. With victory.
Berry said Ford officials continue to collect data on vehicle and engine performance and are always looking for ways to improve. “There are a lot of things we can improve on and we will continue to do so,” he said. “They just won all three divisions (last season) and everyone is waving the white flag and panicking. ‘I think we’ll be fine. It’s just going to take a little while.’
Chase Send a message “ You are a true legend and your time will come”
