Tag Archive for: #victorylane

One major component of the equation for a race team to improve is simple, race more.  Another important part of the equation is travel.  Race a variety of tracks.  So far in 2021, compared to recent years, Austin Berry and his team are checking off those items, and it shows.  Of course, the equipment, knowledge, and decisions behind the wheel are big factors as well, and ABR has also seen improvements in those areas this season.  When you plug all of those into the equation, you get consistency and confidence.

After a week off, Berry and his team were anxious to get back to the track but rain forced the postponement of the Turk Burket Tribute race at Bedford Speedway in Pennsylvania.  Fortunately, the event was moved from May 28th to May 31st, which still fit the team’s schedule.  ABR was one of 20 teams to sign in to compete on Memorial Day.  Bedford Speedway is a half-mile oval located on the fairgrounds in Bedford, PA and it is a place where Berry doesn’t have many laps.  That means little experience or notes to rely on.  

After the hot lap sessions, Austin knew the car wasn’t quite where it needed to be, but there was no time to make changes before time trials, so he made some adjustments to the one thing he did have time to change, his driving approach.  It paid off.  Going out last for time trials, which is usually a disadvantage due to deteriorating track conditions, Berry registered the 8th quickest time overall and 6th best in his group.

The lineups for the heats were ‘heads-up’ based on the fastest time within their group, meaning the fastest cars started up front.  That meant Berry would start 6th in heat two.  After making some adjustments to his 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 No.86, he proceeded to post a strong run in the heat, moving forward two spots and finishing 4th in the stacked 8-lap qualifying race.

In the night’s 40-lap feature event, Berry started 8th and moved forward early.  He held strong in 7th, often using the top side of the track, trying to find his way into the top 5.  On lap 7, Matt Cosner was able to slip by, dropping Berry back to 8th.  For the bulk of the race, Austin held that position, right on the heels of 7th.  Unfortunately, the track began to take rubber, meaning there was a narrow line with the best traction, and little room to pass.  Following a mid-race restart, Berry got a little loose and gave up a spot to Chuck Clise.  Ultimately, he would ride home in 9th, logging a solid night overall for ABR.

“We have learned a ton already this year.  We’ve changed a lot of things and so far, it’s all led us in the right direction.  We have great supporters who have helped us in a lot of ways.  Jim Stevens at JDS Racing has really helped us learn.  All of those things have enabled us to move past some things that have consumed our time and energy in the past, so now we are able to focus on the next level of improvement“, Berry explained.

He continued, “In the pits and at the shop, we’re keeping better notes to make better decisions.  We’re changing our approach on tires because they wear differently when the car handles better.  I’m learning behind the wheel too.  A lot of folks don’t know how many years I spent racing in karts and legends on pavement.  I’m still working on how my approach behind the wheel should change on dirt.  We’re going the right direction but we still have a long way to go.  Now is when we have to work even harder.  We’re really close.“

Austin Berry Racing will return to to their home track, Port Royal Speedway, the next two weekends.  This Saturday, June 5th, is Camera and Autograph Night, which means the pits will be open to all ticket holders for about an hour prior to racing.  Be sure to come early, stop by the pits to say hello, and take a photo with Austin!  Check the speedway’s social media for specific times.  June 12th at Port Royal will be Dollar Dog Night and senior citizens are admitted at a discounted price.

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. 

Austin Berry was excited to get to the track on Friday, March 26th.  He had good reason to be.  During maintenance and prep at the shop during the week, the team had finally discovered the source of a mysterious issue they had been having with their right front shock for several races.  On top of that, after a couple years of losing the opportunity to Mother Nature, he was finally going to get to make his first start at the legendary Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, PA.  

Friday’s show at the ‘paper-clip’ shaped oval was sanctioned by the ULMS and 22 teams signed in to compete.  The Grove is known as a tricky track for even the most experienced wheelmen, so the 3 circuits Berry was able to make in his lone hot la session certainly didn’t provide all the answers he needed prior to his timed qualifying effort.  Going out 7th, he ended up recording the 19th quickest time on a very heavy and slightly greasy surface.  Having never made laps there before, it was difficult to judge whether the resolved shock issue had made much of a difference.  Saturday night would probably be a better time to evaluate that.

The timed qualifying determined the lineups for three 8-lap heats.  Given the number of cars registered, all cars would qualify for and start ‘straight up’ in the main event, meaning the heat winners start in the top 3 spots in the feature, followed by the second place qualifiers, and so on.  Austin started 7th in the first heat and was able to move forward.  Each lap was valuable experience.  He fended off repeated challenges from Billy Wampler and held on to finish 5th.  

The heat race effort provided Berry with the 13th starting spot in the 30-lap A-main.  The first 14 laps went smoothly before the first caution of the event appeared.  At the caution, Austin was still riding in the 13th position, working to figure out the best way to get around the speedway.  The track was still full of grip and the leaders had set a blistering pace, but Berry was able to hang with the quick pace and was still on the lead lap.  On the restart, he made some good choices and was able to start moving forward, finding himself in 11th on lap 19.  He challenged briefly for 10th but had to settle back into line.  Austin found a rhythm and brought 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 home in 11th place, still on the lead lap.  A very solid outing for his first visit to Williams Grove.

