Saturday, April 30th, 2022
Dover Motor Speedway, Dover, DE
Josh Berry answered a runner-up finish last year at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway with a victory Saturday in the A-Game 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the track– holding off his JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier by .604-seconds.
Berry led the final 55 laps of the 200-lap race to claim his first win of 2022 and the third of his Xfinity Series career. His JR Motorsports team claimed four of the race’s top-five positions – the first time any team has done so since 2013. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs was third followed by JRM drivers Noah Gragson and Sam Mayer.
Allgaier led a race-best 67 laps but was passed by Berry’s No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet with 55 laps remaining. He rallied to his ultimate second-place finish after suffering a setback on a slow final pit stop. Berry returned to track with the lead on that re-start and Allgaier had to race forward from fourth place, getting as high as second but never having a true chance to make a pass for the win.
“I struggled a lot on the bottom on the restarts and just kept trying to work to get better. It’s just credit to these guys, the pit crew did a phenomenal job today, they executed when we needed it,’’ said the 31-year old Tennessee native, Berry. “And we were there when it counted.
“I went toe-to-toe with Justin Allgaier and he’s so freaking good here,’’ Berry added. “Gosh, I thought he was kind of out of it after that pit stop and then he was right back to second and I thought, ‘here we go again.’ ”
Allgaier, 35, a perennial championship contender, is looking for his first win since Darlington, S.C. last May. This marked his fifth runner-up finish in that time – but is his best showing of 2022.
“Proud of our team, we wanted to get the car in victory lane but with the string of bad luck, I feel like today was a good day, just a little bit short,’’ said Allgaier, who had finished 20th or worse in four of the five races leading into Dover.
Gragson’s fourth place finish marked a solid end to a challenging day for the 23-year old and earned him his $100,000 bonus check in the Dash 4 Cash program.
“What a day for the entire company, four cars in the top-five, and congratulations to Josh Berry for his win,’’ said Gragson, who added with a smile holding up the giant $100,000 cardboard Dash 4 Cash winner’s check, “My car was as fast as the Xfinity internet.’’
A.J. Allmendinger finished sixth but retains the championship lead by 43 points over both two-race winner Gragson and three-race winner Gibbs.
Mayer’s fifth place finish was impressive considering his eventful day. He won Stage 1 and then had a pit stop situation during the ensuing stop. His No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet lost a left rear tire and he ended up having to make an extra stop and eventually dropping back as far as 19th place before making his way forward again.
Saturday’s polesitter Brandon Jones rallied to a seventh-place finish after pit issues as well.
Richard Childress Racing’s Sheldon Creed was eighth – the highest finishing rookie with Riley Herbst and Ryan Sieg rounding out the top-10.
ENTRY | # | DRIVER | HOMETOWN | DOB | AGE | MAKE | SPONSOR | TEAM | CREW CHIEF |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Los Gatos, CA | Dec 16, 1981 | 42 | Chevrolet | Action Industries | Kaulig Racing | Bruce Schlicker |
2 | 66 | JJ Yeley | Phoenix, AZ | Oct 5, 1976 | 48 | Toyota | CW & Sons Infrastructure | Motorsports Business Management | George Church |
3 | 10 | Landon Cassill | Cedar Rapids, IA | Jul 7, 1989 | 35 | Chevrolet | StormX | Kaulig Racing | Jason Trinchere |
4 | 08 | David Starr | Houston, TX | Nov 11, 1967 | 56 | Ford | Children's National/TicketSmarter | SS-GLR w/Jeff Lefcourt | Jason Miller |
5 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | Riverton, IL | Jun 6, 1986 | 38 | Chevrolet | Door Bumper Clear | JR Motorsports | Jason Burdett |
6 | 02 | Brett Moffitt | Grimes, IA | Aug 7, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | Half Off Wholesale | Our Motorsports | Kris Bowen |
7 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Halifax, VA | Aug 6, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | Solid Rock Carriers | Our Motorsports | Chad Walter |
