Posted on by Zack Albert

Erik Jones had another brush with a season-changing victory Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a potential triumph that would have thrown a further jolt into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs picture. Instead, the consolation was a fortifying finish and a modest gain in the hunt for a postseason berth.

Jones spurred the Petty GMS Motorsports No. 43 Chevrolet to a fourth-place finish in Sunday’s Quaker State 400, notching his second top-five result of the season. The 26-year-old driver helped steady his course after an uneven batch of recent finishes, nearly cashing in again on a track using the series’ superspeedway rules package.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos

“We needed a tick more speed,” said Jones, who led 10 laps in the race’s final stage. “I think we had to do some things for handling that slowed us down a little bit. We were up there, but I couldn’t really break out and do much. When I got in the lead there, I wasn’t really quick enough to hold it myself. We were close. It feels good to just have a good race. We’ve had a rough month, so it’s nice to get a top five and get some points.”

Jones actually jumped up one spot to 17th in the Cup Series standings, but with the influx of 13 winners thus far onto the provisional 16-driver postseason grid, he remained 19th in the playoff standings. Jones stayed behind Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola in that category, but was able to whittle nine points off his deficit to the cutline, which is now 76.

MORE: Playoff watch rolls with seven races to go

Jones’ recent runs have lacked a measure of consistency. A seventh-place outcome at Gateway plus an 11th-place pop at Nashville were offset by finishes outside the top 20 on the road courses at Sonoma and Road America. His day at Atlanta, which packs superspeedway-style racing into an intermediate track size, represented a return to a sweet spot.

Jones finished sixth at Talladega Superspeedway in April, allowing the lead to slip away in the last bit of the final lap. His next shot at the same track type comes in the regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway, where he notched his first Cup Series win in the track’s annual 400-miler in 2018.

“It’s motivating,” Jones said. “I think our superspeedway and 1.5-mile stuff has been so good all year. We were close here in the spring in the end and we were close again today. We were close at Talladega and close in Daytona. So, all the superspeedway races, we’ve been really fast. We’re there, we just need to have one play out for us.”

It nearly did Sunday, where Jones had a prime viewing point for Chase Elliott’s run to the checkers, under intense pressure from eventual runner-up Ross Chastain, underdog Corey LaJoie, and Jones himself.

“I would have loved to have run that last lap out,” Jones said of the final caution flag, which froze the running order with half a lap remaining. “I think Ross and Chase were going to run each other pretty hard in (turns) three and four, and I would have loved to have a chance to make something happen. I feel like we’ve been close at a lot of superspeedways, just haven’t closed one out. I would love to get the No. 43 in Victory Lane and I hope we can do it before the playoffs.”

Posted on by Sean Montgomery

HAMPTON, Ga. — The on-track incidents continued for Ross Chastain in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and one of them involved a familiar face: Denny Hamlin.

Both the No. 1 Chevrolet of Chastain and the No. 11 Toyota of Hamlin were racing toward the front in the closing laps when Chastain clipped Hamlin’s left-rear and sent the No. 11 spinning from fourth place.

At first glance, it was a loose replay of their incident at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway earlier this year, one that sparked a feud between the two racers.

RELATED: Official results | Chastain involved in multi-car crash

But when asked about the routine run-ins with Hamlin and others, Chastain pumped the brakes.

“This one’s so different because I had so much damage,” Chastain said in a post-race interview. “Y’all know that I would take full responsibility if I just ran into him. I had so much damage, I was so much tighter, we had done a lot to free the car up and it was just way too tight. And I just couldn’t carry the throttle I could earlier and I still lifted some but it wasn’t enough.

“But I don’t put this one anywhere near the other incidents.”

The No. 1 Chevrolet saw its front end damaged after a Stage 2 tangle with Martin Truex Jr. According to Chastain, that made the car increasingly tougher to handle down the stretch.

“We had a lot of damage to repair and get it turning again,” said Chastain. “And we had to completely shift the balance of the car. … I should have lifted more and just slid up and was tight. I knew I was gonna be tight, it was just down to the end and I just overestimated the grip level and was sliding. And his left-rear is what caught me.”

After expressing his thoughts after the last incident, Denny Hamlin took a more cryptic approach in his post-race interview with NBC Sports: “It all works out in the end.”

