Josh Berry’s NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shops Night Race came to a premature end after the Wood Brothers Racing driver’s car burst into flames on Lap 76 at Bristol Motor Speedway
Josh Berry’s car caught on fire in a terrifying incident during the NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shops Night Race(Image: Icon Sportswire, Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Terrifying in-car footage showed the horrifying moment Josh Berry’s vehicle erupted in flames during the NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shops Night Race, whose winner dedicated the victory to the slain political commentator Charlie Kirk.
Berry’s disastrous Round of 16 campaign reached a dramatic conclusion on Saturday after the Wood Brothers Racing pilot had previously placed 38th and 36th in the Cook Out Southern 500 and Enjoy Illinois 300, respectively.
With significant tire degradation forcing multiple drivers to make early pit stops during Stage 1, Berry seemed to become a casualty of the rubber accumulation when the right front section of his vehicle ignited on Lap 76. With his cockpit almost completely filled with smoke, Berry dragged his No. 21 Ford down pit road as crew chief Miles Stanley demanded a caution be called.
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“Put the fire out! Can we get a caution? There’s a f——- fire on pit road,” she shouted over the team radio. “No caution? We’ve got a driver on fire!” Officials finally threw the caution flag four laps afterward, but not before Berry was pulled from his burning car as safety crews worked frantically to douse the blaze.
“The best that I can tell is it was the rubber buildup on the header [that caused the fire], and then that just spread to the rocker [panel],” Stanley told NASCAR.com.
“And once the rocker catches, you’re kind of hosed. I didn’t really see how quickly it progressed; it seemed to progress really quickly. And then, like I said, once the rocker was on fire, there really wasn’t a whole lot we could do.”
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Speaking to reporters following the terrifying episode, Berry admitted that he did everything possible to remain in the competition.
“I think given our situation and how the race was playing out and how good we were, I felt like … we were trying to ride it out,” he said.
“And they were mentioning trying to put the fire out on pit road and maybe keep going. But just when I slowed down, it got way worse.
“And yeah, I was just trying to make it to the pit box so the guys could help me get out because I couldn’t see anything.”
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After a quick examination at the infield care center, Berry was cleared and fortunately escaped without any serious harm. “The flames didn’t make it inside. It wasn’t hot,” he explained.
“It just got super smoky really fast would be the biggest thing. But they checked me out in the care center. They said all my levels look all right. So yeah, we probably should have come a lap or two earlier and just ended it. But obviously we’re trying to fight till the very end.”
Considering that most vehicles managed to run 70-80 laps with minimal tire degradation affecting lap times during Friday’s practice session, Berry confessed that the significant tire deterioration during Saturday’s race caught him completely off guard.
“I was fully convinced it was gonna be hammer down, but I could tell probably 15 or 20 laps into the race we were running like 16, teens, and you could see some people start coming back to us,” he said.
“The pace yesterday in practice was 1570s, 1580s, hammer down the whole time. And when we’re in the 16s that quick you could tell that’s going on. You could see the marble start developing. Man, it’s crazy. Just has to do with the weather I guess.”