Josh Berry and the No. 21 DEX Imaging team overcame a 33rd-place start to finish 16th in Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Berry and the DEX Imaging Mustang Dark Horse began working their way forward not long after the green flag flew to start the 109-lap race on the 17-turn road course. Berry had to serve a penalty for missing a turn on Lap 5 but battled back to finish the first 25-lap Stage in 24th place.
In the second Stage, they worked their way into the top 20, but made a pit stop just prior to the Stage break and ended that segment in 30th place.
The third Stage saw one of the best road-course performances by Berry and the No. 21 team. As the running order ebbed and flowed with teams employing various strategies and most pit stops coming under the green flag, the No. 21 Mustang Dark Horse was rarely outside the top 25 and then inside the top 10 at other times.
The team made its final pit stop with just under 20 laps remaining. Back on the track, Berry moved into the top 20 on Lap 94 then steadily moved forward, cracking the top 15 with 10 laps to go.
He got as high as 12th with five laps to go, but lost ground to drivers on fresher tires in the closing laps before finishing 16th, the second-best road-course finish of his relatively brief Cup Series career. (The best was a 13th at Sonoma Raceway earlier this year.)
Berry and the team now turn their attention to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where they won the most recent Cup race back in March.
WBR PR