Josh Berry and the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford team need to tame the “Track Too Tough to Tame” of Darlington Raceway on Saturday night. The NASCAR Cup Series 10-race Playoffs are officially underway with the 6 p.m. ET green flag.
Berry was the highest qualifying Ford; he made the Playoffs by virtue of winning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March. He has nowhere to go but up after his last two Darlington races.
Good Start Good for Playoff Points
In his four previous starts at Darlington, Berry has qualified no higher than 15th.
“I’m super proud of that effort,” Berry said after qualifying. “Our big focus was trying to qualify better here, and the guys did a great job. I feel like our car is really strong.
“The biggest thing I feel like I’ve fought here is starting position. So, starting up front I think we can just manage the race easier and obviously score some stage points. That’s going to be important, so just having a mistake-free day by taking care of the car and having good pit stops will help keep us in the hunt.”
Darlington Been a Demon for Berry
In those previous starts at the uniquely shaped oval of Darlington, Berry has one top five result of third achieved in the Spring race last year. The last two starts have yielded disastrous results for the native of Hendersonville, TN.
The Fall race last year, which also kicked off the Playoffs, Berry registered a DNF and 31st place finish after a Lap 343 crash. Earlier this year, he finished 36th after crashing out on Lap 294.
Coming into this race, with the lone career NCS win at Vegas, he feels Darlington is good a place as any to get that second victory. It just takes a good plan, and some patience.
“I think you’ve got to have a good feel for your race car and what the car needs to do, and you’ve got to have a plan,” Berry said.” You have to decide where you want to run the car. What you need from the car and you’ve got to be patient.
“You have to take care of it and keep it out of the wall. You have to have a good day on pit road. There are obviously a lot of pit stops, so all of those things really add up.
“It’s a pretty technical place. You’re running right up against the wall, so you’ve got to be accurate with what you’re doing.”
Underdog Status is Fine
The first three races in the Round of 16 determine who moves on to the Round of 12, and who is no longer eligible to win the Championship. Like any sport, predictions are made as to who will be out and who the favorites are to take it all.
Berry has been offered up as one driver to be done after this first round, which races at Darlington, St. Louis and Bristol. One such prediction came from Denny Hamlin, who is on the pole for Saturday night’s race and is the only repeat winner in the last 11 Darlington events.
On his Actions Detrimental, Hamlin picked Berry as one of the first four not to advance.
That’s fine with Berry, he seems to relish in being an underdog and flying under the radar.
“Yeah, it doesn’t bother me any,” he said during Playoff Media Day this past Wednesday. “I feel like these tracks line up really well for us. I feel like if we go do some of the things we’ve done at the spring races and just execute a little bit better and finish where we should, then we’re going to keep ourselves in contention.
“The pressure is on the guys that everybody is calling the favorites, the guys that have talked all about wanting the old playoffs. The pressure is on those guys to deliver now, not us.”
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Josh Berry Needs to Tame Darlington on Saturday Night appeared first on Heavy Sports.