WATCH: Hamlin’s full post-race interview

Hamlin had been hanging around the top five nearly all afternoon. The late spin and a subsequent crash seven laps later relegated the No. 11 team to a 25th-place finish.

“I truly hate it for those guys and him,” Chastain said. “I’ve gotten to know him a lot better the last few weeks. … We’ve got a relationship now where I can talk to him, I’ve got his phone number now. I definitely will [reach out to him] and keep working towards a better relationship there.”

Posted on by Deja Dorsey

HAMPTON, Ga. — Corey LaJoie’s last-ditch bid for his first NASCAR Cup Series victory went south Sunday in a final-lap crash at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

LaJoie led three times for a career-best 19 laps, but gave way to eventual winner Chase Elliott on the next-to-last lap of the Quaker State 400. LaJoie battled back in the Spire Motorsports No. 7 Chevrolet, but his high-side move was rebuffed by Elliott’s No. 9 Chevy.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos

LaJoie made contact with the outside retaining wall, and several other cars piled into the tangle. The caution flag ended the race, freezing the field with Elliott just ahead of runner-up Ross Chastain. LaJoie wound up 21st in the 36-car field.

LaJoie had signaled in an interview with NASCAR.com earlier in the week that his approach at the 1.54-mile Georgia track would be to “throw a Hail Mary and steal one.” He almost did, jumping up into the lead spot with a fuel-only pit stop late in the 400-mile event and staying at the front of the pack as the laps trickled down.

“If it was caution free, he probably would’ve been in trouble on fuel,” No. 7 crew chief Ryan Sparks said. “But I just had to kind of build him up and, you know, coach him through it, make sure he’s doing all the right things lifting, trying to save fuel when he can. You know, I haven’t had to call a race like that in a long time, so definitely felt good to be up there and gave me a little more confidence in our efforts and, you know, just excited to keep moving on, keep moving forward.”

Both Sparks and LaJoie mentioned that confidence was gained throughout the race, and Sparks made it clear that Sunday’s end result is nothing to hang their heads about.

“Super proud of, you know, everybody… it’s a lot of work for 30 people to bring Cup cars to the race track and be able to contend for a win like that,” Sparks said. “Obviously, a superspeedway increases that opportunity and we’ll try to take advantage of another at Daytona here in a few weeks.”

In reference to Daytona, LaJoie said his experience being up front in last year’s race should help.

“We were second coming to the white flag there last year, and I definitely was a rookie in that situation. Going to Daytona, we’re not using that car that was going to the junkyard,” LaJoie said. “But I’m sure that those guys, though, had the thing built and handled well and we’re going to have another solid game plan and execute like today. And hopefully we’re in the top two or three rows in the pay window again.”

This was the second time Cup Series drivers experienced the new configuration of Atlanta Motor Speedway. LaJoie came away from it reiterating his pride in Sunday’s performance although it wasn’t the happy ending to an underdog story.

“Obviously, it’s a bit of an equalizer. You know, people can discredit what we did today all they want. I know enough about the narrative,” LaJoie said. “You know, the guy that runs sixth is trying no less hard than the guy running first. (It’s like) playing chess with cars. Now you’re not dancing with the paddles and you’re not hanging it out and you’re not trying to find every morsel of grit. But there’s some heart to it.”

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on by Holly Cain

Chase Elliott is a former NASCAR Cup Series champion and currently the 2022 title leader. But finally scoring a dramatic victory Sunday afternoon at his home track – Atlanta Motor Speedway – in front of a vocal and adoring home crowd ranks right up there as far as he’s concerned.

Elliott’s No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet led a race-best 97 of the 260 laps and held off a charging field to win Sunday’s Quaker State 400 Presented by Walmart, ultimately securing the trophy when the caution flag came out in the closing portion of the frenzied final lap.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos

Corey LaJoie, who was dueling it out with Elliott on the last lap, brought out that caution after hitting the wall in Turn 1 in a final attempt to pull alongside and pass Elliott for what would have also been a popular first-career NASCAR Cup Series victory for the well-liked LaJoie.

“This one’s up there for sure, to win at your home track is a real big deal I think to any race car driver,’’ said Elliott, 26, of nearby Dawsonville, Ga. “I watched a lot of guys do it over the years, Jimmie [Johnson] out in California. We haven’t really had a very good run here, so I felt like today was a good opportunity for us.

