● Josh Berry and his NASCAR Cup Series competitors head to the hallowed grounds of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend to take on one of the most prestigious events in all of motorsports – the Brickyard 400. Sunday’s race marks the final stop before the series heads into the two-week break for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Berry and the No. 4 Ford Mustang Dark Horse team for Stewart-Haas Racing have gelled faster than they expected so far this season. Through the first 21 points-paying races of Berry’s Cup Series rookie campaign, he’s tallied two top-five finishes, four top-10s and 78 laps led. While this weekend marks the 33-year-old’s first Cup Series outing at the Indianapolis oval, he has two prior NASCAR Xfinity Series starts on the facility’s serpentine road-course circuit in July 2022 and August 2023. Both of those outings resulted in 14th-place finishes. In the 2022 race, he started eighth before finishing the first stage in seventh, then won the second stage.
● Like he did last weekend at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, Berry will be pulling double duty at Indianapolis as he’ll once again strap into the No. 15 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for AM Racing for Saturday’s Xfinity Series race. Last weekend at Pocono, Berry qualified 14th but could finish no better than 27th after a cut a tire early in the race relegated him to the back of the field, from where he was unable to recover. It was his first Xfinity Series race of the season.
● Berry’s crew chief Rodney Childers has a deep history of success at the oval layout in Indianapolis. In each of the last two races there, Childers and retired No. 4 driver Kevin Harvick kissed the bricks, winning in July 2020 and September 2019. The 2019 win at the Brickyard was nothing short of a dominant performance as Harvick qualified on the pole, finished the first stage third and won the second stage en route to victory, leading a race-high 118 laps along the way. Harvick’s 2019 win came from the 11th starting position with another race-high 68 laps led. In 16 starts at the oval, Childers’ drivers have tallied two pole awards, the aforementioned two victories, five top-five finishes and nine top-10s – including seven consecutive top-10s in the last seven races on the Indianapolis oval.
● With five regular-season races left before the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, Berry is ranked 21st overall in the driver standings, 69 markers behind teammate Chase Briscoe, who currently holds down the 16th and final playoff spot. Berry sits atop the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings, 28 markers ahead of second-place Carson Hocevar.
● Riding along with Berry and the No. 4 Ford Mustang Dark Horse as primary partner this weekend is Panini America, the world’s largest sports and entertainment collectibles company and the official trading card partner of NASCAR. The partnership marks Panini’s first primary car sponsorship of the 2024 season and its first at the Cup Series level since 2021. Panini had primary car partnerships from 2019 to 2023 at the Xfinity Series level. This weekend’s paint scheme features Indiana Fever rookie and WNBA All-Star Caitlin Clark. Panini has an exclusive partnership with Clark, and the paint scheme will be focused on one of her trading cards – “Raining 3s” – that is part of Panini’s recently released Caitlin Clark Collection that is now available at retailers nationwide, including Target, Scheels, Rally House, Walmart, and online beginning Wednesday at www.paniniamerica.net. As part of the partnership, Panini will also become an associate sponsor for the remainder of the season with logo inclusion on the No. 4 Ford Mustang Dark Horse and on Berry’s firesuit. Berry will also participate in several trackside marketing activations during the season.
Josh Berry, Driver of the No. 4 Panini/Caitlin Clark Ford Mustang Dark Horse
You’re making your debut on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval this weekend – what does that mean to you?
“I’ve been there before on the road course, but getting to race on the oval is really special just because of the history of the track and how important it is in our sport, right? As a kid, you look at some of those bigger tracks with the status they carry and you dream of racing there and, this Sunday, I get to make that a reality. It’s just a really cool thing for me because, a few years ago, I accepted I wouldn’t make it to this level and now I get to go race on Sundays at some of the most prestigious tracks. It’s just really cool to me.”
With five regular-season races left in the 2024 season, where do you rate your season?
“I think we have done a great job so far. Our team has established our process and how we approach each race weekend, which has been a huge part of why we have been able to be successful. The No. 4 team has a bunch of really smart guys putting together strategies, building fast cars, and giving me a chance to go race hard. We set off this year with the goal of winning the Sunoco Rookie of the Year award and we are close to that. We just have to keep betting on ourselves and trusting our process and I see no reason we can’t go accomplish the goal we set.”
Panini is coming on board this weekend to support the No. 4 team – its first race in the Cup Series since 2021. What does it mean to have Panini supporting your rookie campaign?
“I am grateful they are willing to support me and this team. Anytime I have the opportunity to meet the folks who help support my racing career, it means a lot to me because I don’t have deep financial backing, and fantastic partners like Panini, Overstock.com, Harrison’s and SunnyD make my racing career possible. I am just really thankful they believe in me.”
After this Sunday, the NASCAR Cup Series is off for two weeks for the Olympics. What are your plans during that time?
“I am going to run a late-model race at Hickory Speedway the first weekend, and then head to the beach with my family to enjoy some down time. It’s unique that we get this time off and everyone, including my team that travels with me every weekend, gets to be home with family and friends, so I am going to make the most of it and recharge my batteries for the next half of the season. If we make the playoffs or not, I still want to win races, and it takes a lot of focus and energy, so I think this time away will be good for us to stay sharp.”
● Event: Brickyard 400 (Round 22 of 36)
● Time/Date: 2:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 21
● Location: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
● Layout: 2.5-mile rectangular oval
● Laps/Miles: 160 laps/400 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 50 laps / Stage 2: 50 laps / Final Stage: 60 laps
● TV/Radio: NBC / IMS / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
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