Progress and Patience: Austin Berry Quietly Making Gains with New Approach on and off the Track

June 7th at Port Royal Speedway turned out to be another good example of the way Berry and his team must make decisions.  During his heat race at the Appalachian Mountain Speedweek show, Berry was challenging for second, but his engine temp had risen to undesirable heights, so he was forced to drop out to prevent any significant damage.

Back in the pits, the crew found a broken engine cooling fan.  While Berry could have replaced the fan and raced the B-main that night, he and the team chose to park the car for the night so they could fully evaluate it at the shop to ensure there had been no damage to the Tuscarora Restoration, Juniata Veterinary Clinic, Berry’s Siding & Seamless Gutter, Dye It Rite, SRI Performance, VP Racing Fuels No.86.

“We have to be smart and not take unnecessary risks with our equipment right now.  A major failure right now could sideline us for a long time.”, Berry said.  

PRODUCTIVE SHOP TIME

Even though the race schedule has been light so far this season, it doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot of work going on.  Berry and his team have been busy in the shop evaluating their setups and looking for ways to improve the handling of their Rocket XR1 Chassis.

“We seem to find ourselves fighting a tight racecar a lot.  That means when I want it to turn and rotate, it wants to push the front end up the track instead.”, Berry explained.

“It’s something we have battled.  Sometimes we kinda solve it, but overall it doesn’t give the car the feel I want, so we have been working hard to find a setup package that gives me the balance I want and eliminates the push.”

After a lot of shop hours to make significant changes to their racecar, Berry was anxious to hit the track and find out if their hard work had them headed in the right direction.  The weather made it a bit of a gamble, but it looked promising enough to load up and hit the road June 28th to race the Spence Memorial at Winchester Speedway in Virginia.  

LET’S SEE WHAT WE’VE GOT

After a sunny afternoon, rain hit the track minutes before hot laps and delaying the start of the program.  When racing finally did get started, the track went from greasy to fast to rough as hot laps, qualifying, and heats took place, with weather still making itself known from time to time.

When he did hit the track, Berry timed 3rd quickest in his group and scored a runner-up finish in his heat race.

“It was a tricky surface for sure.  There was so much grip, I had a hard time keeping my left side tires on the ground.”, Berry commented.

“My car was really good.  It had more than I could use under the conditions.  I kinda had to be carefully aggressive and just take what I could get without risking my equipment.”

Ultimately, the promoter, in the interest of driver safety, pulled the plug on the show before the heats were completed.

THE NEXT TEST

Berry’s assessment of the changes to his car on the abbreviated night in Virginia was that they had something good going.  

“The conditions were unusual, but I could still tell the car was much better.  I wasn’t shoving the nose at all.”, an optimistic Berry explained.

With that in mind and anxious to get more laps, Berry planned two races around the Independence Day holiday.  The first was the Firecracker 76 at Bedford Speedway in Pennsylvania on July 3rd.

Berry started second in his heat race and held a firm grip on the spot throughout.  In the main event, he started 8th and made his way forward to challenge for 4th at one point.

He ultimately ended up 6th after dealing with some lapped traffic and doing battle with a familiar foe or two.  All in all, it was a solid night.

“We were pretty good.  It’s tough to pass here, so track position is key.  I’m happy with where we are.  We’ve made good progress on our setup, plus I got to race with my good buddy Tyler Ritchey for a while.”, Berry commented.  

BACK ON FAMILIAR TURF

Berry’s second event of the holiday weekend was just ten miles from his shop on July 5th at Port Royal Speedway.  ‘The Speed Palace’, as it’s known, is where Berry has the most laps in a super late model, so this would be a good opportunity to evaluate the recent setup changes.

The answer came quickly.  In Berry’s heat race, he raced to a runner-up finish from his 3rd starting spot.

“I had a great car in the heat race.  Best car I’ve had here in a while.  I’m excited because this new package we implemented has us competitive again.”, Berry said.

“I probably had a good enough car to win the heat race, but the line Andrew (Yoder) was running took away my best option, so I didn’t take any risks.”

The qualifying run provided Berry with the 4th starting spot and a lot of confidence for the 25-lap A-main.

Unfortunately, things went sour early.  Berry caught a rut in turn two of the opening lap, which not only cost him a couple of positions, it initiated the demise of his right rear tire.

“I could smell rubber right away, so I knew it was going flat from the get-go.”, a disappointed Berry explained.

With the tire going down, Berry lost another couple of positions, and then on lap five, the tire let go, shredding it and sending him to the work area for a replacement.

“Man, I don’t need good luck…I’d just like the bad breaks to stay away for a while so we can show what we’ve got.  I want my guys to get some payoff for all their hard work.”, Berry added.

Officially, Berry finished 17th, but at least he came away knowing they are making the right changes and they have speed again.

“I believe we were a top-five car tonight without the tire issue.  The bad breaks are hard to swallow, but I’m going to focus on the fact that we have speed and a good handling racecar again.  If we keep digging, we’ll get the finishes we are capable of.”, a very patient and confident Berry stated.

• Date/Location:  June 7, 2025 / Port Royal Speedway, Port Royal, PA
• Division:  Super Late Model
• Stats: Group Qualifying 10th, Heat 9th (4), A-main DNQ

• Date/Location:  June 28, 2025 / Winchester Speedway, Winchester, VA
• Division:  Super Late Model
• Stats: Group Qualifying 3rd, Heat 2nd (2), A-main RAIN

• Date/Location:  July 3, 2025 / Bedford Speedway, Bedford, PA
• Division:  Super Late Model
• Stats: Heat 2nd (2), A-main 6th (8)

• Date/Location:  July 5, 2025 / Port Royal Speedway, Port Royal, PA
• Division:  Super Late Model
• Stats: Heat 2nd (3), A-main 17th (4)