The Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway saw a new driver behind the wheel of the Hendrick Motorsports #9 car. Josh Berry, a full-time Xfinity Series driver, was tapped to replace the injured Chase Elliott. Although he finished 29th, the 32-year-old driver impressed many, including Bubba Wallace‘s spotter, Freddie Kraft.

Kraft, during a recent episode of the Door Bumper Clear podcast, was asked “Who would you envision would replace him [Chase Elliott} for the next two weeks?” To this, he replied that he believes Berry’s opportunity to race for Hendrick Motorsports could pay dividends for both Berry and his team owner, Dale Earnhardt Jr, in the long term.

Kraft hints at potential Cup opportunity for Josh Berry

According to Kraft, “There’s no secret that Dale’s sniffin’ around Cup ownership. I think if he goes Cup racing, Josh is probably towards the top of his list of guys he’d like to have drive his car.”

However, Kraft believes that Berry’s opportunity is more than just a chance to fill in for an injured driver. He sees it as an opportunity for Berry to gain experience in a Next Gen Cup car and potentially showcase his talent to Dale Jr and other team owners.

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“I think Josh is a guy that Chevy has kind of pin-pointed, that they, you know, they probably would like to keep in their camp and he’s obviously got a little more potential moving forward than I think a guy like Justin does… Allgaier,” Kraft said.

Opportunities arise for new drivers in NASCAR: Berry’s fill-in duty with Hendrick and Taylor’s chance at COTA

Kraft is not the only one who thinks Berry has potential as a Cup Series driver. Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet are keen on giving Berry more opportunities to showcase his potential as a Cup Series driver. Given his prior association with JR Motorsports, along with drivers like Justin Allgaier and Noah Gragson, Berry was a natural choice for the team as a fill-in driver.

While some fans may have been disappointed with Berry’s 29th-place finish at Las Vegas, Kraft thinks expectations were too high. “He got thrown to the wolves, if you expected, if anybody expected him to run in the top ten, it was an unreal expectation. Like, he was just out there making laps, and hopefully, he progresses here the next few weeks.”

Berry’s opportunity with Hendrick Motorsports is not the only news in the NASCAR world. Another driver, Jordan Taylor, has been tapped to fill in for the injured Kyle Tilley at Circuit of the Americas in May. Taylor, a career sports car driver, has never made a NASCAR national series start. However, he has plenty of experience at COTA and has won there twice on the IMSA sports car circuit.

Overall, it seems that both Berry and Taylor have been given opportunities to showcase their talent in the NASCAR Cup Series. As Kraft said, “if it’s a good opportunity, get Josh six or seven starts.” Earnhardt Jr, Kraft, and others believe that these opportunities could lead to long-term success.

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