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Josh Berry Duels Justin Allgaier To Earn JR Motorsports’ First Charlotte Win

by Hunter Thomas May 28, 2022 1 comment

CONCORD, N.C. – Josh Berry earned JR Motorsports’ first NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday after dueling with his teammate, Justin Allgaier in the Alsco Uniforms 300.

It’s hard to believe that JR Motorsports hadn’t won at Charlotte Motor Speedway before, but on Saturday, Josh Berry delivered. Throughout the closing 40 laps, Berry and Allgaier battled for the lead and the win. As the two drivers swapped the lead back and forth, Allgaier got up into the wall and eventually, a cut tire took him out of contention. Berry however, continued and won his second victory of the season and the fourth of his career.

“Man, it’s so amazing,” Berry said. “This car was so good. Mike (Bumgarner, crew chief) and this whole group has worked so hard, we’ve been getting better every week. I think that the sky is the limit as we continue to learn about each other and keep getting better.”

Berry continued and said, “That was a battle with Justin. It always is with us. I don’t know, we always just seem to run good at the same places and always have to race each other. He slipped up in (Turn) 1, and I got loose, too. I don’t know, I was following off him, and he got loose, and I got loose, too. It all worked out.”

Allgaier finished seventh due to the flat tire. While the result was a little disappointing, Allgaier gave it his all. The effort marked Allgaier’s eighth top-10 of the season.

“We tried to put on a show for the fans,” Allgaier said. “I don’t know if you can drive any harder. At one point, we were literally barreling off into Turn 1 harder than you do in qualifying just to try t o stay clear of each other. I’m just proud of our team.”

Ty Gibbs finished runner-up on Saturday. The JR Motorsports cars were in control for the majority of the day, and in the end, Gibbs’ car was too tight to challenge for the victory.

“We were just a little slower than those guys and I was too tight center,” Gibbs said. “Our guys worked really hard overnight to get this thing ready so I’m very thankful to my guys. Just need to be able to rotate the center of the corner, that’s where we were lacking the most and that’s where we got beat. But we held onto a second-place finish. We’ll take that – solid day.”

JR Motorsports’ Sam Mayer and Noah Gragson finished third and fourth respectively. Ryan Preece rounded out the top-five. Completing the top-10 was Daniel Hemric, Justin Allgaier, Sheldon Creed, Trevor Bayne and Myatt Snider, who rebounded from a spin.

Berry won Stage 1 and 3, and he led a race high of 89 laps as well. Allgaier won Stage 2.

There were eight cautions for 44 laps.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series will visit Portland International Raceway on Saturday, June 4 for the Pacific Office Automation 147. Live coverage will broadcast on FS1 and MRN at 4:30 p.m. ET.