CHARLOTTE, NC – Stewart-Haas Racing Officially Announced Josh Berry like who drives its number 4 car starting in 2024 EQUAL Kevin Harvic will retire at the end of the 2023 season.
Berry sat down with FOX Sports following Wednesday’s announcement to discuss his only path to winning the Cup when he started his first Xfinity nine years ago for JR Motorsports.
Here’s the conversation, with some edits for clarity and space:
Your day starts at JR Motorsports and you’ve talked to the organization there, then you’ll be introduced to your future home, Stewart-Haas Racing, where you’ll drive the number 4 car starting from 2024. How do you feel today?
It was just a wonderful day. Very interesting. I already feel like there’s a bit of a stretch coming just to wait for this day to come. It started with a bit of emotion going to JR Motorsports and talking to Dale [Earnhardt Jr.] and Kelly [Earnhardt Miller] and LW [Miller] and everyone at the company and after so many great memories, I’m moving on to the Cup Series. I’m definitely excited about 2024 and with the opportunity ahead of me to join Stewart-Haas Racing and drive a 4-seater, it’s a best-case scenario for someone like me.
I don’t think anyone was surprised in either place by the news. But is there anything unexpected that comes from emotions?
I do not think so. I expect at JR Motorsports that part of it will be the most emotional part of my day after just a while I’ve been there. I spent many years of my life participating in JR Motorsports. I know it will be an emotional time. But it was interesting to go to Stewart-Haas and meet the company there and then obviously announce the deal. So it was just a great day. It is a day I will remember for a long time.
About 14 or 15 years ago, you sent in-car camera footage of you driving a legendary car (a small car that young people use to learn about racing) to Dale Jr. . Did the kid who submitted that video ever think he would be where he is today?
Are not. That kid, to be honest, didn’t expect much from the many conversations Dale and I had. We both made friends and built a relationship there very early on, and I think some of that influence [those conversations] was on him – he finally asked me to test drive his old car and I was very happy about it. So for me, that’s the top of the top right there, being able to drive a vintage car. At that point in my career, I was racing a legendary car at the Nashville Fairgrounds and never really thought I would race a late model or anything like that. So to do that, it’s a big opportunity.
Dale Jr. said today that after your 2015 Xfinity race in Richmond, he thought it was the day that youWOMEN everything will come together and you will soon be full-time in the series. Soon it’s 2022. Has there been a time in all these years when you thought this wasn’t going to happen and that I wouldn’t be a NASCAR national series racer?
That race in Richmond left a pretty good impression on my career. We ran really well that night and there were a lot of Cup riders on the field – it was a really tough course. We finished seventh but we really should have done better that night, and we sat in the media center after the race and talked about our situation. I remember the people in there didn’t even know who I was, what I raced, and didn’t know anything about me. It was an interesting time.
In the years that followed, we were never really able to put anything together. Three years ago, … I was running a short circuit around the Carolinas, Virginia, and eventually we were going to win the weekly national championship. That Josh Berry three years ago fully accepted that he was going to be a short distance racer in his career, and I would try to be the best I could be at the time and could never have dreamed of. get this.
Josh Berry Wins a NASCAR Cup Series Ride
Josh Berry talks to Bob Pockrass about his path to the NASCAR Cup Series, what it takes to become a Cup champion, and what he expects from broadcaster Kevin Harvick.
How much more prepared is Josh Berry of 2023 for this 2024 opportunity than Josh Berry of four, five, six years ago?
Without a doubt, I was more prepared. I’ve won more races, got more experience, even in the short-distance classes in the Xfinity Series, Cup Series and truck series over the past few years. My experience this year in the Cup car, it’s been a great audition for what I have ahead of me in 2024. And I feel like that’s what I’m ready for. And I’m very happy to go there.
Did you know you’re ready for that if you don’t get a chance to replace injured Hendrick drivers?
You’d think – the conversations we had at SHR started before we had a chance to be there with 9 [filling in for Chase Elliott]. So it’s a weird timeline, but it definitely helps. I don’t know if you’re in the official Cup race that you really know what you’re getting into. But I feel like the opportunities I’ve had this year have definitely prepared me for what I’ll see in the right direction, but also in the wrong direction. And it’s been a great experience to be able to do that.
