Dale Earnhardt Jr’s Departing Ace Fails To Progress As He Takes His Talent to the Cup Series in 2024

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is surely in a weird position after this week’s Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. On one hand, his youngest prodigy Sam Mayer seized his must-needed win and advanced into the round of 8 in the playoffs. On the other hand, the driver of his number 8 Chevy fell out of playoff contention despite having one of the fastest cars.

Moments after the race, the JR Motorsports speedster revealed how it was not the fruit of the day and a result of past mishaps. Josh Berry was indeed proud of the fact that his teammate was able to outrun everyone else to secure the third victory of his career after leading 51 laps of the 67-lap-long race on the ROVAL. But what was that brought Berry’s day to a brutal end?

Berry revealed the reason behind his playoff misery at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Josh Berry’s hope of making it into the round of 8 shattered on lap 33 during stage 2, when Berry spun shortly after he had radioed to his crew that he had lost control over his power steering. However, NASCAR did not throw a yellow flag as Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Xfinity driver was able to rebound from the issue and drive on without any damage.

Moments after the Drive For The Cure 250, Josh Berry revealed his pride in the number 8 team for giving him such a fast car. He said, “I’m really proud of the car we had. I felt like we were a top 3 car all day. Had a little bit of (an) issue with power steering throughout the race and that definitely hurt us a little bit. Fought that steering a little bit the second half of the race but we did a great job today.”

Reflecting back on his back-to-back crashes with Sam Mayer at Texas and Austin Hill at Talladega, Berry felt like he failed to qualify because of the points that he lost due to the wrecks. The 32-year-old Tennessee native admitted, “We didn’t advance because we wrecked the last few weeks, not because of today.”

“Just proud of the effort everybody put in the car. Lot of preparation within this week…just didn’t work out. But I’m proud of the day,” he added with a faint smile on his face.

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Sneak peek behind Tony Stewart‘s garage, the Smoke is about to lose one of his most seasoned drivers by the end of this year. Nothing changes except for the fact that Kevin Harvick transitions to a career with FOX Sports as a NASCAR analyst and Josh Berry replaces him on the seat of the number 4 Ford Mustang.

After having driven for three complete Xfinity Series seasons, Josh Berry will drive Kevin Harvick’s Cup ride with Rodney Childers as his crew chief and Tony Stewart as his boss.

Tony Stewart felt happy to welcome Berry into his team. According to racingamerica.com, Stewart said, “We’re incredibly proud to have Josh Berry begin the next chapter of his racing career in our No. 4 Ford Mustang.”

“Kevin Harvick has obviously set a very high bar, but Josh brings maturity, experience and, above all, a winning record to Stewart-Haas Racing. He is the right driver, at the right time, for the No. 4 team and our organization,” he added.

In the middle of his second full season with Dale Earnhardt Jr’s Xfinity team, Berry has amassed 5 wins in the last three seasons. It goes without saying why Stewart felt so ecstatic to bring Berry in.

Josh Berry, of course, felt equally privileged. He said, “I’m really proud of how I’ve gotten to this point and earned this opportunity. The Xfinity Series win at Martinsville changed my career and allowed us to point toward a full-time season for 2022 where we competed for the championship.”

“It’s also been very meaningful to get some opportunities in the Cup Series this year. I’m proud of how they went, but I cannot wait to drive a Cup car that’s got my name on it,” he added gleefully.

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