Tag Archive for: #centralPA

For years, Austin Berry was accustomed to winning.  He won in go karts.  He won in legends cars.  He didn’t just win now and then.  He won a lot.  Almost six years ago he stepped up to super late models and the wins stopped coming.  Knowing how competitive the division is, it certainly wasn’t a surprise, but after a few years, the moments of doubt began to creep in.  At times he doubted himself.  At times he doubted his equipment.  Would he ever win again?  

Through it all, Berry has been working hard and learning everything he can, trying to get back to victory lane in a very tough division.  He’s been doing it in and around the Central Pennsylvania region by competing at some of the toughest tracks, against some of the toughest weekly competition in the country.  Saturday night June 12th, 2021, all of that hard work finally paid off.  Berry won a nail-biting, thrilling 25-lap A-main, defeating top regional names like Feathers, Flinner, Stuhler, Lathroum and Rine.

A field of 32 cars entered competition Saturday night at Port Royal Speedway and were divided into four, 8-lap heat races, with lineups set by a random draw.  The top five finishers would transfer directly to the A-main, but more importantly, the top three finishers would be included in the handicapping system to line up the top 12 starting positions in the night’s feature event.

Berry started 3rd in his heat race, but slipped back to 4th and out of a handicap spot in the early going.  He was able to find his rhythm, improve his line, and chase down Mike Lupfer to reclaim 3rd on lap 6.  He held that position to the end and claimed one of the handicap transfer spots.

Troubles earlier in the season had Berry sitting lower in the track points than hoped, but it benefitted them on this night.  As a result of the handicapping system, the Berry’s Siding & Seamless Gutter, Locust Hill Custom Butcher Shop, Addicted2DirtPR.com, Nathan Berry Beef Farm, A&C Racing Engines, JDS Racing, Ontime Body & Graphic, Swift Springs, Penske Racing Shocks, Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic, VP Racing Fuels, Rocket Chassis XR1 took the green in the 25-lap feature from the second position.

Austin was able to surge to the lead at the drop of the green and build a comfortable lead in the opening laps.  Meanwhile, Trevor Feathers, Colton Flinner and Gary Stuhler, who had started 8th, 9th and 10th respectively, were beginning their charge toward the front.  Feathers was able to move into 2nd on a lap 7 restart.  He momentarily showed himself on the inside of Berry, but couldn’t complete the pass.  Meanwhile, Flinner moved past Stuhler into 3rd.  The three pursued Berry feverishly over the remaining laps, swapping positions among themselves on a couple occasions but remaining within striking distance of Berry throughout the battles.  

The final caution occurred with eight laps remaining.  After that the battles only got more intense, and far too close for Berry’s comfort.  Choosing his lines carefully in an effort to balance his own ability to drive hard, while playing some defense by taking away the momentum of those in pursuit, Berry used every inch of the Speed Palace, and then some.  He made contact with the outside wall with his spoiler on at least one occasion., bending it slightly and knocking out a support brace.  

Over the final three laps, Berry, Feathers and Flinner ran a torrid pace “under a blanket” as they say.  The white flag waived and the front pair entered turn one side by side, with Flinner hot on their tail.  Berry was able to get sole possession of the lead by the time they reached turn three and he dove to the bottom to take away Feather’s chance at a slide job.  Meanwhile, Flinner turned up the wick on his machine, hammering the top side hard to get a run off turn four to the checkered flag.  Stuhler continued to lurk close behind the trio, looking for a gap to shoot through.  With some quick thinking, Berry allowed his chariot to slide up across turn four, forcing Flinner to check up just enough for the ABR No.86 to speed away with lead for good.   Berry won by a slim 0.169 seconds and the top 4 flashed across the line in a span of just 0.639 seconds.  Feathers, Flinner and Stuhler had collectively passed 18 cars to finish 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively, but none of them was able to get by Austin Berry.  

A understandably excited, emotional and exhausted Berry climbed from his Rocket Chassis XR1, climbed on the roof, and let loose a celebration that had been building within him for six years.  “That was unbelievable.  That was the hardest 25 laps I have ever driven around this place.  I am absolutely worn out,” Berry said.

As Austin Berry and the rest of the ABR team rolled their No.86 out of the trailer Saturday night, they had the same goal as every other time they had unloaded this season:  keep working, keep learning, and keep moving forward.  Something is different lately though.  The expectations are justifiably higher.  

Saturday, June 5th brought ABR to Port Royal Speedway.  It was Camera and Autograph night for the fans, which is enjoyable for the teams as well and gets the night off to a fun start.  Austin enjoyed meeting and chatting with numerous fans.

