Berry Flexes Some Muscle Early at Port Royal; Feature Outcome Will Have to Wait

Austin Berry was back at Port Royal Speedway Saturday night, looking to rebound from a part failure that took him out of feature competition prematurely for the first time all season the previous weekend.

The format for the night was one of Berry’s favorites:  dual heats with passing points.  Fifteen teams signed in on a hot and steamy summer night in Central Pennsylvania.

August 6:  Port Royal Speedway / Port Royal, PA

     [15 cars, Heat #1 2nd (8), Heat #2 1st (1), A-main PPD]

Berry’s pill draw set him up for an opportunity to garner a lot of passing points in his first of two 6-lap heat races.  He started 8th and wasted no time blasting around the high side to navigate his way to the 2nd position by the time lap one was complete.  The Mifflin, PA driver settled in there and rode home as the runner up.

The lineup for the second heat race was set by inverting the starting lineup of the first, which meant Berry would roll to the green from the pole.  In heat two he surged ahead of the field to a comfortable lead and was never challenged, claiming the win and a very solid point total in The Tire Mart / JDS Racing / Berry’s Siding & Seamless Gutter / Locust Hill Custom Butcher Shop / Nathan Berry Beef Farm / A&C Racing Engines / Swift Springs / Addicted2DirtPR.com / Penske Racing Shocks / Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic / VP Racing Fuels / Rocket Chassis XR1 No.86.

Berry started the 25-lap feature event from the outside pole position and had his sights set on taking advantage of the high line and clean air to get out in front.  The opening lap did not work out quite like he pictured.  Berry got loose, lost momentum and gave up a couple spots.

Berry collected himself and by lap four had started working on recovering the lost track position when suddenly the rains came, bringing a stop to the action for the night.

The remaining 21 laps will be completed at a later date.

“The car was really good in our heat races.  I could make it work where I needed to so I could make the most of the best spots on the racetrack.  I want to thank Josh, my dad and all the guys for all their hard work to get us there.“, Berry commented.

“We didn’t change much for the feature, but we were too loose, and it cost us on the opening lap.  Maybe the rain actually helped us, and we can be better when the race resumes.“

Up Next

Austin Berry Racing will take the next two weekends off to focus on preparations for the upcoming Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series invasion of Port Royal Speedway for the Rumble by the River 2-day event, which will pay $50,000 to the winner of Saturday night’s finale!

Season Stats

11 races, 0 wins, 3 top 5’s, 5 top 10’s, 7 top 15’s, 10 top 20’s