Josh Berry had his fair share of difficulties today in the Cup Series clash at Texas Motor Speedway. On the 121st lap, an encounter with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. resulted in Berry losing control and colliding with the external barrier. The collision eventually caused a DNF for the Stewart-Haas Racing rookie.

Subsequently, on the 137th lap, Berry lost control once more, resulting in a collision with the wall and causing a pause in the race. These incidents have been part of the hurdles faced by the 33-year-old at the beginning of the season. After the race, Berry opened up to a senior NASCAR reporter, addressing the difficulties he faced.

Josh Berry had issues with the track and the tires!

Bob Pockrass caught Josh Berry in a post-race interview and asked a few questions. When asked about his contact with Stenhouse Jr. and the resulting DNF, accepted the fact that he went out of control in that situation. “Now the first time, I feel like you know, we got stacked on the bottom a little bit. The top went by, and when the 47 moved down, either barely clipped me or just the air off his car, like it was super close. Honestly, think we made a little bit of contact, and it just got me loose and out of control. And the second time, I was just out there riding around just loose as trying to hang on to it,” said Berry.

Tony Stewart’s rookie expressed that the track’s condition outside the standard racing line was extremely slippery. Yet he anticipated improvement over time, similar to the progression observed during the first stage. Initially, drivers were confined to the lower part of the track. But as the race progressed and the surface began to accumulate rubber, the conditions eventually improved.

“The track is just so slick outside the groove, right? Like the track’s gonna continue to get better. Like we saw the first stage, we couldn’t move off the bottom. And then you know, as it started to take rubber and move around, it’s definitely getting better. It’s just so far behind when we start. And the cars are edgy here anyway, right? I mean it’s a super hard tire. We’re just kind of itchy all the time anyway in the next gen. And this place just amplifies that,” he added.

The wreck-packed Texas Motor Speedway

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Apart from Berry, today’s race witnessed numerous on-track mishaps. HMS #5 Kyle Larson encountered a significant hurdle when his car lost its right rear wheel while under caution, which led to him receiving a penalty that put him two laps behind the leaders. Jimmie Johnson, racing part-time, triggered a caution period too after losing control of his vehicle, causing it to spin.

In another incident, Carson Hocevar lost control before reaching turn one after contact with Kyle Busch, resulting in yet another pause in the race. The chaos continued as Christopher Bell spun out of turn four, involving Alex Bowman and John Hunter Nemechek in a tangle. Adding to the series of events, Michael McDowell, who was leading the race at one point, became unstable and spun on turn four following a collision. That again raised a caution.

The drivers move forward to the Talladega race now, in the hope that its track won’t treat them like Texas. Let’s see what happens as the race unfolds.