CONCORD, N.C. — Whether it is this weekend at Bowman Gray Stadium or in two weeks at Daytona Int’l Speedway, Josh Berry is about to embark on his third NASCAR Cup Series season and his second with the Wood Brothers Racing team.
While the season is scheduled to open with Sunday’s Clash at Bowman Gray, a winter storm advisory has the event very much in doubt.
Whenever the season begins, Berry hopes to improve upon his performance in his second season wheeling the No. 21 Ford Mustang.
“There were a lot of positives in our performance last year. There were plenty of races where the finish didn’t indicate the type of day we had, so that’s been our focus is looking through some of that stuff and trying to figure out what we could do better and put ourselves in better positions to get the finishes we deserve,” Berry explaind during a media conference call on Wednesday. “You go back to the points format, that’s gonna be more important, but, overall, I feel good. This is really the first year since I’ve been in Cup or Xfinity that I’ve really had the same group two years in a row.
“That made the offseason feel different since I’ve already been working with these guys and knowing them, and not establishing that communication, so I think that should be a positive as well and we’re ready to get to the Clash.”
Berry believes familiarity with his Miles Stanley led team will be important this season.
“I think it helps put us in a better spot. Obviously, the last couple of years in the Cup Series have been with two different organizations, and now going back to this and having the same group, the same crew chief, the same engineers, really the same everybody, so it just kind of builds more fluidity,” Berry explained. “It doesn’t feel like you’re starting over and learning each other as much. It’s made the offseason maybe go a little bit longer, maybe a little bit more refreshing because you’re not doing as much random things that you have to check off in the offseason.
“I’m excited for it. I feel like me and Miles (Stanley) have had a really good relationship and now Miles is going into his second year as a crew chief as well, so I know he’s only gonna keep getting better, so I feel like we’re poised to have a really strong year.”
Heading toward the Feb. 15 Daytona 500, Berry knows his team has had a lot of success through the years at Daytona Int’l Speedway.
“Obviously, they’ve had a great history there and it’s a race that we all as drivers put pressure on ourselves to go out and perform well and hopefully compete for the win,” Berry said. “It’s the biggest race of the year and obviously being a part of the Wood Brothers and Team Penske, their cars have always been really strong at those races and being able to capitalize on that is something that’s obviously really important to us, so hopefully we can go do that and avoid all the trouble to be there at the end and give ourselves a shot at it.”
A NASCAR Weekly Racing Series national champion, Berry feels strongly about NASCAR’s commitment to short-track events such as the Clash.
“I think they’re off to a great start with the investment they made into Bowman Gray and SMI with North Wilkesboro as well,” Berry said. “That’s a great starting point, and I think there is definitely room with this exhibition Clash that we can go around to some different places like the ones you mentioned and make an investment in there and improve their facilities and bring a really big event there, so I think that’s the biggest thing to continue to do is support these tracks.
“I think it would be really cool to kind of see this race evolve into traveling to a few different short tracks every couple of years. That would make for some good stories.”
