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Kevin Harvick’s NASCAR Replacement Josh Berry Not Having Ideal Start to Stewart-Haas Journey

Gowtham Ramalingam
Published

Josh Berry Confident of Playing the Spoiler Role at Atlanta

The iconic #4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang’s new driver Josh Berry is now 4 races deep into his maiden season in the Cup Series. He was pegged to be a worthy replacement for Kevin Harvick before the season began, but so far, he hasn’t lived up to that expectation. He spoke to the media ahead of the Bristol race and voiced his disappointment at the same.

The 33-year-old acknowledged that he always expected the Cup Series to be a tough venue and said, “It’s been a little bit disappointing. Even when I started this going back last summer, people asked me all the time what my expectations were, and I always said I expected it to be hard and it is hard. Cup racing is hard.”

Berry continued, “I think each race we’ve had different things happen that maybe hurt our finish, or not. But I feel like when we do, when we get everything put together and the car is handling like I want and we execute, we have speed.”

So far this season, his best finish yet has been the 20th place he took in Las Vegas. It has been a mix of ill luck and self-made mistakes that have put him down at 31st place in the driver standings going to Bristol.

The mistakes that Josh Berry made and his impeccable qualifying run at Bristol

Part of Josh Berry’s mistakes behind the wheel were the pit road penalties at Atlanta and the qualifying spin in Phoenix. Citing the latter, he said, “I mean, having a mistake like that puts you really far behind and makes your day look worse than it really is. So, for me, it’s just hopefully getting some of these mistakes out of the way early on and starting qualifying a little bit better. I think we’ll be fine.”

The Phoenix error rendered him to start at the back of the grid for a race in which passing made all the difference. Despite these mistakes and the bumpy start to the season, the Harvick replacement’s optimism and belief in the team are energizing.

Perhaps that’s what helped him secure 2nd position (124.792 mph) in Saturday’s qualifying run in Bristol. He will form the grid’s front row on Sunday alongside defending champion Ryan Blaney. The highest position that Berry had started previously was in 14th.

Post Edited By:Shaharyar

About the author

Gowtham Ramalingam

Gowtham Ramalingam

Gowtham is a NASCAR journalist at The SportsRush. Though his affinity for racing stems from Formula 1, he found himself drawn to NASCAR's unparalleled excitement over the years. As a result he has shared his insights and observations by authoring over 350 articles on the sport. An avid fiction writer, you can find him lost in imaginary worlds when he is not immersed in racing. He hopes to continue savoring the thrill of every lap and race together with his readers for as long as he can.

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