 Berry after his runner up finish at Richmond. Image: Twitter, original unknown Short track superstar Josh Berry runs full time in the Xfinity Series for Junior Motorsports and that gave him the unique opportunity to do something not many have done before. Berry got a fill in spot for the biggest race team in NASCAR.
2020 Cup Series Champion Chase Elliott broke his leg in a skiing accident before the Las Vegas race a few weeks back and Josh has been in that seat for all but 1 race ever since. Before Vegas, Berry had only run 2 Cup Series races for Spire Motorsports and finished Top-30 in both events. But since Berry has taken over the #9 NAPA Camaro for Elliott, he has scored a 10th place finish at Phoenix and then backed that up with a vengeance at Richmond. Pit strategy left Berry out late in the race where he led his first 10 laps in the Cup Series only for the caution to fall at just the right time. The #9 team performed perfectly on pit road to get out second and give Berry the opportunity he needed. Berry tried to get even with eventual winner and temporary teammate Kyle Larson but just couldn't do it. Berry still held out for a runner up finish in only his 4th start in the #9 Chevrolet. Berry is the first driver since 2004 and Kasey Kahne to finish second outside of a superspeedway in their first 6 race in the Cup Series. Berry will return to the 9 this weekend at Bristol to run on the dirt. By: Tom Luttermoser
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 By: Tom Luttermoser Image: MHR
Chase Elliott's last Craftsman Truck Series race was the Bristol Dirt race back in April of 2022. He however has never run a Truck Series race at a superspeedway... Until now that is. Chase will fill in for 17 year old Jake Garcia at the upcoming Craftsman Truck season opener at Daytona International Speedway in the McAnally-Hilgemann Racing #35 Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet Silverado. The pairing comes courtesy of Elliott and MHR's joint sponsor NAPA Auto parts. Elliott and later Garcia, will have help from atop the pit box from 3 year MHR crew chief Mark Hillman.  Camping World Truck Series: Hailie Deegan 2x Winner Xfinity Series: Noah Gragson Cup Series: Chase Elliott 5x WinnerBetween the 3 winners, there are 8 MPD awards in their respective series
 By: Tom Luttermoser Image Via JR Motorsports Twitter
With Dale Jr entering several late model races over the last couple weeks showing his support for local short tracks and grassroots racing, obviously we owe him a huge thank you. It brings local short tracks to the front and center with the average NASCAR fans who otherwise may not know these races happen. Arguably the biggest of these events is the famous Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway down in Florida. Just like every year we see NASCAR drivers from ARCA all the way to Cup run the event with names such as Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Erik Jones and Chandler Smith being some of the names we've seen over the years. This year is no different with NASCAR being represented very well in the packed field for the 55th annual event being; (as of now)
 Tom Luttermoser
Hendrick Motorsports has a long and storied history in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. In the at the time Busch Series they ran cars from 1984-1990 and then again from 2000-2007. They scored a championship in 2003 with Brian Vickers and 26 total wins. HMS then merged with JR Motorsports and the team's name changed completely over to Jr Motorsports. In 2009, Hendrick ran a single hendrickcars.com Chevrolet at the season opener at Daytona with Racing legend Tony Stewart behind the wheel, he even scored the win. Hendrick had not run a car in the Series no matter the sponsor, Busch, Nationwide or Xfinity since. On June 2, 2022 HMS announced that they would field an in house Xfinity car for the first time in over a decade for several races for their Cup Series drivers Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and William Byron. Larson ran 2 races finishing P2 at Road America and P5 at Darlington, Byron finished 25th at Watkins Glenn and Alex Bowman finished 2nd at the Indy Road Course. Chase Elliott failed to qualify for his race. But since then, HMS has made the announcement on running a Part-time attempt into the 2023 season for Xfinity. With only full-time Cup Series drivers behind the wheel in each of the races they ran in 2022, I believe that is just 1 reason for the success the team had. The other reason was quite simple... It's the powerhouse team of HMS. that kind of performance is a huge reason to run the Series no matter the length of the schedule. Now, Hendrick has 4 pretty solid drivers in their Cup program all of whom I really don't see leaving any time soon. Bowman is a maybe when it comes to leaving any time soon. Ally Financial is likely the only reason he is safe. So there is really no need for HMS to field an Xfinity team as a development stream. That's what JR Motorsports is for, BUT, Dale Jr himself wants to run Cup and he wants to do it sooner rather than later. This could one day leave Hendrick and eventually Gordon without a steady stream of replacement Chevrolet drivers. Re-starting a program for '23 could give the team a guarantee of those drivers, it could also give them opportunities for possibly a second car to help boost confidence in their Cup drivers as well. With all of that being said, if I was privy to those meetings at HMS with any say so, I would lean to the yes. Yes I would get that program up and running even part time, but only if it were for development drivers if JRM was to lean toward growing themselves and not Hendrick. If JRM were to stick to Xfinity with maybe just 1 part-time or even full-time team in Cup, then I wouldn't feel the need to have that team. Now to the fan side. Over the last 6-8 years, fans seem to have begun hating the idea of full time Cup guys running the lower series (We all know why or who that may be). But with a majority of fans leaning into the Hendrick camp these days, I saw no real complaints from the fandom. But I look at it this way, I can get why they fielded the 17 this season. I believe they know there is the possibility that JRM could no longer have their back for a driver pipeline. They may just know something we don't. |