Las Vegas winner Josh Berry comes clean on his dynamics with Dale Earnhardt Jr.: “We’re closer than ever now”

Josh Berry opened up about his relationship with Dale Earnhardt Jr. after securing his first NASCAR Cup Series victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Despite leaving JR Motorsports a couple of years ago, Berry shared that his bond with Dale Jr. has only grown stronger over time.

Berry met Dale Jr. in 2008 through an online racing league before being signed by JR Motorsports to compete in Late Models. After impressing in Late Models, he made select starts in the Xfinity Series before making his full-time debut in 2022. However, it was his substitute role with Hendrick Motorsports in 2023 that ultimately secured him a full-time Cup Series seat with Stewart-Haas Racing.

After leaving SHR, Berry found success early in his tenure with Wood Brothers Racing, securing a win in his fifth start. Speaking with Kevin Harvick after his Las Vegas victory, Berry expressed his gratitude to Dale Earnhardt Jr. for his support over the years. He also shared that his bond with Junior has grown even stronger since leaving JR Motorsports.

"He's been a tremendous supporter of mine, he's done so much for my career. But I fell like more now, really from the fill-in role at HMS, and going through the emotions of that and then the emotions of everything at Stewart Haas, and now going to the Wood Brothers. He's just become a great friend of mine. He's not against just calling me up and asking me how I'm doing, how I'm feeling, and where my heads at. I feel like we are closer than ever now, even when I drove for him for years. He was really excited for yesterday." he said [from 8:35]

Dale Jr. also shared a wholesome reaction to Josh Berry’s first Cup Series victory on X (formerly Twitter), expressing his pride in the JR Motorsports alum and his friend. Watch his reaction in the Tweet below:

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Josh Berry elaborates on Dale Jr.-inspired post-race victory celebration

Josh Berry opted not to do a burnout after his victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Instead, he did a Polish victory lap on the front stretch, waving to the fans before celebrating with his #21 Wood Brothers Racing crew.

In the post-race press conference, Berry elaborated that during the off-season, he watched Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s 2014 Daytona 500 victory and aimed to replicate Dale Jr.'s post-race celebrations. He said (via Steven Taranto on X):

"Over the course of the off-season, I found myself watching the 2014 Daytona 500, when Dale Jr. won. He went down to Turn 1 and kind of swung around and took his stuff off and waved around to the fans."

The 34-year-old also highlighted his roots in Saturday night short-track racing, where drivers typically avoid burnouts to preserve their equipment. He jokingly mentioned that he had his "a** chewed off" for doing burnouts in the past, and hence decided not to do a burnout in his #21 Ford on the front stretch.

"I think back to Saturday night short track racing, we would do that type of celebration because we couldn't blow the quarter panels up, the motor and you couldn't tear the car all to hell after the race." he added.

With his Las Vegas victory, Josh Berry moved up eight places in the standings to 13th. The #21 Wood Brothers Racing team is set to make its second consecutive playoff appearance this year.

Berry returns to action this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the Straight Talk Wireless 400 on March 23.