RELATED: Full results from Richmond
RICHMOND, Va. -- Josh Berry, making just his third career start in NASCAR's XFINITY Series, and his first at Richmond International Raceway, scored an impressive seventh-place finish during Friday night's Virginia529 College Savings 250, rounding out an impressive evening for the JR Motorsports organization.
Defending series champion Chase Elliott picked up his first win of the season, and teammate Regan Smith finished sixth.
But the 24-year-old Berry, a Late Model standout from Hendersonville, Tennessee, garnered just as much attention as he consistently battled his way through the field in the organization's No. 88 Chevrolet.
"I just struggled a little bit on restarts," Berry said afterward. "I felt like it took me four or five laps to get going. Once we did, the car was really, really good.
"I've got a lot to learn (on pit road) and a lot to improve but I think each stop got a little bit better. We got blocked in on the last one, which hurt us for probably having a shot to win.
"After that, we were just trying to battle back. … I'm really proud of the team; they did a great job and brought a great car here this weekend, obviously, and made my learning curve a lot (shorter)."
Berry, who started fifth, was reeling in race leader Brian Scott when the fourth caution of the night appeared for an accident involving Jeremy Clements, ending a run of more than 80 laps under green.
Berry came off pit road fifth.
It was a scene repeated on two more occasions -- Berry racing his way back inside the top five only to lose the track position after hitting pit road.
"It was a little bit frustrating, but at the same time I think it helped knowing some of those guys were going to come back to me," Berry said. "I was more frustrated with myself because I felt I could have done a better job on the restarts holding positions. I felt like some of these guys that are regulars in the series out-hustled me on those first couple of laps. …
"I wish we didn't have that last caution. But usually that happens … if I'm going to run more, I've got to improve on these restarts and we'll have some more opportunities to win."
It was Berry's only XFINITY Series start with the team this season, and no additional starts are on his schedule. He'll continue to compete in his Late Model entry, also fielded by JRM, through the remainder of the year.
In a pair of NXS efforts last season, Berry finished 12th at Iowa and 25th at Homestead.
Friday night's effort was enough to bring multiple JRM employees by Berry's pit stall after the race to offer congratulations.
RELATED: Dale Jr. pleased with JRM's run at Richmond
"Josh did all we asked for really," team co-owner Dale Earnhardt said. "I told him that when we came here with Jeffrey (Earnhardt) a couple of years ago, that Jeffrey was in the top-10 late in the race and had a great shot at a good finish and he did everything we asked him to do. And that's what I expected of Josh. He did a great job.
"He showed his inexperience on and off pit road but with more racing and more opportunity he's going to improve there. But he did showcase his ability and show that in a good car that he's capable of running with these guys."
Earnhardt Jr. said, he'd have no qualms about putting Berry in an XFINITY Series ride as soon as possible if the funding could be secured.
"We'd love to get him more opportunities to race; it just really comes down to finding a partner that wants to handle the expense of taking a car to the race track on the weekend," he said. "I'm ready to race Josh every week. We've just got to find a partner that's excited to be on board with Josh."