“I’m just so proud. This is obviously home for me and home to a lot of great fans who made a lot of noise today. Couldn’t be more proud of our team.”

Obviously disappointed not to earn the victory, but not disheartened, LaJoie said he was encouraged by the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet team’s work on Sunday and boosted by the confidence of being in position to win late in a race.

“Closest I’ve ever been, for sure,” LaJoie said. “That was fun. I’m proud of my guys at Spire and everyone who’s helped us out.

“I made my move and it didn’t work out, and the siren is ringing in Dawsonville (Ga.) unfortunately,’’ LaJoie said referencing the famed Dawsonville (Ga.) Pool Room where the owners ring a bell to celebrate each of Elliott’s victories.

With 27 lead changes among 12 drivers and 13 caution periods, it was an eventful day on the newly-reconfigured and repaved Atlanta Motor Speedway’s 1.54-mile track, hosting its second event on its new layout. And there was plenty of drama from the hometown kid winning his series-best third race of the year to several dust-ups among popular drivers.

Ross Chastain, who had a busy day on track and was part of a couple of those incidents, rallied to finish runner-up to Elliott.

“I hated that I took the best car here and I tore it up a couple times, but yeah, it’s incredible,’’ Chastain said of rebounding to score his fifth top-two finish of the season.

“Hats off to Chevrolet and Trackhouse for bringing this fast of a Jockey Chevrolet to be able to come back. Our road crew and pit crew did an awesome job to rebound through all the damage repair and we had a shot and I got inside of the 9 [Elliott] coming off [turn] 2 coming to the checkered and the caution came out.”

After being collected in a nine-car accident just before the race’s midpoint, Chastain worked his way forward again only to make contact with veteran Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin as the two were running in the top 10 late in the race. The pair have had run-ins previously this season and Hamlin, whose car was badly damaged, was not happy after the race.

MORE: Multicar crash slows Stage 2 | Chastain, Hamlin clash again

“Everyone has different tolerance levels and as you all know, I’ve reached my peak,’’ Hamlin said.

Team Penske rookie Austin Cindric – winner of the season-opening Daytona 500 – finished third, with Petty GMS Motorsports’ Erik Jones and Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney rounding out the top five.

Chastain’s Trackhouse Racing teammate Daniel Suárez was sixth, followed by Justin Haley, Aric Almirola, Cole Custer and Harrison Burton rounding out the top 10.

With the victory, Elliott extended his championship lead over Blaney to 47 points. Chastain is now third, 50 points behind Elliott.

The NASCAR Cup Series returns to competition next weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with the Ambetter 301 on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Stewart-Haas Racing driver Aric Almirola is the defending race winner.

NOTE: Inspection in the Cup Series garage is complete, confirming the No. 9 of Chase Elliott as the race winner. The Nos. 2, 5, 19, 38, 43 and 99 will be taken back to the NASCAR R&D Center for further, routine inspection.


Posted on by Staff Report

Which channels have NASCAR programming this week? We answer that and give the weekly NASCAR television listings here in the NASCAR TV schedule.

Note: All times are ET.

MORE: How to find USA Network | How to find FS1 | Get FOX Sports App | Watch on USA Network | Get the NBC Sports App | Watch on Peacock | FloRacing

Monday, July 11
5:30 a.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: O’Reilly Auto Parts 150 (re-air), FS1
11 a.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: O’Reilly Auto Parts 150 (re-air), FS2
NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
6 p.m., Motormouths, Peacock
11:31 p.m., Austin Dillon’s Life in the Fast Lane (re-air), USA Network

Tuesday, July 12
4:30 a.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: O’Reilly Auto Parts 150 (re-air), FS2

Wednesday, July 13
12:38 a.m., Austin Dillon’s Life in the Fast Lane (re-air), USA Network
6NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
6 p.m., Motormouths, Peacock

Thursday, July 14
6 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, Peacock
9:31 p.m., Austin Dillon’s Life in the Fast Lane, USA Network

Friday, July 15
NASCAR Xfinity Series: Practice/Qualifying at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, USA Network
NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour: Jersey Shore 150 at Wall Stadium Speedway (re-air), USA Network
NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
7:30 p.m., Austin Dillon’s Life in the Fast Lane (re-air), USA Network

