Stewart-Haas Racing has had a bumpy start to 2024. After veteran drivers Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola bid adieu to Tony Stewart’s team, the future looked bleak. Ryan Preece is yet to pick up a Cup win, and Chase Briscoe’s last Cup glory came in 2022. However, SHR’s rookie driver’s path seems tougher than the rest.

Josh Berry had excelled as a part-timer in the Cup Series before. For instance, he finished runner-up in Richmond while driving in Chase Elliott’s place. But his full-time Cup stint is facing hiccups, as was evident in Sunday’s Texas race.

Josh Berry lost his cool in Texas blowout

It’s a common story by now that the Texas Motor Speedway muddled up many drivers’ ambitions. The notorious bumps on Turns 3 and 4 and the resin-injected Turns 1 and 2 gave them a hard time. The entire race was sprinkled with numerous cautions, as the cars could not handle the gnarly irregularities of the track.

This situation rubbed salt in Josh Berry’s wounds, as the rookie’s failed campaign was prolonged. Starting from the 25th position, Berry’s woes set in on lap 121. Officials waved the caution flag when Ricky Stenhouse Jr contacted Berry’s front nose in turn 1, leaving the No. 4 Ford spinning and backing into the outside wall.

But then another caution on lap 136 hit the nail in the coffin. Josh Berry came loose, spun, and pushed into the outside wall in turn 2. Spotter Eddie D’Hondt said over the radio, “Hold on, hold on, hold on.” In response, Berry fumed, “It was loose as f***.”

At this point, crew chief Rodney Childers chipped in, asking what Berry yelled, “What did he say, Eddie?” To this, the No. 4 driver himself bellowed back, “I said it was loose as f***!”

Then Rodney Childers quipped, “You can go straight to the garage.” Berry then slowly rolled his car out of the racing arena, another one of his Cup failures done and dusted. 

Yet considering Josh Berry’s position as a first-year Cup driver, his misfortunes can be justified. In the middle of his woes, Berry has inched toward good races, clinching a 12th spot in Bristol and an 11th spot in Richmond. As he further cements his camaraderie with his team, Josh Berry may be on his way to a maiden win.

Berry is keen on strengthening ties with his team

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Before his full-time Cup career flagged off, Josh Berry raced scattered schedules for various teams. He made part-time starts for Hendrick Motorsports, Legacy Motor Club, and Spire Motorsports. But now that a long-term relationship has been forged with SHR, the situation is different. As a rookie driver, Berry is still getting comfortable with his new team, and learning to grow with it.

He emphasized fostering a good relationship with the No. 4 team. “That’s where I feel like I need to grow a little bit. Last year (running a partial schedule), you’re on borrowed time each race. We didn’t know which race they were coming back or not and we kind of just raced. We didn’t really think about any of that stuff and now whenever you’re trying to build, you build piece by piece into something bigger. This is an important time for all of us right now to learn each other and just do a little better job of that, and I think it’ll come with time.”

With this patience and persistence, Josh Berry’s team may be slowly but surely working their way toward a stellar career.