8 | 45 | Ryan Ellis | Torrence, CA | Nov 29, 1989 | 34 | Chevrolet | Costa Oil | Alpha Prime Racing | Frank Kerr |
9 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | Tucker, GA | Jun 20, 1987 | 37 | Ford | A-GAME | RSS Racing | Kevin Starland |
10 | 34 | Kyle Weatherman | Wentzville, MO | Aug 28, 1997 | 27 | Chevrolet | SELE Foundation | Jesse Iwuji Motorsports | Dan Stillman |
11 | 11 | Daniel Hemric | Kannapolis, NC | Jan 27, 1991 | 33 | Chevrolet | Cirkul - Water Your Way | Kaulig Racing | Alex Yontz |
12 | 47 | Brennan Poole | Sacramento, CA | Apr 11, 1991 | 33 | Chevrolet | Mike Harmon Racing | Mike Harmon Racing | Ryan Bell |
13 | 13 | Chad Finchum | Knoxville, TN | Sep 22, 1994 | 30 | Toyota | Garrison Homes/Units Storage | Motorsports Business Management | Jason Houghtaling |
14 | 4 | Bayley Currey | Driftwood, TX | Oct 29, 1996 | 27 | Chevrolet | TeamJDMotorsports.com | JD Motorsports | Wayne Carroll Jr |
15 | 18 | John Hunter Nemechek | Mooresville, NC | Jun 11, 1997 | 27 | Toyota | ACME | Joe Gibbs Racing | Jason Ratcliff |
16 | 48 | Kaz Grala | Boston, MA | Dec 29, 1998 | 25 | Chevrolet | Big Machine Spiked Coolers | Big Machine Racing | Patrick Donahue |
17 | 36 | Alex Labbe | Saint-Albert, Canada | Apr 29, 1993 | 31 | Chevrolet | vrvictoriaville.com | DGM Racing | Nathan Kennedy |
18 | 21 | Austin Hill | Winston, GA | Apr 21, 1994 | 30 | Chevrolet | United Rentals | Richard Childress Racing | Andy Street |
19 | 68 | Brandon Brown | Woodbridge, VA | Sep 14, 1993 | 31 | Chevrolet | Trade The Chain | Brandonbilt Motorsports | Doug Randolph |
20 | 19 | Brandon Jones | Atlanta, GA | Feb 18, 1997 | 27 | Toyota | Menards\Pelonis | Joe Gibbs Racing | Jeff Meendering |
21 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Spartanburg, SC | Jan 16, 1985 | 39 | Chevrolet | All South Electric | Jeremy Clements Racing | Mark Setzer |
22 | 07 | Joe Graf Jr | Mahwah, NJ | Jul 12, 1998 | 26 | Ford | Bucked Up Energy | SS-GLR w/Jeff Lefcourt | Joe Williams |
23 | 78 | Josh Williams | Port Charlotte, FL | Aug 3, 1993 | 31 | Chevrolet | Alloy Employer Services | BJ McLeod Motorsports | Mike Tyska |
24 | 5 | Matt Mills | Lynchburg, VA | Nov 14, 1996 | 27 | Chevrolet | J.F. Electric | BJ McLeod Motorsports | David Ingram |
25 | 31 | Myatt Snider | Charlotte, NC | Dec 30, 1994 | 29 | Chevrolet | Bommarito Automotive Group | Jordan Anderson Racing | Shane Whitbeck |
26 | 9 | Noah Gragson | Las Vegas, NV | Jul 15, 1998 | 26 | Chevrolet | Bass Pro Shops TrueTimber BRCC | JR Motorsports | Luke Lambert |
27 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Las Vegas, NV | Feb 24, 1999 | 25 | Ford | Monster Energy | Stewart-Haas Racing | Richard Boswell |
28 | 91 | Mason Massey | Douglasville, GA | Jan 24, 1997 | 27 | Chevrolet | A-Z Companies | DGM Racing | Mario Gosselin |
29 | 23 | Anthony Alfredo | Ridgefield, CT | Mar 1, 1999 | 25 | Chevrolet | John Civetta & Sons | Our Motorsports | Pat Tryson |
30 | 35 | Patrick Emerling | Orchard Park, NY | Sep 19, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | Emerling Gase Motorsports | Emerling Gase Motorsports | Rick Bourgeois |
31 | 6 | Ryan Vargas | La Miranda, CA | Sep 23, 2000 | 24 | Chevrolet | TeamJDMotorsports.com | JD Motorsports | Kase Kallenbach |
32 | 99 | Stefan Parsons | Cornelius, NC | Jun 15, 1998 | 26 | Chevrolet | KELLY JEEP | BJ McLeod Motorsports | Adam Brooks |
33 | 2 | Sheldon Creed | Alpine, CA | Sep 30, 1997 | 27 | Chevrolet | Whelen | Richard Childress Racing | Jim Pohlman |
34 | 8 | Josh Berry | Hendersonville, TN | Oct 22, 1990 | 33 | Chevrolet | Tire Pros | JR Motorsports | Mike Bumgarner |
35 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Charlotte, NC | Oct 4, 2002 | 22 | Toyota | Monster Energy | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chris Gayle |
36 | 1 | Sam Mayer | Franklin, WI | Jun 26, 2003 | 21 | Chevrolet | Accelerate Pros Talent | JR Motorsports | Taylor Moyer |
37 | 26 | Chandler Smith | Talking Rock, GA | Jun 26, 2002 | 22 | Toyota | ChargeMe / VITAL | Sam Hunt Racing | Allen Hart |
38 | 38 | Parker Retzlaff | Rhinelander, WI | May 21, 2003 | 21 | Ford | Ponsse | RSS Racing | Steve Addington |
39 | 44 | Rajah Caruth | Atlanta, GA | Jun 11, 2002 | 22 | Chevrolet | Circle | Alpha Prime Racing | Michael Brandt |