Saturday, July 16
NASCAR Cup Series: Qualifying at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, USA Network
1:30 p.m., Austin Dillon’s Life in the Fast Lane (re-air), USA Network
NASCAR Xfinity Series: Crayon 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, USA Network
 USA Network

On PRN:
2 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Crayon 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Sunday, July 17
NASCAR RaceDay, FS1
12:30 p.m., Austin Dillon’s Life in the Fast Lane (re-air), USA Network
1 p.m., Austin Dillon’s Life in the Fast Lane (re-air), USA Network
1:30 p.m., Austin Dillon’s Life in the Fast Lane (re-air), USA Network
NASCAR Cup Series: Ambetter 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, USA Network
NASCAR Cup Series Post-Race Show, USA Network
7 p.m., Austin Dillon’s Life in the Fast Lane (re-air), USA Network
7:30 p.m., Austin Dillon’s Life in the Fast Lane (re-air), USA Network

On PRN: 
2 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Ambetter 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Posted on by Staff Report

A multi-car crash during Stage 2 thinned the field of contenders in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Contact between Martin Truex Jr. and Ross Chastain — both running among the top five — blocked a portion of the 1.54-mile track through Turn 2, collecting several other cars in their wake. Joey Logano, Austin Dillon, Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Christopher Bell, Noah Gragson and Michael McDowell were also snagged behind Truex’s spin.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos

The crash forced the fourth caution period in the Quaker State 400. Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet was the most severely damaged, making hard contact with the outside retaining wall. He was evaluated and released from the infield care center, credited with a 35th-place finish in the 36-car field.

“The hit looked bad, but the impact wasn’t as bad as it looked,” Dillon said, who issued some share of the blame to Chastain in televised interviews after the crash. “I told myself that we were going to race hard all day rather than riding in the back, but when you got guys out there wrecking half the field, you might as well pick a different strategy. These Next Gen cars are hard to drive, and you’ve got to make them drive better when it’s hot outside. I thought we did a good job making my car get to the bottom. We were making a lot of headway in the race before we got caught up in someone else’s mess. We’re going to keep on keeping on, and work each week to get to Victory Lane.”

For their prominent roles in the wreck, Chastain and Truex rallied to lead laps afterward and post respectable finishes. Chastain led three times for 32 total laps, and drove away from a later scrape with rival Denny Hamlin to score a runner-up result. Truex led twice for 27 laps and salvaged 11th place.

“I hate that I took the best car here and I tore it up a couple of times,” Chastain said. “Hats off to Chevrolet and Trackhouse Racing for bringing this fast of a Jockey Chevrolet. Our road crew and our pit crew did an awesome job to rebound through all of the damage repair.”

Posted on by PJ Walsh

The Action Network specializes in providing sports betting  insights/analytics and is a content partner with NASCAR. Check out more NASCAR betting analysis here.

With one race already under its belt at this circuit, the NASCAR Cup Series returns to the “new” Atlanta Motor Speedway for Sunday’s Quaker State 400 (3 p.m. ET, USA Network).

What was once a very abrasive, intermediate-style race track is now an extremely smooth superspeedway-type layout that provides the pack racing we typically see at Daytona and Talladega.

This results in racing that can be quite unpredictable and allows some longer shots to contend and even cash for bettors.

So with this in mind, here are two bets I’m making for Sunday’s Quaker State 400 at Atlanta.

MORE: Race-day Atlanta odds | Fantasy preview

NASCAR Picks for Atlanta

*Odds as of Sunday morning

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 50-1 to Win

Our very own Nick Giffen highlighted this as his favorite early bet, and with no practice and qualifying rained out, it’s my top value as well heading into today’s race.

Since Giffen has already done the legwork on this one, there’s no need for me to reinvent the wheel (pun intended).

So, take it away Nick (that means click here to read his analysis)!

But before you place your bet, be sure to shop around to snag Stenhouse at the best number.

His price varies wildly across the market, with Caesars Sportsbook offering an extremely delightful 50-1.

Corey LaJoie (+325) for a Top-10 Finish

LaJoie is the king of minding his own business, keeping his car clean and scoring better-than-expected finishes at superspeedways.

