Dover, Del. — Josh Berry led a dominant outing for JR Motorsports at Dover Motor Speedway and raced to his first NASCAR Xfinity Sequence victory of the season on Saturday.
Berry had tears in his eyes and hoisted his daughter within the air after he took the checked flag within the No. 8 Chevrolet for his third profession Xfinity win in 39 begins. Berry completed second in final yr’s Dover race.
“We have been there when it counted, man,” Berry stated.
JR Motorsports put 4 drivers within the prime 5 on the one-mile concrete observe. Justin Allgaier was second, Noah Gragson was fourth and 18-year-old Sam Mayer was fifth. Ty Gibbs interrupted the JR Motorsports run with a third-place end. Allgaier has 9 consecutive top-10 finishes at Dover, together with two wins. He led a race-high 67 laps.
“It is large for our firm,” Gragson stated. “4 automobiles within the prime 5 is actually large for us.”
Gragson additionally received his fifth profession $100,000 bonus because the highest-finishing eligible driver within the Xfinity-sponsored program. Gragson, who received final week’s triple extra time race at Talladega, stated he’d divided his share together with his race group.
“I really feel like Blissful Gilmore with this stuff,” Gragson stated, holding the outsized test.
Crew proprietor Dale Earnhardt Jr. stored shut watch on his drivers romping by means of the sphere.
“Being a @XfinityRacing proprietor is rarely boring,” he tweeted.
And Earnhardt was able to share the credit score.
“A lot of completely happy @JRMotorsports workers the previous few weeks. Additionally recognize @TeamHendrick for all their help. Pit crews, engines, a number of layers of sources from Mr H and his group assist us win,” Earnhardt tweeted.
They’re going to actually be abuzz within the store this week at JR Motorsports: Gragson joked a part of his bonus often goes towards beer cash. Then once more, the observe is only a brief stroll from the Dover on line casino.
“I am taking on the on line casino. Placing all 100K on black,” he stated.
He additionally joked he was going to steal Berry’s Monster trophy: “That factor’s so cool.”
Berry, who made his Cup debut at Dover final season, received twice in NASCAR’s second-tier sequence final season driving for Earnhardt.
“We thought after final yr this could be an excellent alternative for us,” he stated. “We have been capable of ship that as we speak.”
Daniel Hemric completed a stable eleventh driving with a damaged bone in his left foot suffered final week in a wreck at Talladega.
Berry was the sixth straight totally different winner at Dover – and all of them raced for the Xfinity championship within the season finale. Berry led the ultimate 55 of a quite unevenful 200 laps.
“I believe all 4 of us are actually working collectively. We had quite a lot of nice velocity,” Berry stated.
Pole sitter Brandon Jones completed seventh. AJ Allmendinger, who completed sixth and has a top-10 end in each race this season, leads the standings by 43 factors over Gibbs.
“Not quite a lot of chaos on the market, which is making my life just a little simpler this week,” Gibbs stated.
Cup qualifying
Chris Buescher was the shock pole winner at Dover, turning a lap of 160.149 mph to win his first profession prime spot.
The RFK Racing driver will probably be joined on the entrance row by Denny Hamlin, ordered this week by NASCAR to start sensitivity coaching after he posted an anti-Asian meme.
“Fairly cool of RFK to get our first pole,” Buescher stated. “It is a fairly cool begin for us.”
Buescher additionally earned the primary pole for RFK Racing within the No. 17 Ford. Brad Keselowski left Crew Penske in November for an possession stake in Jack Roush’s group, forging a brand new partnership. Keselowski and Buescher opened sturdy for RFK Racing after they received the 150-mile qualifying races at Daytona Worldwide Speedway in February.
It has been a little bit of a tough trip over the previous two months.
Keselowski was rocked final month with crushing penalties for unlawful modifications made to his Ford and Buescher hasn’t completed higher than fifteenth in his any of his final 4 races. Buescher has just one profession win over 232 profession Cup begins.
“It has been a very long time coming,” Buescher stated. We’re slowly and steadily build up by means of the season. It is not the race. We now have quite a lot of laps left to go. However a heck of a begin.”
Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott for Hendrick Motorsports begin third and fourth in Chevrolets. Ryan Blaney rounds out the highest 5 for Sunday’s race on the mile concrete observe.
Hamlin, a three-time Daytona 500 winner who drives a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, shrugged off a messy week to go 159,744 mph within the No. 11 Toyota and begins second. Hamlin posted an anti-Asian meme from the tv comedy “Household Man” that criticized Kyle Larson’s driving on the final lap at Talladega Superspeedway final weekend.
Hamlin deleted the tweet Monday night time and apologized.
“I believe if you happen to traditionally look again to my efficiency to distraction, it correlates to a reasonably good weekend,” Hamlin stated. “I would most likely wager on us if I have been you.”
IndyCar qualifying
Rinus VeeKay led an upset in IndyCaring qualifying to place himself to race for the win at Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Alabama.
The Dutchman was the shock pole-winner for Sunday’s race following a qualifying session that noticed most of IndyCar’s prime names fail to advance by means of the rounds.
The primary spherical on Saturday bounced each Will Energy, a two-time winner at Barber, and six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon. The 2 are among the many greatest lively drivers in IndyCar, however each struggled across the picturesque everlasting highway course that’s thought of one of the crucial bodily tracks on the circuit.
Instructed he was beginning nineteenth, Energy frowned; “That is a horrible place for this observe. Horrible.”
Energy in 2012 received from ninth – the farthest beginning spot for a winner in 11 earlier occasions. The typical beginning spot is 3.2 for earlier race winners.
That places VeeKay in place for his second profession victory.
“Confidence is excessive and this can be a observe the place passing isn’t taking place an excessive amount of,” the 21-year-old stated. “From right here, we will have an excellent race and battle for a win, undoubtedly.”
VeeKay turned a lap at 1 minute, 6.2507 seconds within the “Quick Six” spherical of qualifying to edge Pato O’Ward, final yr’s pole-winner, for the highest beginning spot. It is the second pole of his profession, first for the reason that highway course at Indianapolis late in his 2020 rookie season.
The entrance row was a lockout for Chevrolet, which is 3 for 3 thus far on the IndyCar season as Crew Penske swept the primary three races of the season. IndyCar has raced on a pair of road programs and an oval, so Barber is the primary highway course and first new terrain this yr.
It is a observe that Penske drivers have dominated – Josef Newgarden leads all lively drivers with three wins at Barber and goes into Sunday on a two-race successful streak. However like many different prime names, he didn’t make it into the “Quick Six.”
Newgarden was eradicated within the second spherical of qualifying and can begin seventh.
Alex Palou, the reigning IndyCar champion and defending winner at Barber, certified third for Chip Ganassi Racing. Scott McLaughlin was the fourth and the one Crew Penske driver to make the “Quick Six,” and was adopted by Alexander Rossi of Andretti Autosport.
Felix Rosenqvist certified sixth to hitch Arrow McLaren SP teammate O’Ward within the first three beginning rows Sunday.