Josh Berry, who will start second at Nashville, said Saturday that he feels “good about having a spot in the Cup Series next year.”
Berry didn’t say where he will race next year. The Cup rookie is among the drivers at Stewart-Haas Racing seeking a ride with SHR closing after this season.
Teammate Chase Briscoe will drive the No. 19 at Joe Gibbs Racing next season, taking over the ride from Martin Truex Jr., who has announced this will be his final full-time season racing. Briscoe is the only current SHR driver to announce his plans for next year.
Berry has had back-to-back top-10 finishes twice in the last six races. He was seventh at Iowa two weeks ago and placed third last weekend at New Hampshire. His starting spot for Sunday’s Cup race at Nashville Superspeedway (3:30 p.m. ET on NBC) ties his career best in the series.
“I feel like our results have been really strong the last couple of months,” Berry said Saturday. “I don’t really know other than winning a race at this point is the only thing left that I can do.
“We’ve finished in the top five. We’ve ran up front. We’ve led laps. We’ve showed the potential that we can do, so I think that’s been a big confidence boost for me. I really think that whole situation, at least for myself and our team, you find a lot about yourself when your back is against the wall and everybody is performing at a really high level, the highest probably we ever have, and we’re fighting together, and I feel like opportunities will come.”
Along with where might Berry go next year is the notion of if he will be able to bring crew chief Rodney Childers with him to a new ride.
“I would love to stay with Rodney,” Berry said. “I know he feels the same way, but I really can’t say for sure. I think time will tell.
“There’s been some opportunities out there where maybe that’s possible. There are some other opportunities where we’re not as sure if that’s possible, but we’re gonna keep trying to provide results on the track like we have been the last couple of months.
“Having races like we had at Iowa and last week at New Hampshire, I mean, that’s the biggest audition there is.”