Through three superspeedway races this season (Daytona, Atlanta and Talladega), LaJoie has the fifth-best average finish in the Cup Series.

In fact, if we look back to the start of the 2020 season, LaJoie still has the eighth-best average finish in the series over a much larger sample of 11 races.

He’s not typically the type of driver who will get up front and contend for wins, but there are other ways to extract value from LaJoie.

At +325 (BetMGM), I like backing LaJoie to once again bide his time, stay out of trouble and be in contention for a top-10 finish with the laps winding down at Atlanta

Posted on by Adam Fenwick

WALL TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Jimmy Blewett is one of the best to ever race at Wall Stadium Speedway.

He reminded everyone of that by topping the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour field in the Jersey Shore 150 on Saturday night at the popular third-mile high-banked oval.

The victory, Blewett’s seventh with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and first since 2016, was his 81st victory overall at Wall Stadium Speedway. He ranks second on the all-time win list at the track.

RELATED: Race results from the Jersey Shore 150 at Wall Stadium Speedway

“Tommy and these guys just prepare such a good car. He makes all the drivers who drive this thing look so good,” said Blewett, who was piloting the No. 7NY for team owner Tommy Baldwin Jr. “Just riding, biding our time watching these guys burn it up so we had some stuff there at the end.”

Blewett spent much of the race riding in the top five, content to let pole-sitter Ron Silk and defending track Modified champion Andrew Krause take turns at the front of the field.

A caution for a spin by Eric Goodale with 17 circuits left in the 150-lap event presented Blewett the perfect opportunity to take control of the race.

Restarting second with 13 laps left, Blewett rocketed under Krause to take the lead by the time the field got back to the start/finish line.

Once in front, Blewett inched away from the battle for second, ultimately crossing the finish line nearly two seconds ahead of runner-up finisher Matt Hirschman.

“I want to dedicate this win to my grandfather,” said Blewett, who also won a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event at Wall Stadium Speedway in 2007. “He always is my biggest supporter and he never, ever doubts me. He just knows I need the right opportunity to get it done. Thanks, Grandpa.”

The victory by Blewett gave team owner Baldwin his fourth victory of the season with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.

Doug Coby drove Baldwin’s No. 7NY to victory at New York’s Riverhead Raceway and New Hampshire’s Lee USA Speedway, and Mike Christopher Jr. earned a victory for Baldwin at Pennsylvania’s Jennerstown Speedway.

RELATED: Despite tragedy, Blewett continues family tradition of Modified racing

Hirschman, a multi-time winner of the annual Turkey Derby event at Wall Stadium Speedway who added Saturday’s race to his schedule at the last minute, snuck past both Krause and Silk to finish second.

“This wasn’t on our schedule, I just knew there was going to be a great crowd here tonight,” Hirschman said. “Glad to come race in front of them tonight. A good run. It’s no surprise there at the end, Jimmy’s first and I’m second. Congrats to them.”

Patrick Emerling also managed to make his way past Krause and Silk in the final laps to complete the podium. It was his second top-five finish this season.

“It was a little rough out there, but had a lot of fun tonight,” Emerling said. “We had a pretty good race car for only running here once before.”

Krause settled for fourth after leading prior to the final restart. Silk faded to fifth after starting from the Mayhew Tools Pole and leading a majority of the race.

Justin Bonsignore, Austin Beers, Jon McKennedy, Blake Barney and Kyle Bonsignore completed the top 10.

A replay of the Jersey Shore 150 can be seen on the USA Network on Friday, July 15 at 6:30 p.m. ET.

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returns to action next Saturday, July 16, for the running of the Whelen 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Posted on by Staff Report

