Trevor Berry the Talk of the High Banks During 400 Weekend

Clio, Michigan (Wednesday October 21, 2015): You can ask any short track racer what their top five tracks are and one track is almost guaranteed to be on every list; Winchester Speedway in Winchester, IN. There is no bigger weekend at the famed high banked half mile than the ‘400 weekend.’ Every year short track racers make the pilgrimage to eastern Indiana for a weekend of racing that kicks off on Friday and is head lined by the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour 100 lap feature.

When Trevor Berry hit the high banks for the first time on Friday he knew there was going to be a good chance to compete for a victory that night. After making some small changes during the twin thirty minute practice sessions Berry was ready to take on qualifying. Trevor would put his Extreme Indoor Kart Racing/Clio Computers late model third overall on the charts and would start in the fifth position for his second ever late model race at Winchester. Trevor was able to avoid some early situations including a re-start that saw Scott Tomasik jump the green and force Berry into the middle of a three wide situation with fellow Extreme Indoor Kart Racing sponsored driver Jon Beech.

After running in the top five all evening Trevor found himself just riding in the third position reeling in the leaders without pushing his car to its full potential with twenty laps remaining. As the lead two of Smith and Braden approached lapped traffic Berry was able to close up to their bumpers with ease. As seems to be the ‘norm’ lately lapped cars did not move to the bottom as instructed which allowed Smith and Braden to pull away again. When spotter, father, and Michigan Motorsports Hall of Famer Dennis Berry said 10-laps to go into the radio Trevor did what everyone in Eastern Indiana thought was the impossible; he closed the gap back to the leaders at a blistering pace of two tenths of a second per lap. “I wasn’t sure how much we really had left” chuckled the young stand out later that evening around a camp fire, “I remembered Jojo(Must See Racing Sprint Champion Jojo Helberg) talking about driving the car hard to make it happier and I thought well I don’t have a wing but let’s see what happens. Then I drove into turn one harder than I had all night and the car loved it”

Unfortunately Berry ran out of laps to get around the top two but he was without question the fastest man on the World’s Fastest Half Mile that night. Braden had all the pressure he could handle in the form of Berry breathing down his neck the final two laps and was forced to change his line to keep Berry from getting around him; that thwarted his chances to make a solid bid to get around eventual winner Jack Smith. Berry would finish third giving him his third top-5 in just six starts on the season with the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour.

Saturday the Berry Racing Inc. team had planned to add some weight and drop down to the Vore’s Welding Late Model Sportsman race, however, after watching the “Young Stars” race on Friday night the team decided not to risk ruining their rocket of a race car and instead would drop weight and move up to the ARCA/CRA Super Series and make an attempt to qualify into the 44th running of the prestigious Winchester 400 despite being down almost 200 hp. Trevor would not just make the field he would prove that his speed the night before was not a fluke as he qualified in 28th out of 38 cars and was the fastest of three cars to qualify in using a crate engine.

Sunday during the first 118 laps Trevor would work his way up as high as 22nd before a group of leaders would pit for fresh tires and fuel, a luxury Trevor did not have as the team had no intentions of trying to complete all 400 laps. When the driver climbed out of the cockpit he was all smiles and it was evident how much it meant for him just to be a part of such a prestigious event.

On the season Berry would accumulate 5 top-5’s, 6 top-10’s, and lead over 150 laps in just 11 starts. Also to his credit Trevor is now the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour track record holder at Berlin Raceway in Marne, MI. None of this would have been possible without the help from our great sponsors:

O’Connor’s Truck and Ken O’Connor who owns the Outlaw Super Late Model
Elkton Motorsports
Extreme Indoor Kart Racing
Clio Computers
Driven Racing Oil
Chad Finley Developments
Andrea’s Place Salon and
Davis Racing Equipment

Stay tuned as we continue to secure sponsorship and plans for the 2016 racing season!