If another driver had to miss a race, would you still have that chance once this was announced and moved to a new manufacturer?
I don’t think I will. First of all, I don’t want that to happen to anyone else. It was just a crazy sequence of events there. I don’t think so, but you never know. At this point, we’re fully focused on ending the Xfinity Series on a strong note and ending my time at JR Motorsports as vigorously as possible, while also hoping to win the championship.
Tony Stewart said today that he thinks he can make you a National Cup champion. What will make you to do it?
I think I have the background on and off the track to do that. I really have to get used to racing cars and races. Cup racing is extremely difficult. And these people are amazing, top talent. … All the people who have made it to this point are extremely good racers. So for me, it’s just putting all the pieces together. I feel like I know I’ll have a great team around me with Rodney [Childers] and that group of 4. And I know that if we put all the pieces together and if we do the right things and work hard, we can achieve success.
To be Oneny part of this surrealism?
Today is a bit surreal. I think seeing [SHR] context … and all the media attention was surreal. I feel really spoiled. Honestly, I think, today, it’s great to experience all of this. I had a lot of time to process today and I am still processing even in the present time. But it was just an exciting day from the start.
Future Cup Champion?
Tony Stewart explains why he thinks SHR can make Josh Berry a Trophy champion.
You’re replacing Kevin Harvick – or taking Kevin Harvick’s chair. Perhaps no one can replace Kevin. What does being in that car mean to you?
First of all, it’s just an incredible opportunity. They have been one of the most winning cars if not the most winning car of the past decade in the Cup Series. They set the bar, set the standard for how you function as a Cup team. For me, it’s really a big sigh of relief to come up with a team that is performing at that level. For me, it brings me some relief and understanding — similar to what I experienced this year. [at Hendrick] – that if I can go in with the right mindset and do the work that I need to do and do on the track, and learn from those people and work with them, then we can achieve great results. worthy results. And I really believe that.
During the first half of next year, Kevin Harvick will be at the FOX booth to watch you race and maybe give you a little critique. Did he give you any advice and did you ask him to go easy on you? At least at the start?
Are not. It was also an exciting time for him. But honestly, it’s the same thing that I have regarding Dale [Earnhardt Jr. at NBC]. So I get the critique of it. Kevin will be a great asset to me. He’s a future NASCAR Hall of Famer, one of the best to ever do it, and getting in the car he’s about to step out of is a great opportunity. I will use Kevin as much as I can. He is a treasure trove of knowledge. I would be silly not to call Kevin every chance I get.
What to watch?
With a start time a little after 6pm CT, the Cup race at Nashville will transition from sunlight to a light race at the Nashville Superspeedway, where sunset is likely to last about two minutes. hours after the race.
How much will the track change? The temperature will become cooler, but the concrete surface sometimes does not change much. However, keeping up with the track should be key.
There will definitely be a lot of eyes on Chasing Elliottwho won last year’s race and needs to win the next 10 races to win a playoff spot.
Among the strong drivers there last year — Martin Truex Jr. And Kyle Busch – so expect them to be strong again.
Think big
Some fans aren’t thrilled with Sunday night’s event, but for the race in Nashville as well as the race in Atlanta next month, the nighttime race could be a good thing for the fans. Attendees and the riders themselves.
The Next Generation vehicle generates more heat than its predecessor, so drivers will appreciate cooler temperatures.
Fans, too, will probably be more relaxed. But do those advantages of racing on Sunday night outweigh the disadvantages for fans both at the track and watching at home potentially having to go to work in the morning?
That is something that NASCAR will have to monitor. But it is definitely worth a try.
Social focus
They Said It
“Josh is someone we feel could be a champion.” —Tony Stewart on Stewart-Haas Racing signs Josh Berry to drive number 4 car in 2024
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsport, including the past 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News- Journal. Follow him on Twitter @reedsand sign up FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass.
Top NASCAR stories from FOX Sports:
NASCAR Cup Series
NASCAR Xfinity Series
NASCAR manual truck series
Get more from the NASCAR Cup Series Follow your favorites to get game info, news and more
