LEBANON – NASCAR Cup driver Josh Berry explained on May 31 the technical violation that led to his disqualification on May 29 in the second annual Rackley Roofing Battle of Broadway 150 at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.
Berry was declared the unofficial winner of the JEGS/CRA Series race after finishing 15 car lengths ahead of Trey Craig. Berry is still in town preparing for the NASCAR Cup Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway on June 1.
In post-race inspection Berry's No. 21 FatHead Ford was found to have exceeded the left-side weight allowance, which was 58.09%.
"As cars naturally gain left-side weight as fuel burns off you have to leave yourself a buffer when you go through pre-race inspection and long story short, we were just a little too tight on the buffer pre-race," said Berry, a Hendersonville native who grew up racing Legends cars at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. "Obviously, it was really disappointing. I mean heartbreaking for me growing up in this area and have that come down to what it did."
Berry said he narrowly passed his first roll-on inspection, but because his race helmet was "hanging on the hook" and not in his hands it was not allowed. On the second roll over the weight leaned too heavily on the left side.
"Partly it was on me, just not doing all of the procedures and just showing up and running and not knowing how close it was going to be and how everything works," Berry said. "When you're talking it's down to a couple of pounds it matters how much fluid you took in during the race, the post race, obviously whether or not you hold your helmet up there. It was frustrating to say the least."
Berry praised the race officials who handled the post-race inspection for being respectful during the process, which took more than an hour. Berry stuck around until Craig, who won the race last year, was officially declared the winner again. Berry shook hands with Craig in victory circle after the inspection.
Berry said the disappointment was not enough to sour him on the opportunity to race for only the second time on the 0.596-mile track at the historic venue. He is uncertain about whether he will enter the Battle of Broadway 150 in the future.
Ross Chastain joined Berry in the inaugural Battle of Broadway 150, but did not return this year. Chastain said those late model races are expensive to run in. He was sponsored by Tootsie's in 2024.
"It's difficult to run those races just with our schedule and they're expensive," Berry said. "I have a conversation with Ross a few weeks ago and I asked if he was coming back and he was like, 'It's just so hard to put a deal together. It cost so much money to go do that,' That's the only thing is that it's so difficult to go do."
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Josh Berry explains Nashville Fairgrounds race disqualification
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