Back to Basics: Austin Berry Rebuilds Toward Consistency

Across their recent five-race stretch, Austin Berry Racing (ABR) battled through mechanical trouble and tough nights — including an emotional run in the Tyler Ritchey Memorial — before turning things around with a top-ten finish at Port Royal Speedway to close out the run. 

As August winds down, the team is pointing to real progress after stripping their Rocket XR2 Super Late Model down to the frame and building it back up from scratch.

Racing for Tyler

Among the most meaningful nights of the stretch came on August 21 at Bedford Speedway, where Berry competed in the Tyler Ritchey Memorial in honor of his close friend, who passed away suddenly earlier this year. Berry’s team also supported the event through his business, Speedbear Fasteners.

“Running Tyler’s race was a total whirlwind — lots of emotions, trying really hard, and we just flat-out struggled all night,” Berry said. 

“All the changes we made helped, but only by a small amount. I was really happy to be a part of it, racing and supporting it through Speedbear Fasteners.“

Berry qualified 15th and worked his way to a seventh-place heat finish, but contact with the fence in turns three and four while running mid-pack in the feature brought his night to an early end. He finished 17th.

“I got into the fence in three and four and decided to just pull in,” Berry said.

Smart Decisions, Not Bad Luck

The Bedford result followed a DNF the weekend prior on July 31, also at Bedford, where Berry looked strong out of the gate — starting and finishing second in his heat — before a steering issue, compounded by a loose handling condition, forced him to park the car early in the feature.

“I was really having to fight the steering wheel in the middle of the corner, and before I wrecked the thing, I just decided to pull in and race another day,” Berry said.

A similar story played out on August 8 at Port Royal Speedway, where Berry won his heat in the team’s Limited Late Model before an issue in the feature cut the night short.

“I thought it had blown up, but it ended up being a spark plug wire that fell off,” Berry said. 

“It made the motor pop and start shaking, so I shut it off. It was the right thing to do regardless, but luckily it just ended up being a plug wire.“

Berry is candid that decisions like these are as much about business as they are about racing.

“The DNFs have a lot to do with making business decisions,” he said.

“Not only do we have to be smart about where and when we race, but a lot of times you have to make that same choice on a race night when things just aren’t going right. You’re only going to cost yourself more time and money to stay out there versus saving the laps and trying again next time. Those laps are saved on tires, fuel, motor, rear end, transmission, bearings — everything.“

Rebuild Pays Off at Port Royal

Between the two Bedford dates, Berry’s team made significant gains, including a top-ten run at Selinsgrove Speedway on August 1, where Berry qualified 16th, finished fourth in his heat, and crossed the line eighth in the feature.

But the biggest turning point came after the tough night at Bedford on August 21. Rather than make minor tweaks, the team tore the Rocket XR2 down to the basics — pulling the rear end, both sides of the front suspension, and completely resetting the front end — before heading to Port Royal Speedway the very next night.

“We have been working really hard with the new XR2 chassis, and of course we wanted to come out lightning fast with it, but that just isn’t how it has gone,” Berry explained. 

“We had found some things with our older car this year that we felt would cross right over to the new one, and obviously that isn’t the case. So we backed up to basics, and we were much, much better at Port Royal.”

The results showed immediately. On August 22, Berry qualified 17th, finished fourth in his heat, and drove from an 11th-place feature start to a ninth-place finish — his best run of the stretch.

“I’m really confident after Port,” Berry said. “We just need to keep racing.“

Looking ahead, Berry says continued seat time — not just car setup — is the missing piece.

“We just need to race,” he said. “Although we have raced more, we still haven’t raced as much as a lot of the guys we’re competing against.“

One More Thing…

Berry also wanted to make sure one thing didn’t go unmentioned.

“I ran Hayes (Mattern) completely over in the feature at Port Royal, so I need to apologize to him for that,” Berry said. 

“It was a misjudgment on my part.  My mistake.  That’s not how I race.”

The irony is the pair works in the same office all week long.

“I’m sure he won’t let me forget it when I see him at work,” Berry added with a grin.

What’s Next

Berry isn’t waiting around to keep chasing that consistency. This weekend, he’ll head to a Lucas Oil-sanctioned event — one he admits is “against my better judgment” to run, but sees as smart value.

“We were willing to spend money to test a week ago, and it didn’t work out, so we can go pay our entry fee each night and use it as two nights to get our time trial, heat race, and feature setups dialed in closer,” Berry said.

From there, the schedule turns to a pair of Pennsylvania memorial races:

• September 5 — Butch Renninger Memorial at Port Royal Speedway
• September 6 — Paul Long Memorial at Selinsgrove Speedway

Berry is also considering a stop at Hagerstown Speedway on September 12, which may mark the final Super Late Model race ever held at the Maryland track. Later in the month, the team has tentatively penciled in a trip to Beckley Motor Speedway in West Virginia for the September 19 Mountaineer 50 — a track Berry has never raced at before.