By Wood Brothers Racing
After making steady progress throughout Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International, Josh Berry and the No. 21 DEX team saw a promising afternoon unravel late and ultimately came away with a 32nd-place finish in the 100-lap NASCAR Cup Series event.
Berry rolled off 34th on the grid and the No. 21 team immediately went to work on strategy at the historic New York road course. The team made its first pit stop just before pit road closed at the conclusion of the opening 20-lap stage, allowing Berry to gain valuable track position when the remainder of the field pitted under the stage caution. The strategy vaulted the DEX Ford Mustang Dark Horse from 34th to 22nd for the restart.
The team utilized a similar approach in the second stage, pitting prior to the end of the 30-lap segment and cycling back to 23rd in the running order for the start of the final stage.
A caution on Lap 60 presented another opportunity for crew chief Miles Stanley and the No. 21 team to gain track position, electing to keep Berry on track while others headed to pit road. The call moved Berry up to eighth for the restart, and he maintained a solid top-10 presence over the next several laps.
Following a pit stop on Lap 76, Berry returned to the track in 33rd and methodically worked his way back through the field. He climbed to 21st before getting caught in a multi-car incident that shuffled him back several positions. Despite the setback, Berry remained in position for a top-25 result before additional contact in the closing laps relegated the No. 21 entry to a 32nd-place finish at the checkered flag.
Next up for Berry and the No. 21 team is next weekend’s NASCAR All-Star Race at Dover Motor Speedway.
