JOSH BERRY
Phoenix Season Finale Advance
No. 4 Texas A&M University Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Event Overview
● Event: NASCAR Cup Series Season Finale (Round 36 of 36)
● Time/Date: 3 p.m. EST on Sunday, Nov. 10
● Location: Phoenix Raceway
● Layout: 1-mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 312 laps/312 miles (502 kilometers)
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 60 laps / Stage 2: 125 laps / Final Stage: 127 laps
● TV/Radio: NBC / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Notes of Interest
● Phoenix Raceway marks the end of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, with four drivers duking it out for the title of NASCAR Cup Series champion. But for the four Stewart-Haas Racing drivers, it is the end of an era. Josh Berry, who joined the team ahead of the 2024 season to make his fulltime premier series debut, will drive the No. 4 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for the final time. It was announced May 28 that Stewart-Haas would shut its doors for good at season’s end. Berry, who will drive another Ford next season, has just one more opportunity at the 1-mile desert oval this weekend to etch his name in the Stewart-Haas history books. Earlier this season, in this year’s March race at Phoenix, Berry started at the rear of the field after spinning during his qualifying run and the subsequent repairs to his No. 4 Ford Mustang. He maneuvered his way forward during the 312-lap race and picked up 10 positions on the tricky, low-banked tri-oval, taking the checkered flag in 26th.
● Berry had one other start at Phoenix behind the wheel of a NextGen car when he filled in for an injured Chase Elliott for Hendrick Motorsports in the March 2023 race. He started 17th and finished 10th.
● Outside the Cup Series, Berry has five NASCAR Xfinity Series starts racing the No. 8 entry for JR Motorsports. Best of those was his third-place finish from the eighth starting position in March 2022. His current Stewart-Haas teammate Noah Gragson won that race.
● Crew chief Rodney Childers will call his final race for Stewart-Haas Sunday. It marks a bittersweet end to Childers’ run with the team that was punctuated by his previous driver Kevin Harvick’s 2014 NASCAR Cup Series championship. Since joining Stewart-Haas in 2014, Childers collaborated on 37 victories, 150 top-five finishes, 234 top-10s, and 24 pole awards. His record at Phoenix is particularly impressive as he and Harvick amassed five wins, 12 top-fives, 23 top-10s, three pole awards, and 1,238 laps led from 2014 through 2023.
● This weekend, the No. 4 Ford Mustang Dark Horse dons the maroon and digital camouflage colors of Texas A&M University. Texas A&M is driven by a tradition of excellence and passion to continually improve. It is a destination of choice for those who serve or have served to pursue higher education. The link with NASCAR is an appropriate one as the sanctioning body has long honored its nation’s service members, most notably with its annual NASCAR Salutes program, a tenured initiative featuring important associations with Honor and Remember, which recognizes fallen service members and their families, and Sound Off, a nonprofit organization that works to reduce veteran suicide through free and anonymous mental health for veterans and service members.
● Recently named the top university in Texas and the No. 11 public university in the nation by The Wall Street Journal, Texas A&M’s forward momentum is evidenced by a number of recent recognitions. In a testament to its dedication to academic excellence and innovation, the College of Engineering was named a top-10 public engineering school by U.S. News & World Report, with the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering ranked best in the nation. The college also secured the top spot for engineering research expenditures in fiscal year 2023, with $444.7 million in spending. The Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering – part of both the College of Engineering and College of Agriculture and Life Sciences – is also ranked No. 1 in the nation.
● In addition to providing an exemplary student experience, the university is also educating the next generation of leaders who will put Texas A&M’s Core Values into practice, as reflected by the remarkable number of Aggies leading America’s companies. Texas A&M is tied for No. 1 among the nation’s public universities and No. 5 overall for the number of graduates serving as CEOs of Fortune 500 companies today.
Josh Berry, Driver of the No. 4 Texas A&M University Ford Mustang Dark Horse
It was nearly a five months ago, May 28 to be exact, when SHR announced it would be closing down. That moment is nearly upon us with Phoenix Raceway serving as the season finale. What is your takeaway from your time at SHR?
“Well, I mean, it’s most definitely been a whirlwind over the past, really, two years just taking it all in. But honestly, I’m just really grateful for my time at SHR and the opportunity I got to drive the 4 car and race in the Cup Series. It was just such a life-changing opportunity for me, and I think it’s been a challenge at times, and it’s been a challenge navigating through all the change and what our futures are and everything that’s been going on. But the reality of this is it’s still sad because there are a lot of great people, great men and women at Stewart-Haas Racing, tons and tons of great people all across the board that made that place what it is and made it great. So I’m just thankful for the opportunity to get to race with those guys and learn from them and get to compete with them. Obviously, I’m looking forward to next year and thankful I got an opportunity, but still I’m going to look back very fondly on this year.”
The restarts at Phoenix can get a little crazy – how do you manage your level of aggression and your positioning on the track, especially late in the race?
“It’s hard and so much can happen that is out of your control. The biggest thing for me is to study those restarts and see which moves are good and which aren’t. Not every restart is going to be perfect, especially if you’re in the pack, but it’s just important to have the right mentality about making those moves and also keeping your car clean, especially early in the race.”
No. 4 Texas A&M University Team Roster
Primary Team Members
Driver: Josh Berry
Hometown: Hendersonville, Tennessee
Crew Chief: Rodney Childers
Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina
Car Chief: Robert “Cheddar” Smith
Hometown: Whitewater, Wisconsin
Engineer: Dax Gerringer
Hometown: Gibsonville, North Carolina
Engineer: Billy Kuebler
Hometown: Saline, Michigan
Spotter: Eddie D’Hondt
Hometown: Levittown, New York
Over-The-Wall Members
Front Tire Changer: Shayne Pipala
Hometown: Frankfort Square, Illinois
Rear Tire Changer: Dakota Ratcliff
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Tire Carrier: Jon Bernal
Hometown: Holland, Michigan
Jack Man: Kapil Fletcher
Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fuel Man: Corey Coppola
Hometown: Bluefield, West Virginia
Road Crew Members
Mechanic: Tyler Trosper
Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina
Mechanic: Chris Capaldi
Hometown: Armada, Michigan
Tire Specialist: Zac Lupien
Hometown: Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Engine Tuner: Robert Brandt
Hometown: Mobile, Alabama
Transporter Co-Driver: Jake Zierhoffer
Hometown: Billerica, Massachusetts
Transporter Co-Driver: Stephen Mitchell
Hometown: Woodville, Ohio
