Josh Berry Bests a Hard-Charging Mason Diaz For Throwback 276 Late Model Win at Hickory

You know, I’m starting to think this Josh Berry guy is kind of good at the driving in circles thing. In Saturday night’s CARS Late Model Tour Throwback 276 at Hickory Speedway, Berry snagged the win as he held off occasional NASCAR Xfinity Series starter Mason Diaz for the victory.

Diaz came on strong at the end of the race, and a caution for a crash involving Bubba Pollard on lap 129 gave Diaz a chance to make a move. But Berry was simply too strong in his No. 8 JR Motorsports late model.

Following his victory, Berry took a polish victory lap — a move made famous by the late Alan Kulwicki — on his path to victory lane.

.@joshberry takes the checkers tonight in the @CARSTour Throwback race at Hickory pic.twitter.com/i2DHfQHZ3U

— David Schildhouse (@schildhoused) August 1, 2021

This marks Berry’s 21st-career win in the CARS Late Model Tour and he has won both of his starts that he’s made in the series this year.

In true throwback race fashion, its @WinstonKelley interviewing @joshberry at Hickory Motor Speedway in Victory Lane pic.twitter.com/h7WIQoLAzZ

— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverAW) August 1, 2021

Berry has been having a dream year, as he has made 16 starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, scoring his first-career win in the process at Martinsville Speedway. Berry, who failed to get his shot while whooping up on the late model fields over the last few years, has made the most of his opportunities this season.

And on Saturday night, he came back down to the late model ranks and showed that he still knows how to find victory lane there as well.

Following Berry and Diaz across the line was Sam Yarbrough in third. Mini Tyrell, who actually led a good portion of the early part of the race, faded to finish fourth, while Jared Fryar was fifth in the 29-car feature.

Bobby McCarty, Kaden Honeycutt, Sam Butler, Conner Jones and Deac McCaskill rounded out the top-10 finishers in the 2021 Throwback 276 Late Model event.