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Berry Jr. picks up 1st Gator trophy at DIRTcar Nationals

Tom Berry Jr. had an ultra-successful first trip to Volusia Speedway Park in De Leon Springs, Florida, over the past week. Over six days he won his first Gator and finished worse than third only once in his DIRTcar UMP Modified features.

Berry’s Lethal Chassis No. 11x Modified was among an extremely stout field of competitors for each of the six nights of racing, with the Modified class at the first week of the DIRTcar Nationals averaging over 107 racers each evening.

The festivities kicked off on Monday at the half-mile clay oval. From Monday through Friday, drivers raced in one of six feature events each night, picking up valuable points in advance of Saturday’s Gator Championship race. On Monday, Berry started and finished second in his 20-lap, $600-to-win feature, taking the checkered flag just .0588 seconds behind Lethal Chassis teammate David Stremme. Michael Long, Trent Young and Evan Taylor completed the top five..

The following night, the roles were reversed. Berry started third in his feature and outdueled Stremme in the 20-lap affair to take the $700 victory by 1.920 seconds. The third spot on the podium went to Cole Czarneski, with Jason Garver and Daniel Sanchez finishing fourth and fifth, respectively. The win was Berry’s second feature triumph overall on the young season.

On Wednesday, the feature purses increased to $1,000 and Berry turned in yet another strong performance as he both started and finished third in his 20-lap race. He chased Kenny Wallace and Kyle Stricker across the line, while Mike Learman and Zeke McKenzie rounded out the top five.

Thursday saw Berry drive from seventh to third in his 15-lap, $600-to-win feature, trailing Dustin Sorensen and Czareneski at the checkered flag. Stremme came home fourth and Kenny Wallace took the fifth spot.

Finally, during Friday’s last preliminary program before Friday’s big show, Berry turned in a fourth-to-second run in his 20-lap, $1,000-to-win feature event, locking himself into Saturday’s A-Main. He finished 3.244 seconds behind McKenzie, while Kyle Strickler, Ryan Ayers and Trevor Neville completed the top five.

After the redraw, Berry rolled off sixth in Saturday’s 30-lap Gator Championship race paying $5,000 to win. However, he ran into trouble early and had to settle for a 31st-place result. He finished eighth in the weeklong point standings.

Full results from Volusia Speedway Park are at www.dirtcarnationals.com.

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