Josh Berry bested the field on Saturday night at Dominion Raceway in Thornburg, Virginia in the CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour feature.
The victory came after Berry passed his closest rival, Bobby McCarty, for the race lead with 49 laps to go and it kept him within one point of the championship lead.
Following qualifying, McCarty appeared to be the man to beat after nearly breaking the series track record during his run. Berry, however, qualified alongside McCarty and the pair led the field to the green flag.
The first major caution of the evening occurred on lap 26 when Camden Gullie’s engine expired on the backstretch. Doug Barnes, Jr., and Mason Diaz made contact less than a lap after the restart, triggering a multi-car incident which eliminated Diaz and Trevor Ward from the event while also sweeping Ronald Hill into the mess.
On each of the early restarts, Berry was able to nose ahead of McCarty for a lap, but the McCarty continued to set the pace despite Berry’s early attempts at the lead.
A competition caution on lap 66 drew the field closer together and allowed Berry to once again hone in on his nemesis for the race lead. After peppering the rear bumper of McCarty with love taps for nearly ten laps, he muscled his way by with authority on lap 77 and began to pull away.
The JR Motorsports driver remained unchallenged in the final 49 circuits, cruising to the win in a car originally built for his boss, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., to race.
McCarty finished second by a margin of 2.621 seconds. Brandon Pierce came home in third, followed by Mini Tyrrell in fourth and Layne Riggs in fifth.
“It cooled off and the track came to us,” Berry said. “When it came time to go, it went. I couldn’t believe once we got out front how well it ran and we were able to just drive away. That was pretty fun. This was a pretty amazing racecar, first race on this thing and it’s just a credit to all these guys for all their hard work.”
The next event for the CARS Racing Tour will take place July 13 at Carteret County Speedway in Swansboro, North Carolina. For more information, visit CARSRacingTour.com.
CARS Late Model Stock Tour
Dominion Raceway – Thornburg, VA
Radley Cadillac & Chevrolet 125 – June 22, 2019
1. Josh Berry
2. Bobby McCarty
3. Brandon Pierce
4. Mini Tyrrell
5. Layne Riggs
6. Doug Barnes, Jr.
7. Deac McCaskill
8. Michael Hardrin
9. Tyler Matthews
10. Ronald Hill
11. Adam Lemke
12. Howie DiSavino, Jr.
13. Craig Moore
14. Stacy Puryear
15. Justin S. Carroll
16. Justin Carroll
17. Terry Carroll
18. Jessica Cann
19. Jonathan Findley
20. Cameron Bowen
21. Mason Diaz
22. Trevor Ward
23. Camden Gullie
