Josh Berry of Wood Brothers Racing pulled ahead of Daniel Suarez with 14 laps to go and earned his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory at the Pennzoil 400 on Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Berry’s win is the 101st in the NASCAR Cup Series for Wood Brothers Racing, their second win in 17 races after Harrison Burton ended a seven-year drought at Daytona last August. Berry entered the race coming off a career-best fourth-place finish at Phoenix last week, and his first career win comes in just his fifth race with the Wood Brothers. Berry had 40-to-1 odds to win entering Sunday’s race.
Considering Berry made his name as a Tennessee short track ace, it was a bit ironic that he earned his first career victory on an intermediate track. Regardless, it was a symbolic victory for all of the drivers cutting their teeth on regional tracks across America.
“Five years ago, I felt like I was going to be a career short-track racer,” Berry said. “I wanted to be Bubba Pollard. I wanted to be with the greats on the short tracks. JR Motorsports gave me an opportunity to go drive an Xfinity car, we won a race and then we won another race. Then I get an opportunity in the cup car, and that goes well. And here I am now. Those grassroots are important to NASCAR.”
Even if Berry rose to prominence on the short tracks, he has always felt good about his chances in Las Vegas.
“I think, for one, this has been a really good track for me,” Berry said. “I have two Xfinity wins, two really big moments in my life. This place has been really special, and it’s been a good racetrack for me.
“I can’t say, obviously, with my experience on the short tracks, that you think that that’s where you’re going to win. But if I’ve learned anything in this sport, you never know what day can be your day. You just have to put your head down and be there to capitalize.”
Suarez, Ryan Preece, William Byron and Ross Chastain rounded out the top five. Berry’s victory also ended Christopher Bell’s winning streak at three races. Bell finished the race in 12th.
A six-car wreck took Ryan Blaney out of the race on Lap 194, ending a disappointing weekend for the No. 12 team. The wreck also took Kyle Larson out of first place after a dominant effort to that point, pushing him to 18th place on the restart. Larson was unable to make his way back to the top of the field, finishing ninth on a day where he led 61 laps with the clearly best car.
Larson pushed ahead of Byron with three laps remaining in the second stage. The No. 5 car took control early in the stage, passing Bubba Wallace on the 100th lap of the race with a strong push off Turn 4. Larson asserted himself for the remainder of the stage, regaining the lead twice after cautions and ensuing pit strategies briefly knocked him out of the top position.
Wallace led the field to start the second stage, beating Austin Cindric and Chase Elliott off pit road. Cindric narrowly held off Alex Bowman to win the first stage, preventing Bowman from making a move in the 15 laps before the stage caution. Joey Logano led 16 of the first 17 laps until a caution on Lap 34 halted what was poised to be a dominant stage victory.
The caution in question occurred when Chase Briscoe lost his left rear wheel in the middle of a green flag pit cycle, forcing several drivers to go a lap down and use a wave-around. Kyle Busch also lost his wheel later in the race on Lap 113, forcing his car into the wall.
Both Briscoe and Busch were handed mandatory two-lap penalties for their respective incidents and the offending pit crew members are subject to a two-race suspension. Busch finished the race 35 laps down as a result of his incident, while Briscoe eventually made it back to the lead lap from as many as four laps down to finish in 17th.
Associated Press
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