LAS VEGAS – Josh Berry passed Daniel Suarez with 16 laps to go in the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube to win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and capture his first-ever NASCAR Cup Series victory.

To say that the race was unique is an understatement. Teams struggled on and off pit road, but at the end it was a crash that occurred during green flag pit stops that shook the field up. Suarez held the lead late in the race, but it was Berry in the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford who fought hard and soared by to earn the Wood Brothers Racing’s 101^st win.

“Oh, man, I don’t even know what to think,” Berry said. “Just awesome. I love this track. Las Vegas has been so good to me. So many great moments here. Just struggled in the Next Gen car here. But Miles and this whole 21 team, everybody at Wood Brothers Racing, they gave me a great car today. Just battled and battled and battled. Man, it was our day. I just can’t believe it.

“Such a battle with Daniel there at the end, beating and banging on a mile-and-a-half, crazy. Whoever was going to get out front was probably going to win. We were able to get in front.”

Berry’s win comes in his 53^rd start and only his fifth with Wood Brothers Racing. The 34-year-old who raced on the Late Model level for a number of years has now become the 20^th driver to take the Wood Brothers Racing to Victory Lane.

“It’s just been incredible,” Berry said. “They’ve been so good to me. It’s just been a great relationship. Obviously thank everybody the Wood Brothers Racing, but Team Penske as well. They’ve welcomed me with open arms and tried to help me and accelerate this learning process as much as I can.

“I can’t say enough for Miles Stanley. He is so good at what he’s doing. We have a great thing going on together. He really believes in me. Just kind of thank everyone at Motorcraft, Quick Lane, DEX Imaging, Ford. I know they’re going to be excited about that one. I mean, we’re just going to enjoy this moment.”

Suarez finished second in the Team Trackhouse No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet after leading 12 laps and running up front for the second half of the race. The finish comes as a relief after not finishing inside the top-20 over the past three races.

“We did everything right, you know,” Suarez said. “The team did an amazing job on the strategy, pit stops. We did everything right. Our car was fast. We just struggle a little bit in the short run. I mention to my crew chief just a little bit ago, before the last run, I told him, Hey, we want to be up front, I need a little bit better short run. I am having too much contact in (Turns) one and two. Unfortunately I feel like that’s why we lost the race, just a little bit too much contact. I mean, I almost wrecked in one and two.”

Ryan Preece finished third in the RFK Racing No. 60 Consumer Cellular Ford. Preece entered the season as a new third driver for the organization, and so far, he has been running fairly well. The finish on Sunday marked his first top-five finish of the season.

“Going into the season the motto is live by the fire, die by the fire and take chances, be aggressive, be on the offense and just put us in position,” Preece said. “Man, I’m happy for Josh. I really liked him when we were teammates and I’m just super proud of everybody on this Consumer Cellular Ford Mustang Dark Horse. I just can’t thank Jack Roush, Brad Keselowski, Kroger, Mohawk Northeast, Fifth Third Bank and the list goes on and one – Build Submarines, Castrol, for the opportunity. I’ve been told I’m mid very often by people and I’m glad I feel Josh said he felt like himself again and I felt the same today.”

William Byron and Ross Chastain rounded out the top-five. Austin Cindric finished sixth, followed by Alex Bowman, AJ Allmendinger and Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott.

Cindric won Stage 1, and Larson won Stage 2.

There were 32 lead changes among 12 drivers. Larson led a race high of  61 laps.

The yellow flag flew on nine occasions for 53 laps. The largest crash of the day occurred on Lap 196, when four-wide racing sent Ryan Blaney spinning in the middle of the field. Other drivers involved included Erik Jones, Noah Gragson, Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Allmendinger.

Byron now leads Christopher Bell who struggled to finish 12^th, by 29 points in the points standings.

The NASCAR Cup Series head back to the East Coast to visit Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, March 23 for the Straight Talk Wireless 400 that will broadcast live on FS1 at 3 p.m. ET.

Photo Credit: Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images