Three heats were set by pill draw for the 29 super late model teams signed in to compete.  Berry started 4th in heat number three in the Berry’s Siding & Seamless Gutter, Locust Hill Custom Butcher Shop, Addicted2DirtPR.com, Nathan Berry Beef Farm, A&C Racing Engines, JDS Racing, Ontime Body & Graphic, Swift Springs, Penske Racing Shocks, Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic, VP Racing Fuels, Rocket Chassis XR1.  He quickly jumped into 2nd and appeared capable of challenging for the top spot early on.  Following a heated battle, about halfway through the 10-lap qualifying race, Berry lost 2nd to Dan Stone.  The battle seemed to take Berry a little out of his rhythm and before the checkered flag dropped, he lost one more spot and finished in 4th.

“I had a 2nd place car and made a couple poor decisions that landed me in 4th.  Nothing to do but learn from it and keep digging“, Berry commented after the heat race.

The qualifying result equated to Austin starting a little deeper in the feature lineup than desired.  In the opening laps, Berry started to push forward from his 12th starting spot.  There wasn’t a moment to let down his guard as the 25-lap main event wore on.  There was always someone challenging for position to Berry’s inside or outside.  When the dust had settled, he had slipped back a few positions, officially logging a 16th place finish.

After crawling from his car, Berry shared his thoughts on the night.  “We just missed it.  We were good early but not late.  That’s the opposite of our usual night, so maybe that’s progress.  We just need to put it all together now.”  He continued, “We’re starting to build a good notebook now and making finer adjustments for each place we go.”  Berry went on to express his thanks to JDS Racing and Jim Stevens, Locust Hill Custom Butcher Shop and Berry’s Siding and Seamless Gutter for everything they do to make it possible to compete.

ABR achieved two of it’s three goals this week.  They worked hard and they learned a lot.  They just didn’t move forward, at least not on the track.  It’s likely though that in the big picture, they did.

Let’s remember Albert Einstein’s words:  “Failure is success in progress.“

UP NEXT:  Austin Berry Racing will return to to their home track, Port Royal Speedway, June 5th for Dollar Dog Night!  Senior citizens will also be admitted at a discounted price that night.

Following a top 10 run at Port Royal Speedway on May 1st, Austin Berry was anxious to return to the track and back up that finish with another consistent outing.  Unfortunately, Mother Nature forced the cancellation of the May 8th ULMS show at his home track and thus forced him and the rest of his ABR team to wait an additional week.      

Berry, crew chief Josh Sheaffer, and the team made the tow south to Hagerstown, MD for the annual Frank Sagi Tribute race.  Hagerstown Speedway is not a place where Austin has logged a lot of laps, and the event was sure to draw a competitive field, so it would definitely put the team out of their comfort zone and provide a good measuring stick for their progress this season.  

Sunday night 31 cars signed in for the $3500-to-win event just south of the Mason-Dixon line.  The field was divided into four groups for 5-lap, combined hot lap/time trial sessions.  Teams later heat-raced in the same groups.  On his laps under the clock, Berry registered the 4th quickest time in his group, which in turn meant he would start 4th in his heat race.  Despite having a car he believed was good enough to finish 3rd in that 8-lap heat race, Austin felt he made a couple mistakes that resulted in his 5th place finish.

“Hagerstown can be a tricky place, especially early in the evening when the sun is beating down on one end of the track, but the other end of the track is in the shade.  You’ve got dust flying at one end and rooster tails of mud at the other.  Not having a lot of laps there probably hurt us in making setup decisions early in the night for qualifying.“, Berry explained. 

After making adjustments to his Rocket Chassis XR1 in an effort to keep up with track conditions and to improve the handling, Berry lined up 20th for the 30-lap main event.  He was able to make moves and gain positions early on, and as the racing groove got wider, the high line provided an opportunity to build momentum and make a few more passes.  One notable positive sign that the team had made the right decisions was that Berry accomplished the majority of his passing without the benefit of restarts.  The caution flag flew only once, with 5 laps remaining in the event.  Ultimately the Mifflin, PA wheelman came home 13th, in the midst of a 3-wide battle that nearly earned him 11th.

Berry was encouraged by the outing.  “In the past, we would have struggled to make the show against a field like this.  Tonight, we qualified through our heat race and passed cars in the feature.  We earned what we got tonight and that feels pretty good.”  Austin continued, “I really want to thank JDS Racing and Jim Stevens for his support.  With his guidance we have been having more and more nights like this.  We’re finally seeing the consistency we’ve been chasing for a while now.  I’m excited for the rest of this season.” 

After an off weekend, next up for the Berry’s Siding & Seamless Gutter, Locust Hill Custom Butcher Shop, Addicted2DirtPR.com, Nathan Berry Beef Farm, A&C Racing Engines, Ontime Body & Graphic, Swift Springs, Penske Racing Shocks, Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic, VP Racing Fuels, Rocket Chassis XR1 No.86 will be a trip to Bedford Speedway on Friday, May 28th for the Turk Burket Tribute race.

