Josh Berry admits ‘trying to be aggressive’ in Talladega backfired badly

Josh Berry faced a tough outing during the Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Speaking to Frontstretch after the race, Berry admitted that trying to be aggressive during an important moment backfired, costing him a chance at a strong finish.

Josh Berry entered the race with a good setup, leading his group into pit road during the final pit cycle. Confident about their fuel-saving strategy and track position, Berry pushed harder than necessary. Attempting to brake deeper into pit road, he ended up speeding. He later said in an interview that he radioed in and owned up to his mistake.

When asked if it was because he was trying to be aggressive, Josh Berry explained it was a mix of being aggressive as well as his lack of experience. It was his first time leading into pit road without gauging braking off another car, and he misjudged the limits. The mistake cost him track position when he had a real shot to contend for the win. In his own words,

“I felt like we did a really good job and saved a lot of fuel and then still had the track position by the end of it. I knew I needed to get on the pit road good and I just, just went a little too deep.” [0:16]

Berry further explained how he tried to experiment with an aggressive driver play but misjudged the situation.

“I mean I think it's a couple of different things. I mean, I think it's trying to be aggressive, but at the same time, probably that's the first time in one of these that I've actually been in that position where I'm not kind of judging my breaking marker off of somebody else. So, um, yeah, I just, you know, thought that I could go a little bit deeper than I could have,” he added. [0:35]

Josh Berry ended the race 28th after starting from eighth. He led 12 laps and completed 188 laps, winning 10 stage points but no bonus points or penalties.

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Josh Berry’s day took another hit after bizarre bird collision at Talladega

Josh Berry's problems at Talladega did not end with pit road mistakes. Earlier in the race, he had an unusual and unlucky encounter when he struck a bird at nearly 190 mph. A photo posted by his team, Wood Brothers Racing, showed the aftermath—Berry’s No. 21 Ford’s windshield smeared with bird remains.

The crash happened on Lap 18 while Berry was running in third place. Despite the mess, there was no serious structural damage to the car. Berry made an unscheduled pit stop during the first caution of the day, triggered by a separate crash involving Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, and Kyle Busch. His team quickly removed the bird debris and refueled the car, allowing Berry to return to the track without losing too many positions. NASCAR-themed page NASCARcasm retweeted the pic with the caption,

"Josh Berry just DNFd the sh-t out of a bird,"

Even after recovering from the bird incident, Berry’s luck did not turn. His later pit road mishap with Jarius Morehead made his day even harder. Before the race, Josh Berry had secured his fifth top-10 start of the season, qualifying eighth with a lap of 181.381 mph. He ended the race in 26th place.