If you thought Josh Berry's win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Martinsville Speedway was just another run-of-the-mill victory, think again.
It was Berry's first NXS win. And while JR Motorsports has helped six others do the same, none had developed the root system with the company quite like Berry has. The Hendersonville, Tenn., native has raced a JRM late model for more than a decade, scored 86 wins, two track championships (Hickory and Motor Mile), two CARS Series championships, and is the reigning NASCAR Advanced Auto Parts Weekly Series national champion.
And then there's this: None of JRM's other 52 victories -- not even those by Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, William Byron or Elliott Sadler -- made Dale Jr. weep.
"There is so much pride," Junior said Sunday night in a Zoom interview. "I've never cried like I cried [Sunday] over racing -- certainly not with anything I ever did or anything my Dad did. I don't know why [Josh's win] brought that emotion out of me. I've never experienced that before."
Dale Jr. wasn't the only one expressing joy following Berry's win. Fans, friends and colleagues took to Twitter to react:
Something else happened in the celebration for Berry, who is currently slated to drive just 12 races in the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevy in 2021. A Twitter exchange between JR Motorsports president Kelley Earnhardt Miller and Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis seemed to indicate a sponsorship may be in the works, at least for one race at Talladega.
As of this writing on Monday, no official announcement had been made to confirm the Camping World sponsorship of Berry's No. 8. However, it has been confirmed that Berry will be on The Dale Jr. Download this week. He will even join Junior on the popular segment "Ask Jr" presented by Xfinity.
--Dirty Mo--
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