"I couldn't watch": Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s honest admission on nervously watching Josh Berry's first NASCAR Cup win

JR Motorsports team owner and former NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently revealed that he felt nervous when watching the final laps of Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where Josh Berry clinched his first NASCAR Cup Series victory.

During the latest episode of the 'Dale Jr. Download' podcast, Earnhardt Jr. sat down with guest Josh Berry, who debuted in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with JRM in 2014 and spoke about his texts to his wife Amy Earnhardt during the race.

"I was sitting there in my house. I text Amy. You were five laps to go, and Amy texted me something about the kids, and I just text her back, 'Josh.' And she was like, 'Josh, what? Josh, what?' (05:28 onwards)

"And I'm like, 'He's about to,' and she goes, 'Is he about to win?' I said, 'White flag.' I was like, I couldn't even talk, right? I couldn't even, like, think. I got up, I got up and went and took the trash out with five laps to go. I couldn't watch."

Berry ran two full-time seasons in the Xfinity Series with JRM before moving to the Cup Series in 2024, driving the No. 4 Ford from Stewart Haas Racing. He earned his new team this season, Wood Brothers Racing, its 101st victory.

Dale Jr. also thanked Berry for his FaceTime call from victory lane.

"I'm thankful for the FaceTime call. That meant so much to me, that you, of all the people, that you wanted to connect with in the moment, you get, you reached out to me," Dale Jr. said (5:17 onwards).

Josh Berry passed Daniel Suárez in the final laps to grab his first-ever Cup Series win by 1.3 seconds. He has previously won five races in the Xfinity Series over eight years.

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"A lot of what I did was from that night" - Josh Berry on taking inspiration from Dale Jr.'s Daytona 500 celebration

Josh Berry wanted to celebrate his first NASCAR Cup win by taking his time and being present instead of doing a big burnout. The Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 team has secured its spot in the NASCAR Cup playoffs this season with the win at Vegas.

During the same episode, Berry talked about taking inspiration from Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s 2014 Daytona 500 celebration.

"A lot of what I did was from your celebration that night. I was like, man, that's what I want to do. Because to me, it was obviously like, I'm not a big, you know, smoky burnout, you know, blow-the-tires-out-off-of-it type guy... And when you won that race that night, like, watching you, and it showed, you had an in-car camera, and it showed you, like, you were kind of just taking your stuff off slowly, and you're acknowledging the fans, and it just, like, felt like you were really soaking in the moment," Josh Berrry said (03:25 onwards).

Berry added that he was so emotional after the race that he could barely talk. He remembered how, in his early racing days, winners waved to the fans and that he wanted to do the same.