Jersey Shore 150

Wall Stadium Speedway

Wall New Logo Png

  • Race results
Pos. No.  Name Sponsor Laps Diff
1 7 Jimmy Blewett John Blewett, Inc. 150 —
2 60 Matt Hirschmann PeeDee Motorsports 150 1.91
3 07 Patrick Emerling Captain Pip Marina & Hideaway 150 3.037
4 24 Andrew Krause Supreme Mtg 150 3.603
5 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine and Future Homes 150 4.422
6 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communication Inc. 150 5.418
7 64 Austin Beers* Dell Electric/Lumiere Electrical 150 5.566
8 79 Jon McKennedy Middlesex Interiors 150 5.906
9 14 Blake Barney Atlantic Sprinkler/County Line Road Auto 150 6.575
10 22 Kyle Bonsignore Chalew Performance/MTT/Munn’s Auto 150 7.05
11 82 Craig Lutz Danny’s Cesspool Pool Service 150 7.561
12 54 Tommy Catalano FX Caprara 150 8.189
13 71 James Pritchard, Jr.* Freeway Tire & Tire Pros/Wicklow & Laurano Landscaping 150 9.871
14 20 Ed McCarthy* McCarthy Marine Sales 150 13.527
15 58 Eric Goodale GAF Roofing 149 1 Lap
16 81 Jack Ely* J.C. Smith Landscaping 147 3 Laps
17 76 Matthew Kimball* Gomarlo’s Supermarket 147 3 Laps
18 36 Dave Sapienza Sapienza Enterprises 145 5 Laps
19 78 Walter Sutcliffe, Jr. Last Minute Racing 144 6 Laps
20 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Landscape/TRC Electrict 143 7 Laps
21 19 Anthony Sesely Wanick Construction, Inc. 97 53 Laps
22 34 J.B. Fortin Red Camel Racing/Johns Fuel/John Tree Removal 96 54 Laps
23 66 Timmy  Solomito Natural Designs/Highmark 80 70 Laps
24 65 Danny Bohn North American Construction 76 74 Laps
25 03 Tom Rogers, Jr. Licensed to Chill/Stakey’s Pumpkin Farm 66 84 Laps
26 3 Jake Johnson* Propane Plus/LIN’s Propane Trucks 49 101 Laps
27 01 Melissa Fifield Pine Knoll Auto Sales 48 102 Laps

RACE STATISTICS

Time of race: 43 mins, 12 seconds

Average speed: 68.750

Margin of victory: 1.910 seconds

Caution flags: Laps 63-68 (Car #76 turn 2 no contact, FP #78); 70-78 (Car #34, #81, #76, #22, #14, #26, #19, #71, #66, #36 turns 1 & 2 contact, no FP.); 124-130 (Car #14 & #20 turn 2 contact, FP #71); 133-136 (Car #58 turn 1 spin no contact, FP #20). 4 for 26 laps.

Lap leaders: Ron Silk 1-37, Andrew Krause 38-68, Ron Silk 69-98, Andrew Krause 99-137, Jimmy Blewett 138-150.

Total laps led: Andrew Krause 70, Ron Silk 67, Jimmy Blewett 13. 4 changes involving 3 drivers.

Posted on by Sean Montgomery

HAMPTON, Ga. — Josh Berry was close. Just not close enough to make a move.

Berry trailed Austin Hill closely in the waning laps, trying to chase down the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. But as his tires wore down and the field strung out, Berry had to settle for runner-up in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Alsco Uniforms 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway — his fourth top-four finish in the last five races.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos

“Austin was really good,” Berry told NASCAR.com. “That team has been really good on this style of racing and it was just tough. Right? You just had to time the runs right to get the bottom and he was really strong there. It cooled off a bit and kinda just got trained around the top. Lots of good information for me to go back and watch, learn from. And we’ll see what we can do better next time.”

Berry had a good enough car to pace the front of the field. He led 13 laps throughout the hot summer afternoon, but a pit-road miscue didn’t help the effort in an otherwise clean race.

“We had a really good car and we had a feeling that this race would be a little bit different than what we saw in the spring and I feel like that proved right,” Berry said. “So we prepared well and like I said, had a good day. We had a little slip up on pit road and had to work back from the back to the front, which was, I felt like really impressive, but ultimately that’s probably where we lost a little track position on [Austin Hill].”

Berry finished 33rd in the spring race, crashing out on Lap 153 of 172 — his only DNF of the season.

Saturday’s bounce-back performance served as a confidence booster and reassurance that the No. 8 JR Motorsports team, currently fifth in points, has made big strides down the stretch.

“We are right there with everybody,” Berry said. “On the bread and butter, you know, the intermediates, the short tracks, I think we’re as good as anybody. Obviously, the road racing is something that I’m learning and continuing to get better at. But I have no doubt that we can continue to build and get better and save our best races for the playoffs.”