It had been a long, tiring three weeks full of hard work since ABR loaded up their bent Rocket XR1 at Selinsgrove Speedway after getting caught up in someone else’s mess.  In that span of time, the team found a lightly used, one year newer Rocket chassis, made a multi-day trip to Georgia for a family commitment, and assembled the newer car piece by piece.  It took a final push in the shop, one that included a lot of helping hands from another team over the final days, to be ready to load up just in time to head to Bedford Speedway on Friday, April 30th for their scheduled $8,500 to win show.  It was a big effort for a small team.

Unfortunately Mother Nature rained on their return, washing out the big ULMS show on Friday, April 30th at the old fairgrounds speedway.  On the bright side, Berry would get to shake down the new car the next night at the track where he has the most laps in a super late model, Port Royal Speedway. 

A stout field of 38 cars signed in at “The Speed Palace” Saturday night.  The program called for a dual heats with passing points, a format used once or twice each season to create a unique show.  In this format, each heat race is split into two 6-lap segments.  The initial lineup is set by a pill draw, then after 6 laps, points are awarded based on where a car started vs. where it finished.  Next, the original starting lineup is inverted and the field runs another 6 laps, after which points are awarded again in the same manner.

Austin started on the pole of the fourth heat and pulled out to a healthy lead until the caution flag waved with two laps remaining in the first segment.  On the restart, a desperation slider into turn one by the second place car pushed Berry to the wall to avoid contact.  He recovered, but Dan Stone slipped by both cars to grab the lead.  Austin held on to finish 2nd to Stone.  The second segment inversion saw Berry start 8th and methodically work his way to 4th in the quick 6-lap race.  Lap times showed Berry was turning the fastest laps in the field during that final segment.  It’s good news when your car works in clean air.  It’s great news when it works in traffic.

The qualifying effort was good enough to place Berry 8th in points, meaning he would start the feature event from outside row 4.  The feature lineup was loaded with notable northeast late model names like the Eckert, Robinson, Yoder, Suhler, Rine, Winters, Covert, Knaub, and several more.  No late model show at Port Royal is easy these days.

“This car is definitely different than our old one.  It’s looser.  We have to tweak it to tighten it up just a bit.  Our old car was exactly the opposite even though every part we bolted on this car came off the old one.“, Berry explained as he shrugged.   He was also grinning as he shared that insight.  Maybe that’s because ‘loose’ is fun to drive…and maybe it’s because he knows ABR has something in this car they can definitely work with.

On the initial start of the feature, Berry surged around the top into 6th.  Only a couple laps into the 25-lap main event, the caution appeared.  On the ensuing restart, which utilized the ‘Delaware Double File’ method, Berry had to start on the inside line.  This is because in this restart procedure, the leader lines up out front all alone, then the second place car chooses whether he wants inside or outside of the second row.  From there, all even numbered positions follow his choice and all odd numbered positions take the opposite line.  Trapped down low, Berry lost a couple positions over the next lap or two.

Over the remaining 22 laps, there were three more restarts.  Despite another inside line restart with 10 laps remaining, Austin managed to stay in the fight.  With only a fraction of a second separating the back half of the top 10, Berry floated between 7th and 9th positions, claiming 8th for good with 4 laps remaining.  

Austin and the entire ABR team were all smiles following their run.  You could feel the positive energy in the pit as Berry recapped their night.  “Hell of a night for all the work that happened in the last two weeks. We spent more time the whole night working on making me comfortable in the cockpit than we did working on the setup of the car.  I feel the hard work ahead of time at the shop showed in the speed of the car.  The team all worked extremely hard and were able to give me a pretty damn good car for the feature.  Everyone worked well together.  Every time I came off the track, I had a list of things I wanted done and the whole team went to work.  It was a pretty solid night for our first night out with a new car and it was the first time this year we have been able to put an entire night together.  We heat raced well and were able to stay up front in the feature.“, Berry commented with a happy and confident tone in his voice.

That tone is likely because he knows this was just a shake down.  Now they will go back to the shop armed with some data and knowledge about this car that will help them be even more ready for the next race.  Certainly seems fair for Berry to be optimistic when you think about it that way. 

The next time ABR unloads the Berry’s Siding & Seamless Gutter, Locust Hill Custom Butcher Shop, Addicted2DirtPR.com, Nathan Berry Beef Farm, A&C Racing Engines, Ontime Body & Graphic, Swift Springs, Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic, VP Racing Fuels, Rocket Chassis XR1 No.86, they will be back at Port Royal Speedway with the ULMS on Saturday, May 8th to see if they can build on their recent momentum.