NASCAR Cup driver in 2024 on Nashville racing legacy
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LEBANON − The Nashville area has had its share of NASCAR Cup Series drivers over the years, but it’s been awhile.
With the announcement this week that Hendersonville native Josh Berry will drive fulltime for Stewart-Haas Racing in 2024 the Middle Tennessee area finally has another driver on NASCAR’s biggest stage.
The Nashville area produced plenty of the sports’ top drivers over the years. Some who come to mind include Darrell Waltrip, Sterling and Coo Coo Marlin, Bobby Hamilton and Bobby Hamilton Jr., Red Farmer, Casey Atwood, Mike Alexander, Chad Chaffin and Jeff Purvis. But it’s been nearly 15 years since any of those were on the circuit.
“It’s really special to be in this position; it’s been an exciting couple of days for sure to finally make this public and announce what’s happening,” Berry said. “It’s a really great feeling to follow some of those guys and go to the Cup Series.”
Berry, 32, is replacing NASCAR Hall of Famer Kevin Harvick in the No. 4 Ford Mustang. Berry will be in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Tennessee Lottery 250 Saturday (2:30 p.m., CT USA Network) at Nashville Superspeedway but not in the NASCAR Cup Series Ally 400 Sunday (6 p.m., NBC).
Berry is the only local driver who has even flirted with the NASCAR Cup Series lately by filling in for several different drivers in 2021 and this season. He has driven for injured Hendrick Motorsports drivers Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman in eight Cup Series races this season.
He spent all of 2022 in the Xfinity Series with JR Motorsports and won three races and had 11 top-5 finishes. He finished fourth in the Xfinity Series point standings in 2022 and is in fifth this season. He finished fourth in the 2021 Tennessee Lottery 250 and 29th in 2022 after leading one lap.
As well as he has done in the Xfinity Series a much larger spotlight will be cast on Berry in 2024 and living up to the standard so many great drivers from the Nashville area set in the NASCAR Cup Series could be a challenge. Waltrip, Sterling Marlin and Bobby Hamilton won a combined 98 NASCAR Cup Series races.
“I don’t think I’m going to feel any added pressure because of that,” Berry said. “Even going into this weekend it’s nice to have fun and go back and race in that area. I don’t really feel any pressure because I’ve had a lot of people that I knew there back then that have reached out over the last couple of days and congratulated me on my announcement. That’s been nice. I still have a lot of connections at the Nashville Fairgrounds (Speedway).”
Berry got his start racing Legend cars in his teens at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.
After his mother died suddenly and his racing bills started piling up Berry’s career nearly came to an end. He was attending Volunteer State Community College and working as a teller at a bank in Hendersonville to make ends meet.
About a year later while racing virtually on the iRacing circuit in 2008 Berry found himself not only competing against, but often beating two-time Daytona…
Read More: NASCAR Cup driver in 2024 on Nashville racing legacy 2023-06-23 10:10:18