For Josh Berry, competitive performance is antidote to frustration
May 17 - After his victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the fifth NASCAR Cup Series race of the season, Josh Berry's luck went from bad to worse.
On March 30 at Martinsville Speedway, Berry led 40 laps before electrical problems in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford -- necessitating a battery change -- dropped him to 32nd at the finish.
A week later, a crash on Lap 195 ended a promising run at Darlington Raceway. After a 12th-place finish at Bristol, Berry drew a speeding penalty at Talladega that dropped him to a 26th-place result.
He led 41 laps with an extremely fast car on May 4 at Texas Motor Speedway, before the bumps in the final corner upset his car and shot the No. 21 Mustang into the outside wall.
After he scraped the wall during qualifying last Sunday at Kansas Speedway, Berry's fortunes began to improve. He drove from his 38th starting position to finish sixth, despite a pit road speeding penalty that sent him to the back of the field for a second time.
Rather than becoming frustrated by his series of misfortunes, Berry has been buoyed by the speed in his cars.
"The frustration is considerably less compared to last year," Berry said of his lame-duck season at Stewart-Haas Racing. "Being competitive is the biggest thing. That's the hardest thing to figure out is how to be fast and lead these races and get yourself in contention, and we've done that a lot.
"It's frustrating to make mistakes and those mistakes fall on me, but all we can do is just continue to put me in that position and keep working on those things and getting better and the finishes will come. We're fortunate to have that win in the bank and, like I said, I'm not very frustrated with how it's been going.
"Last week (at Kansas), I think we had a chance at that one if I didn't speed on pit road, so that one stung a little bit more, but all in all, our whole team is doing a great job. Our cars are fast, and we've just got to do the little things a little bit better, and we'll be up there."
--Christopher Bell needs more speed on intermediate tracks
After winning three straight NASCAR Cup Series races early this season, Bell hasn't fallen off the face of the earth -- but at times it might feel that way to the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
The reason? A lack of optimal performance at intermediate speedways. The finishes may not show the deficiency, because Bell acknowledges that he and his team have been outperforming the potential in the cars.
In the three most recent downforce races, Bell ran third at Darlington Raceway, ninth at Texas Motor Speedway and a fast-closing second at Kansas Speedway, but to the driver, those results are somewhat illusory.
"Well, I wouldn't say that I'm not surprised that we haven't won (since the three-race streak) because winning is very hard, but I've definitely been surprised about just lacking pace on the intermediate tracks," Bell said. "At the end of last year, we did really well at the intermediates, and (were among) the strongest contenders.
"And then the last couple of weeks, week-in and week-out, we just haven't been there yet. Hopefully, we make gains on it. I feel like Kansas was a little bit better than what we had at Texas and Darlington, so if we can make another step like that going into Charlotte, maybe we will be contending for the win, but we are definitely lacking a little bit at this point in time."
Charlotte was good to Bell last year. He led 90 laps and won the Coca-Cola 600, which was shortened from 400 laps to 249 because of rain.
--North Wilkesboro brings a new experience to modified driver Tim Connolly
News of his selection as one of the top 40 drivers in the history of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour left Connolly speechless -- a rarity for the popular, garrulous competitor.
Connolly was driving from his home in New York to North Wilkesboro Speedway when he got the news.
"Pretty big surprise," Connolly said of his selection as one of the first 10 drivers revealed during the 40th anniversary of the series. "A lot of great company out there. It's like race weekend -- it's a tough field.
"It's just very flattering, very honored and also humbling."
A former star quarterback at Ithaca College, Connolly found his calling in racing. His career blossomed when he landed a ride in the iconic "Mystic Missile," the No. 4 car owned by Robert Garbarino.
In 1997, driving Garbarino's car, Connolly claimed four of his nine career victories and finished second in the series standings.
Connolly ran three races in 2002 and subsequently left the tour, only to return in 2023 at age 62 with his own car.
But Connolly faces a new experience in Sunday's Whelen Modified Tour race at North Wilkesboro. Ryan Newman, not Connolly, will be driving the car.
"I miss the seat horribly-I won't lie to you," said Connolly, who is on his third back surgery. "The problem is I keep forgetting I'm 64. I'm not making any promises to anyone about anything right now. I'm going to keep my mouth shut and my options open."
Even with a fierce competitor like Newman in his car, Connolly said it will be difficult to spend the race as a spectator.
"I want to kick Ryan out and get back in my car," Connolly quipped. "You've got a lot of big names in the show. It's not going to be a lot of fun being on the sidelines, honestly. I'd rather be out there.
"This will be my first time, having somebody else drive my car. I don't even let people drive my passenger car. I don't let anyone drive my hauler other than me."
By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media
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