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Josh Berry, who currently drives the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, has been named as the stand-in driver for Alex Bowman for Sunday's Wurth 400 at Dover Motor Speedway.
Bowman is expected to be out for at least three weeks after sustaining a back injury in a sprint car crash at Iowa's 34 Raceway on Tuesday night. Officials from Hendrick Motorsports addressed the media on Saturday morning regarding driver Bowman's anticipated three-week hiatus.
Despite Mike Elliott's injury in a snowboarding accident earlier this season and now the incident with Bowman, team president Jeff Andrews stated that they will not change their rules and will not ask their drivers to stop participating in off-track activities.
Berry, who is filling in for Alex Bowman this weekend, spoke about his roots at Dover Motor Speedway and his subsequent success in NASCAR.
"Dover has always been a really good track for me for no reason," Berry stated. "I really don't know why. It's a combination of Junior motorsports being strong there. Hendrick Motorsports will be really strong this weekend. I think having great car makes it a lot easier."
The upcoming Cup race at Dover Motor Speedway will be Berry's sixth for Hendrick Motorsports after stepping in for Elliott in five races in March and April. Berry has a solid record in Dover.
He is the defending NASCAR Xfinity Series champion at the one-mile circuit and made his first of seven NASCAR Cup Series starts there with Spire Motorsports in 2021.
After covering for Chase Elliott, Josh Berry feels comfortable replacing Alex Bowman
Josh Berry has led a crazy NASCAR life. He went from bank teller to Cup Series replacement superstar. Of course, he's also a title candidate in the Xfinity Series. That, along with his six weeks in Chase Elliott's car, has to boost his confidence.
Josh Berry is now essentially a full-time member of Hendrick Motorsports and is now filling in for Alex Bowman, who fractured a vertebra in a sprint car race earlier this week. Berry is back in an HMS car and eager to continue up where he left off after missing 3-4 weeks in the NASCAR Cup Series.
“The way I look at it, you know, ultimately this is Alex’s race team and my job in this situation is to just try to keep these guys going and prepared and happy and just ready to rock and roll whenever Alex gets back." he said to the media.
He'll get into Bowman's No. 48 Chevrolet this Sunday, and maybe for the rest of the month, hoping to provide some more top-10 finishes for Hendrick. Josh Berry has a lot more experience in these Next Gen cars than others, so keep an eye out for him this weekend at the Monster Mile.
