NASCAR Pennzoil 400 Recap: Josh Berry Gets Lucky in Vegas
Everyone was happy to see this self-made racer’s racer in victory lane with a legendary team.
Please excuse the snappy headline – anyone who has followed Josh Berry‘s career knows that he’d worked hard for everything he’s got. However, a chance meeting with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in iRacing years ago put him on a path to win at the highest level of stock car racing in the world. As the saying goes, luck is when preparation meets opportunity – and Berry has made the most of every opportunity he’s had.
We’re not alone in our joy over Berry’s win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this past weekend. It seems like nearly the entire garage made their way to Victory Lane to congratulate Berry and the Wood Brothers team. It was a very popular win with both fans and industry professionals alike, and a great feel-good moment for the sport. Now, let’s recap how this all occurred.
Stage 1
Michael McDowell captured the pole, but Joey Logano pulled out to an early lead. Ryan Blaney, who started in the back after a practice crash, fought his way into the top 20 before an issue with his left front tire on pit road put him two laps down. The bad luck wasn’t restricted just to Blaney, though. Chase Briscoe lost his left rear tire during this round of green flag pit stops.
Las Vegas Motor Speedway has a notoriously challenging entrance onto pit road after turn four. Veteran drivers Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, who started fourth, both faced penalties for entering too fast. Austin Cindric would win the stage, followed by Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott, Bubba Wallace, and Kyle Larson.
Stage 2
Shane van Gisbergen spun on the back stretch on lap 108, bringing out a caution. The ensuing pit stops created an unusual situation when Christopher Bell‘s team immediately realized that he had a loose wheel. Thanks to some quick thinking, Bell pulled into teammate Chase Briscoe’s pit stall, where Briscoe’s crew tightened the offending wheel and sent him on his way.
As far as I know, that’s never been done in NASCAR before, and while he still lost some time, he didn’t lose nearly as much time as if he’d limped it around the track on the apron to return to the pits – and didn’t run the risk of losing his wheel, with all of the attendant fines and suspensions. It’s somewhat ironic that Briscoe’s crew were the ones to tighten his wheel. How’s that for a redemption arc?
Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be the end of loose wheel problems. Kyle Busch lost a wheel and wrecked on the restart while running 12th, limping his stricken Chevrolet back to the garage to fix a damaged brake line. On lap 128, van Gisbergen would face another tire issue, but this time he was able to make it back to the pits without drawing a caution.
At this point in the race, the Hendrick Chevrolets of Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman and the 23XI Toyotas of Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick had total control of the race, dominating up front. That would remain the case for the rest of the stage, even after another caution on lap 147 caused by Todd Gilliland losing control in Turn 4 and pinballing into Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., who somehow kept it together.
Larson would go on to win Stage 2, followed by William Byron, Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace, and Carson Hocevar.
Stage 3
Stage 3 would start with Kyle Busch drawing yet another pit road penalty along with Ty Gibbs. Both were too fast entering. Carson Hocevar spun Ty Gibbs on pit road, as he was leaving while Gibbs drove into the stall in front of him. The backwards pit stop would be yet another pit road anomaly for JGR this afternoon.
Pole winner Michael McDowell would opt to stay out and start from the front, while Daniel Suarez would gain track position by taking two tires instead of four. McDowell’s gamble didn’t pay off, but Suarez’s seemed to work out as he held his own against the rest of the field with four fresh tires.
Ryan Blaney, who had fought valiantly from being two laps down and was consistently one of the fastest Fords all day, would get involved in a wreck with Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Erik Jones on the restart. Things seemed to somewhat settle down after that until Shane van Gisbergen experienced yet another tire issue with 63 to go.
With 35 to go, the final green flag pit cycle of the afternoon began with Denny Hamlin pitting from third. Suarez and Reddick would soon follow, but an issue with Reddick’s tire gun would end his chances for the day, being mired deep in the field after a lengthy stop. With 26 to go, Kyle Busch day would continue to get worse at his home track when he hit the wall, but race control would keep it green until another Las Vegas native, Noah Gragson, also hit the wall.
Daniel Suarez and Josh Berry would leave pit road first, and engage in battle before Berry checked out to a healthy lead. After crossing the finish line, Berry would pay tribute to one of the sport’s all-time great, Alan Kulwicki, by eschewing a burnout in favor of a Kulwicki trademark Polish Victory Lap, driving backwards down the front stretch to wave at the fans. This would be the 101st win for the Wood Brothers, with Berry being the 20th driver to bring the legendary team to victory lane.
Photo: Wood Brothers Racing