Josh Berry proves short-track prowess with strong effort at Iowa

 It's no secret that Josh Berry is a master of short-track racing

The 33 year-old NASCAR Cup Series rookie won his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Martinsville in 2021 and so far in his maiden voyage in the NASCAR Cup Series, the bullrings have proven to be where his talent shines through the most. 

At Iowa Speedway on Sunday, Berry put forth perhaps the best performance of his young Cup Series career, leading 32 laps in the Iowa Corn 350 before differing strategies gave the lead to eventual race winner Ryan Blaney. Berry still finished seventh, however, closing out a solid, consistent drive for his third top-10 finish of the season. 

After two straight DNF's at St. Louis and Sonoma, Sunday's top-10 run was a return to form for Berry, who had put together five consecutive finishes of 16th or better heading to St. Louis (including results of third at Darlington and 10th at Charlotte).

While Iowa was Berry's first top-10 finish on a short track in 2024, it marked his third finish of 12th or better in the four short-track races run so far. While Berry faded towards the end of the race at Richmond, finishing 11th, he ran in the top-10 for much of the night, even breaking the top-five and leading two laps. At Bristol, he was out front for 25 circuits before falling victim to extreme tire wear late in Stage Three, which relegated him to a 12th place finish. 

While it's not surprising to see Berry be competitive at NASCAR's shortest venues, it should be taken as a very positive sign that his skills from the local short tracks and lower levels of NASCAR are translating to the Cup Series, which has a tendency to derail the dreams of many young talents. While Berry is on the older end for NASCAR Cup Series rookies, adapting to the rough-and-tumble nature of the toughest stock-car racing league in the world is impressive no matter a driver's age. 

While only one true short-track -–the 3/4 mile Richmond Raceway on Aug. 11 – remains before the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, Berry has shown immense improvement on all types of tracks, and could be a threat to point his way into the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs if he continues to stack good results. In the meantime, circle Richmond on the calendar if you're a Berry fan – he may very well put on another spectacular performance if given the chance.