NASCAR Cup Series
By Staff Report
NASCAR.com
Published:
3 Minute Read
JR Motorsports Late Model driver Josh Berry put his impressive eNASCAR skills in the spotlight Saturday night, winning the second Saturday Night Thunder iRacing event at virtual Richmond Raceway after a series of flawless late-race restarts.
Having led for much of the race previously, real-world short-track ace Berry retook the lead for good on Lap 113 of the 125-lap showdown after a series of pit stops that saw the driver of the No. 88 shuffled from the lead due to some tire-two strategies from his competitors.
“I was able to get out front and kind of run my line,” said Berry, who led 106 laps on the evening. “Richmond’s always been a really good track to me. I’m really glad to be a part of this tonight.”
It was Landon Cassill in the lead following a late caution with 40 laps to go after taking two tires, with Logan Seavey — the inaugural event winner at Bristol Motor Speedway two weeks ago — lined up next to him in second after also taking two tires. Three laps later, though, Berry — who had led both Cassill and Ty Majeski before that caution — caught and passed Cassill to retake the lead.
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A caution shortly thereafter saw Chase Briscoe and Anthony Alfredo stay out, with Cassill and Berry restarting third and fourth, respectively, after two-tire stops. One more caution fell, setting up a final restart that saw Berry — who had climbed from fourth to second — pass Alfredo and pull away for the victory.
Majeski finished second behind Berry, with Chase Cabre, Ty Gibbs and Cassill completing the top five.
The race Saturday at Richmond was the second event under the Saturday Night Thunder banner, an event that complements the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series featuring NASCAR Cup Series stars on Sunday. It was an appetizer of sorts for Sunday’s main event, the Toyota Owners 150 presented by Toyota (1 p.m. ET, FOX, FS1, FOX Sports App). There are no transfers from Saturday Night Thunder to the 150-lap feature.
RELATED: Entry list for Sunday’s race
More than 40 drivers entered Saturday’s race, with 26 racing in the main event Saturday night. Drivers qualified for the A-Main through three 10-lap heats, with the top six drivers in each heat — 18 total drivers — advancing to the main event.
Following the three heats, two 15-lap last chance qualifier (LCQ) races were held with all the drivers who hadn’t already advanced. The top four finishers of each LCQ completed the field for the main race.
Below are the complete results and how drivers advanced to the A-Main.
ADVANCING FROM HEAT 1 1. Landon Cassill 2. Anthony Alfredo 3. Chase Briscoe 4. Kaz Grala 5. Logan Seavey 6. Will Rodgers
ADVANCING FROM HEAT 2 1. Ty Majeski 2. Alex Labbe 3. Landon Huffman 4. Cole Custer 5. Jeb Burton 6. Matthew Mills
ADVANCING FROM HEAT 3 1. Josh Berry 2. Chase Cabre 3. Bayley Currey 4. Ty Gibbs 5. Derek Kraus 6. Josh Bilicki
ADVANCING FROM LAST CHANCE QUALIFIER 1 1. Justin Allgaier 2. Ryan Truex 3. Brennan Poole 4. Michael McDowell
ADVANCING FROM LAST CHANCE QUALIFIER 2 1. Ruben Garcia Jr. 2. Blake Koch 3. Austin Cindric 4. Scott Stenzel