The following night brought another stout field of 36 super late models to Port Royal Speedway for a weekly pill-draw show.  For these ‘regular shows’, a random pill draw is used in lieu of timed qualifying to set the heat lineups.  The format would be 4 8-lap heats with 5 cars from each to qualify for the A-main.  The top 3 drivers would go to the redraw, a random drawing for the top 12 starting spots in the A-main.  

Austin started the evening a little behind the figurative eight ball, starting 9th in heat number four.  The heat race provided the first true feedback on the resolved shock issue, as Austin found himself in a good handling racecar and was able to quickly advance to 7th in under 2 laps.  A slight error in judgement put him over the cushion in turn 4, slipping back to 9th as lap 2 went in the books.   He regained his rhythm and fought back into 7th just past the halfway point and began to close on the 6th place car.  Berry ran out of laps and settled for a 6th place finish.  After crawling out of the car, Berry shook his head and reflected on a missed opportunity, “We were really good (in the heat).  If I had not slipped above the cushion on lap 2, I’m pretty certain we would have transferred to the feature.” 

He didn’t have time to dwell on it.  Austin was slated to start 8th in the 12-lap B-main.  The top 4 finishers from the event would transfer to fill the final starting spots for the A-main.  The team made some minor adjustments on their Rocket Chassis XR1 and rolled into staging for the final opportunity to transfer.  Berry once again had a car that responded to his liking, enabling him to move quickly into 7th on the opening lap and into 6th on lap two.  When the caution flag waved on lap 5 for third place running Gene Knaub, Austin had just powered into 5th, one away from a transfer spot.  The restart put Berry into the 4th and final transfer position.  

The field returned to green and Berry continued making smooth laps, finding himself on the heels of the 3rd place car as lap 7 went in the books.  As Austin navigated turn 4, he got a little higher than he had been running and brushed the spoiler on the fence.  It seemed pretty minor…until it tapped the fence again, slighter harder this time, as he exited turn 4.  That impact was enough to upset the balance of the car and shift the weight from the right rear to the left rear, leaving Berry fighting the wheel trying to regain the balance and keep it pointed toward turn 1.  Unfortunately his efforts were unsuccessful and he was left with two choices:  keep fighting it and clobber the outside wall or spin it out and avoid destroying the car.  He chose option two and ended his day facing traffic watching the field sail by.  The team was credited with a 13th place finish.

Given the struggles ABR has had in the early part of the 2021 season, you would have expected to find a very frustrated and angry ABR pit area after the B-main.  Maybe a wrench bouncing off a distant trailer wall?  Surprisingly, you would be wrong.  Well, half wrong anyway.  Austin Berry was actually smiling.  When asked about the grin, he responded, “Oh, don’t get me wrong.  I’m mad.”  Actually he may have used a different word than mad.  He was definitely upset.  So was the rest of the crew.  

The grin boiled down to this:  the good news of the week outweighed the disappointment of the past 30 minutes, and even the season for that matter.  The entire team realized the car finally had speed again.  The issue they found during the week, coupled with some other adjustments to the car, and also to Austin’s driving style, had made a significant difference.  They had finally crested the hill after searching and searching for the change(s) they needed to get back to where they had been in 2019.  Everyone at ABR understands the big picture.  They understand this sport is not easy.  It takes time and hard work to reach the goal, and there’s still plenty of work to be done.  They aren’t all the way to where they need to be yet, but now they can move forward, figuratively and literally.

After debriefing with the team, Berry was ready to chat and without being asked a question, he got right to it regarding the crash that took him out of a transfer spot.  “Well, I stepped on it.“, he said with a laugh.  “That one is all on me.  I learned a lesson that hard way there.“, he shrugged.  He explained that he had actually slowed entering turn 3 more than he had been, with a plan to turn down across turn 4 to get a run off the bottom and take a shot at third place.  When he got back on the throttle, it shoved the nose up the track and got him over the cushion, ultimately leading to the crash.  Wisdom says, take the transfer spot and move on.  Lesson learned the hard way.  

Asked for his final thought on the day, without hesitation Berry said, “I can’t wait to get back here next Saturday.”  I can understand why.  I think Austin Berry Racing is about to make folks take notice.  

ABR’s only race of the coming Easter weekend will be at Port Royal Speedway on Saturday, April 3rd.  It will be Camera and Autograph night at Port Royal Speedway, which means the pits will be open early so all fans can visit the pit area and get up close with the cars and teams.  Gates open at 3pm.  Please stop by, say hello to Austin and pick up a shirt or hoodie!  We have some sizes still available of our 2020 apparel and from the Racing For Time Pancreatic Cancer campaign car as well.  We will have 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 ready to tackle the Speed Palace!