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Josh Berry sweeps Hickory Motor Speedway Twin 40s

JR Motorsports

New season, same result …

Josh Berry has long been considered the modern-day master of Hickory Motor Speedway and the 27-year-old delivered by sweeping both ends of a two 40-lap double feature at the legendary .363-mile speedway.

Berry swept both ends of the twin 40-lap Late Model events to get his NASCAR Whelen All-American Series season off to a positive start with his JR Motorsports teammate Sam Mayer showing equal flashes of brilliance.

Berry started third in the first race and quickly overtook Ty Gibbs at the start of the race. It took just 15 laps for Berry to overtake Ryan Millington and the reigning CARS Tour Late Model Stock champion never looked back.

As is often the case at Hickory, there was an inversion following the first race, which meant Berry would start the second 40-lapper from eighth.

That placed Mayer on the lead for the second feature, a position he would hold until Lap 12. That’s how long it took Berry to carve through the field and pass his 14-year-old teammate. The JR Motorsports tandem led the rest of the way, giving Berry is second NASCAR-sanctioned win in three starts at Hickory.

The twin triumphs are Berry’s 10th and 11th at Hickory in the past three seasons, and the 13th and 14th over that span for JR Motorsports, as former driver Anthony Alfredo won there three times in 2017.

“We had a really great car from the time we got to Hickory this weekend,” Berry said. “We qualified 3rd, but felt like we would be strong in the race and was able to get the first win.

“After the invert, you never really know what to expect, but we were able to gain some positions pretty quickly and work our way up. Overall, just a great job by all of our team to bring two great race cars to the track again.  It is nice to get the first win of the season under our belt, and now we are going to look toward the CARS Tour race at Myrtle Beach this weekend.”

The complete results from Hickory can be viewed below.

Race #1:
1 – Josh Berry #88
2 – Ryan Millington #17
3 – Austin McDaniel #12
4 – Ty Gibbs #18
5 – Jacob Heafner #95
6 – Charlie Watson #9
7 – Justin Johnson #44
8 – Sam Mayer #9
9 – Evan Swilling #18
10 – Sheflon Clay #15
11 – Mitch Walker #29
12 – Jeremy Pelfrey #51
13 – Cole Glasson #5
14 – Rusty Skewes #15 DNS

Race #2:
1 – Josh Berry #88
2 – Sam Mayer #9
3 – Austin McDaniel #12
4 – Ryan Millington #17
5 – Justin Johnson #44
6 – Cole Glasson #5
7 – Ty Gibbs #18
8 – Evan Swilling #18
9 – Jacob Heafner #95
10 – Charlie Watson #9
11 – Jeremy Pelfrey #51
12 – Sheflon Clay #15
13 – Mitch Walker #29
14 – Rusty Skewes #15 DNS

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Matt Weaver is the owner and founder of Short Track Scene. Weaver grew up in the sport, having raced himself before becoming a reporter in college at the University of South Alabama. He also has extensive experience covering NASCAR, IndyCar and Dirt Sprint Cars.

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