Josh Berry working through turn three at Martinsville Speedway. (Bill Carnes/Given To Fly Photography)

Ridgeway, VA – Josh Berry is going home this morning following one of the biggest and possibly richest weekends in his Late Model career. After blistering the track record Friday night and collecting an extra $5,000 he decided to go out Saturday night and lead every single lap to collect those bonus dollars too.

From the drop of the green flag, it was clear that the 40-car field were all fighting for second place as Berry was truly in a league of his own. It didn’t matter what you threw at the brightly colored No. 88 machine – lap cars, yellow flags, red flags, and even two stage breaks – Berry and crew did what they needed to do to stay out front.

Berry did most of his defense on the restarts as the forty-car field sailed off into turn one but each time was able to get the car rotated and back to the throttle quicker than anyone, typically fully clearing the field out of turn two. Bobby McCarty – who is currently leading the CARS Tour standings and not always the most friendly with Berry – was probably the only driver to really give him a run for his money. McCarty was able to peak his nose to the inside of Berry once on a restart and race him door-to-door for a handful of laps before Berry could dispose of him.

The only other challenge came late in the race when the field saw restart after restart when former race and Gander Outdoors Truck Series Timothy Peters made his way up through the field. Berry would, however, get some relief as former NWAAS National Champion and former race winner Lee Pulliam decided to get into the mix late in the race also. As the two of them battles that allowed for both Josh Berry to create some distance as well as Bobby McCarty to join the battle for second.

With the final three laps clean and green Berry and crew were able to get the job done and remain perfect on the weekend. Pulliam was able to get around and ultimately hold off Peters for the second position. Bobby McCarty gave everything he had left in the tank trying to get around his teammate but would ultimately have to settle for the fourth position – only one position back from where he took the green flag.  JRM teammate Bubba Pollard was able to actually finish the race this year and drove up to a fifth-place finish.

After winning the pole Friday night, winning both stages, and collecting every single dollar in the laps lead bonus, Berry’s unofficial net total through the weekend calculated a cool $44,000.

“I learned a lot last year here at Martinsville,” Berry said following his victory lane celebration. “This is a great day and I’m so happy to give Dale [Earnhardt Jr., Kelly Earnhardt-Miller, LW, and everyone at JR Motorsports their first win in this prestigious race.”

Berry was asked what this race and this win meant for him and his team after being so dominate last year and to have his night end the way it did.

“To win this race you have to beat the best of the best,” said Berry. “Any of the top-five drivers tonight could be driving on Sunday’s. This field is full of talent and to win here against them is special. We were fortunate enough to build a gap with the two racing behind us there at the end.”

OFFICIAL 2019 ValleyStar Credit Union 300 Results.

1. #88 Josh Berry; 200
2. #5P Lee Pulliam; 200
3. #12P Timothy Peters; 200
4. #22 Bobby McCarty; 200
5. #98 Bubba Pollard; 200
6. #26 Peyton Sellers; 200
7. #57 Justin Carroll; 200
8. #4D Kyle Dudley; 200
9. #88R Dustin Rumley; 200
10. #15 Kres VanDyke; 200
11. #24 Collin Garrett; 200
12. #95 Jacob Heafner; 200
13. #21 Travis Swaim; 200
14. #6 Mike Darne; 200
15. #30 Brendan Poole; 200
16. #61H Justin Hicks; 200
17. #81 Zack Clifton; 200
18. #21W Jimmy Wallace; 200
19. #22C Grayson Cullather; 199
20. #06 Davin Scites; 197
21. #40 C.E. Falk, III; 196
22. #9 Trey Crews; 192
23. #2M Matt Leicht; 198
24. #17P Stacey Puryear; 181
25. #25 Derrick Lancaster; 179
26. #99 Layne Riggs; 147
27. #2 Trevor Noles; 144
28. #12W Ryan Wilson; 140
29. #18Y Jason York; 133
30. #12S Sammy Smith; 132
31. #17 Taylor Gray; 132
32. #4F Jonathan Findley; 132
33. #5 Dexter Canipe, Jr.; 107
34. #22E Eric Winslow; 107
35. 27 Tommy Lemons, Jr.; 94
36. 16M Chad McCumbee; 67
37. 87 Mike Looney; 33
38. 1 Craig Moore; 23
39. 12T Austin Thaxton; 4
40. 63T Ryan Matthews; 1