Here is the crash for Josh Berry in #NASCAR Cup Series qualifying: pic.twitter.com/B00nYsxTfu
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) March 9, 2024
While Josh Berry competed admirably on short, flat tracks last season in relief of the injured Chase Elliott, his race weekend at Phoenix Raceway isn’t off to a promising start. In Saturday’s qualifying session, Berry lost control of his No. 4 Sunny D Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang in turns 3 and 4, and slammed the outside wall with the nose of his race car.
Berry was officially credited with a lap time of 38.424 sec. (93.691 mph) far slower than the remainder of the qualifiers in the session. Berry will start at the rear of the field for Sunday’s Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway, and the team will look over the damage to determine if they need to move to a backup car.
The NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year contender comes into the weekend 30th in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings, and while the season hasn’t been too impressive, Berry hadn’t made many super glaring mistakes.
Saturday’s crash is the first real rookie moment for Berry in 2024. He and the No. 4 team will look to rebound from the misfortune in Sunday’s race.
