Dale Earnhardt Jr. is revelling in the recognition that Josh Berry is getting after signing for Stewart-Haas Racing.
Berry has finally made it to the top of the NASCAR series after signing for SHR as a driver replacing the veteran Kevin Harvick for the No. 4 Ford.
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Given that Berry will be 33 when he starts driving for SHR next season, it has been a long way to the top for the current Xfinity Series driver. And this long journey was helped in lots of ways by Dale Jr, one of which was helping him to get a full-time Xfinity Series ride last year. After the signing, Earnhardt Jr. called Berry “a driver with great race craft and a turn-key winner” and said that he cried when he heard the news.
“That was basically like, ‘Hey, here’s like a very meager chance to show what you can do. Go out there, and you have to make it happen…I cried like if he was my brother. It’s hard to describe the emotion, but it was incredible,” Dale Jr. said.
Berry, on his part, credited his recent signing with SHR to meeting Dale Jr. and what followed.
“The timing of Dale and I getting together, that was crucial. If that doesn’t happen, I don’t know that I would’ve ever raced a stock car, or how much more I would’ve raced at all, just because racing overextended us financially,” Berry continued. “Those years of racing and winning, and the people I was around and worked with, prepared me for the opportunities that I’ve gotten, and they’ve prepared me to capitalize on this opportunity with Stewart-Haas Racing. Even without knowing where it would ultimately take me, I’d do it all over again.”
While it might have taken a lot of hard work to get here, the hardest one will begin for Berry when he takes the wheel of the No. 4 Ford next season.