Josh Berry Wins First Cup Race at Las Vegas

Josh Berry won his First NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday. Piloting the iconic No. 21 Ford, Berry fended off a determined Daniel Suárez in the closing laps to clinch the team’s 101st Cup Series triumph and secure his spot in the 2025 playoffs.

The race began smoothly, but several top contenders encountered issues as green-flag pit stops commenced on Lap 32. Ryan Blaney’s crew struggled with securing the front left tire, causing a significant delay and putting him two laps behind. Chase Briscoe faced an even bigger setback when his team failed to tighten the left rear wheel.

Despite their warnings, the tire completely detached on Lap 34. Briscoe had to be towed to pit road and received a two-lap penalty, while his crew is now automatically suspended for the uncontrolled tire.

Pit road continued to be challenging as both Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch were penalized for speeding. Hamlin served a pass-through penalty, while Busch moved to the apron and then fell to the back of the field. On the track, Austin Cindric emerged as a strong competitor. After an impressive qualifying performance, he battled with Alex Bowman for the lead in the first stage and eventually advanced to win Stage 1.

During the second stage, pit road was a hub of turmoil. Alex Bowman, initially in the top five, made a sudden pit stop due to a vibration, causing him to fall back significantly. Shortly after, Shane van Gisbergen, already struggling at the back, experienced a right front tire failure and spun out, leading to a caution on Lap 108.

Many cars headed to pit road, including Christopher Bell, who narrowly avoided a mishap similar to Chase Briscoe's. Upon exiting the pit stall, his crew realized the left front tire wasn't secured. Unable to return, his team advised him to stop at teammate Chase Briscoe's pit stall for service, opting for a lesser penalty than losing the wheel on the track.

Chase Elliott, a strong contender earlier, made a rare error by speeding on pit road. The resulting pass-through penalty dropped him out of the top 20, forcing a comeback effort. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch's challenging race worsened when he lost a right rear tire on the track, hitting the wall and heading to the garage for extensive repairs.

The caution allowed Hamlin to get back on the lead lap, while Alex Bowman was caught speeding on his pit road entry.

Then, on lap 128, Shane van Gisbergen's right front tire failed again.

On the restart, William Byron was in P1 but faced pressure from Kyle Larson. With fresher tires, Larson quickly overtook Byron and secured the Stage 2 victory.

During the third stage, Cody Ware caused another caution by spinning. Cars, including Carson Hocevar and Ty Gibbs, headed to pit road.

As Hocevar was leaving and Gibbs was entering, they made contact, causing Gibbs to spin backward into his pit box. Some teams, like Elliott, Cindric, and Chastain, chose a two-tire stop to improve track position. However, the advantage of two fresh tires was short-lived with 72 laps remaining and a four-wide battle on the backstretch.

Chaos ensued mid-pack when drivers ran out of space, leading to AJ Allmendinger clipping and spinning Ricky Stenhouse Jr. As cars piled up, Ryan Blaney and Erik Jones spun and collided, with Bubba Wallace also getting caught in the wreck.

Drivers on two new tires used the caution period to return to pit road and change their left sides. All three drivers who did so finished the race in the top ten.

The ninth caution of the day was due to another blowout when Noah Gragson's right front tire blew, causing him to hit the wall. This happened just moments after Kyle Busch, who had just returned to the track, scraped the wall and went back to pit road.

On the restart, Josh Berry and Daniel Suarez battled for several laps until Berry finally passed Suarez and drove away in clean air to secure the win.