Josh Berry Earns Praise from Hendrick Peers – Motorsports Tribune

Jeff Gordon believes Hendrick Motorsports has reaped the benefits of a Cup Series caliber backup in Josh Berry over the past month.

Sure, it’s easy to say that now given that Berry finished second to teammate Kyle Larson in the Cup Series race at Richmond on Sunday but it would have been easy to pump the brakes on that narrative in the middle of the race when he got spun in traffic due to contact from Ryan Blaney.

Berry, the current Xfinity Series championship contender and decade long pavement Late Model ace, started deep in the field when the starting lineup was set by the rule book resulting from Saturday morning rain showers.

So, starting 30th and mired and deep traffic, Berry wasn’t able to show what his car could do until interim crew chief Tom Gray made a strategic decision that ultimately got his driver clean air before the final two restarts.

Specifically, Gray kept Berry out on older tires while most of the other contenders split the final long green flag run in half with tires, which worked out when a caution waved with 27 laps to go. That allowed Berry to restart on the front row alongside Larson, where he would end the day after a pair of restarts.

“These guys, you know, they thought outside the box, and that’s what it takes in these races,” Berry said. “I think you never know what could happen. If you do the same that everybody around you does, then you’re going to finish with them, and they made a bold call, a couple bold calls — one that kept us on the lead lap early in the race and that one at the end to get us some track position.”

Gordon, who is currently serving as executive vice chairman at Hendrick, has taken an interest and liking to the 32-year-old over the past month. Gordon sat in on the No. 9 team’s radio during his debut at Las Vegas. He was the first to congratulate him on their top-10 at Phoenix, and he gave Berry a hug after the race on Sunday.

“It seems like the longer the race, the better he does,” Gordon said. “We’re really happy with the job that he has done. Certainly, everybody has known his talent watching him in other forms of racing, late models, and the Xfinity Series. You have to put him in other cars with other teams and other people to really see how far he could take it. I think he’s got a future in the Cup Series.”

That meant a lot to Berry, who never even as of two years ago, thought he would be in this position, chasing wins in the iconic No. 9…