Josh Berry Captures First Career Win at Martinsville

It took two extra days to complete it but for the first time in his career Josh Berry wins the CookOut 250 at Martinsville Speedway. It took Berry 13 starts to get his first win.

Been a long time since I cried so hard. 😭😂😀
It’s great to see my friend @joshberry live his dream.
Great job @taylorcmoyer and the boys for putting him in position.@MartinsvilleSwy is a special place.🏁🕰@JRMotorsports is on a roll. 💪🏼

— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) April 11, 2021

Starting on Friday and ending on Sunday, the JR Motorsports team driver was able to hold off a hard charging Noah Gragson and Ty Gibbs. Both gave Berry a run for his money at the end but it was Berry grabbing his first ever Xfinity Series win.

“I wanted to win so bad for these guys. They’ve been through so much with this No. 8 team. So many different drivers and so many different things have happened to them,” Berry said after the race. “I knew this would be a good opportunity to win and Taylor (Moyer, crew chief) called a great race.”

Following a 36 hour rain delay, the CookOut 250 went back to green with only a few laps left in the second stage. Gragson won the first stage clear back on Friday night. In the second stage there were many different strategies playing out following a caution with only 5 laps left in the stage.

Daniel Hemric won the stage and collected his third stage victory of the season. Hemric led the leaders onto pit road but wouldn’t be the leader off.

Entering the final stage Berry was able to grab the lead following a caution and off to the races he went. Berry would lead the majority of the laps in the final stage. A caution bunched the field and he would lose the lead to Gibbs. Berry quickly got back by Gibbs and would take the lead back.

As laps wound down and Berry gapped then second place driver Gragson before entering lapped traffic. A few times in traffic were a bit scary for Berry leading but he found ways around. Gragson and Hemric were coming late. They both ran out of time to get to Berry as he crossed for his first career NASCAR national touring win. Gragson won the Dash 4 Cash $100,000 promotion by placing second and finishing ahead of Harrison Burton, Justin Allgaier and AJ Allmendinger.

Berry won at Martinsville in a Late Model Stock event a few years back driving for JR Motorsports. He was able to secure his first Xfinity Series win for the team that gave him his first racing opportunity.

Unofficial Results