Is Josh Berry Putting Someone Else’s Ride in Jeopardy?

1. How long will it be until Josh Berry has his own Cup ride?

You don’t want to make too much out of one race, but with Josh Berry getting a boost toward the front on Sunday (April 2) at Richmond Raceway thanks to pit strategy and finishing second, the question has to be raised – is Berry about to make someone in danger of losing a ride sooner than expected?

Berry has not been a world-beater in the No. 9, one of the top rides in the garage. But he has not been atrocious either, with Sunday being his second top-10 finish in three races, and you really can’t judge much off an 18th-place in Atlanta Motor Speedway in a superspeedway race.

He has proved that he can adapt over time and gain comfort inside a race car. The longer he does that until Chase Elliott returns, teams, especially ones with either unhappy sponsors or looking to attract new ones, are bound to take notice.

Would these be opportunities Berry would pursue even if it meant leaving the JR Motorsports cocoon? It’d depend. But one thing is for sure – Berry has used his role as a super-sub nicely.

2. Richmond Raceway has successfully moved toward day racing. Should other tracks take note?

If there’s one thing that NASCAR loves to do, it’s to see a successful trend and beat it into the ground.

Think about it. The 1.5-mile quad oval? It went from just one venue to Atlanta Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway, with other intermediate tracks to come. The same went for night races. The sport went from just a select few races under the night to the next bright and shiny thing (no star-lit pun intended) for tracks to chase in hopes that it’d bring a bigger crowd and better racing.

Well, Sunday chucked a jar of Ragu Sauce over that theory. We’ve seen it ever since Richmond teetered at least one of its races from nighttime to daylight – better racing and more side-by-side action. Lackluster racing at short tracks is not what anyone wants – check gaping holes of seats off and on at Bristol Motor Speedway for more proof of that.

The fact is that moving an event to the daytime is one of the best things that Richmond’s management has done. Other than a small slice of races such as the Coca-Cola 600, the Bristol night race, and Atlanta’s July race due to its oppressive heat, NASCAR owes it to the excitement of its fan to run the majority of its races under the heat of the daytime.

3. When should Chase Elliott return?

When Elliott…