BATESVILLE, Ark. — The last thing Tom Berry Jr. loaded in his trailer Saturday night was the broom.
Berry completed his three-night sweep of Batesville Motor Speedway’s Race for Hope 71, leading all 71 laps of the $7,500 to win Friesen Performance IMCA Modified main event.
Coupled with $2,500 feature wins Thursday and Friday and a $2,500 bonus for winning all three nights, his weekend take added up to $15,000.
“It was an awesome payday,” acknowledged Berry, already Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational qualifying eligible. “I had it in my mind going down there that I might be able to win three in a row if everything worked out the way we needed it to.”
“Also, I was alone this weekend. I had no crew, it was just me and my dog Sidekick,” he added. “I had a few people jump in and help me with the fuel stop but other than that it was a one man band all weekend, so to run that good being alone was pretty cool.”
Berry, third in the 2020 big show and most recently a competitor at Batesville in 2021, started outside the front row after winning his heat. Curtis Cook, Jeff Taylor, Tim Ward and then Taylor again took turns running in second before the break for fuel on lap 38.
“You could race all over the track at the start. I was really making sure I wasn’t slipping my tires. I knew it was a long race and Batesville can be a touch abrasive on tires,” he said. “I’ve had some tire issues the last month and was trying to be as smart as I could be leading.”
“On the fuel stop I had somebody get a picture of that tire and when I saw it I knew we were golden. I knew as long as it didn’t blow apart, we were going to be there at the end of the race.”
Taylor chased the leader into lapped traffic by lap 48 as Cody Thompson made his way to third. Taylor cut into Berry’s advantage but never caught up, crossing the stripe half a second off the pace after starting ninth.
Thompson started 14th and ended in third. Ward and Tanner Black completed the top five while defending race winner Wendell Wallace scored hard charger honors, starting 21st and finishing sixth.
“It’s a great feeling,” said Berry, joined in victory lane photos by promoters Mooney and Connie Starr. “It was a tough race. The lapped cars kept racing tough. It made it very difficult and harder on the driver’s part not to get tangled with one but luckily I was fortunate enough to start on the front.”
A portion of the proceeds from the eighth annual Race For Hope 71, broadcast by SPEED SPORT.TV affiliate IMCA.TV, was donated to the Paragould Childrens’ Home.
Zane DeVilbiss won Saturday’s 29th annual Schoenfeld Headers Mid-America IMCA Sunoco Stock Car Championship and $10,000 at Batesville.