JR Motorsports driver Josh Berry got wrecked by his bossman Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the Contender Boats 250 on Saturday. Dale Jr. was making his second and final Xfinity start this season at the Homestead Miami Speedway.
Earnhardt Jr. was battling an ill-handling car for most of the race but had slowly progressed from his 23rd qualifying position to the top 10 late in the final stage.
Josh Berry on the other had qualified eighth and was on to a top-10 finish before the collision with Dale Earnhardt Jr. occurred on a restart with 30 laps left in the race. Earnhardt Jr., in the #88 Chevy, briefly lost control of his car and shoved his teammate in the #8 Chevy into the outside barrier.
The contact didn't damage Dale Jr's car, but Berry had to retire from the race. Following the conclusion of the race, the latter was in good spirits as he asked his bossman if he could keep the #88 Chevy with wheel marks as memorabilia. Berry wrote on X:
"Can I have this for my garage @DaleJr?"
Dale Earnhardt Jr replied with an apology to the Cup Series-bound driver for ruining his race. He wrote on X:
"I had a million tire donuts but that’s a legit damn wheel donut. My apologies for my lack of awareness off turn 2 today."
The 49-year-old capped off an eventful day at Homestead-Miami, where he avenged his mechanical failure at Bristol by securing a top-5 finish in Saturday's race.
Although Josh Berry ended up in the wall, Dale Jr. racing on track seems to be a lucky charm for JR Motorsports drivers. Previously in Bristol, Justin Allgaier made the trip to the victory lane and this weekend Sam Mayer took an all-important win to secure his spot in the championship four.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. accepts blame for wrecking Josh Berry
The NASCAR Hall of Famer humbly accepted the blame for wrecking out his teammate. Dale Earnhardt Jr. revealed he got loose and corrected his car unaware that Josh Berry was on the outside in Turn 2.
“The Josh Berry deal, man, I didn’t know he was out there,” Earnhardt was quoted by Toby Christie.com. “My spotter was saying all of the right things, but what I was hearing was something different. So, I’ll put that on me.”
He added:
“I got a little loose, but I corrected up the track like there was nobody there. Like I didn’t know — I thought the 8 was coming through the middle. When I got loose, I just gave myself a lot of room to chase it to the fence. There was a car out there, and I hit that 8. Sorry for that. Not the way I want to send Josh off, right? I want to send him off with a win.”
Josh Berry was eliminated in the first round of the 2023 Xfinity playoffs. He is heading to Stewart Haas Racing next season, filling in the shoes of retiring Kevin Harvick.