Berry wins Michigan Xfinity pole; NASCAR confiscates a splitter

Berry’s average lap speed of 188.549 mph in Friday’s qualifying session gave him the pole over his teammate Justin Allgaier (188.289 mph). Allgaier had topped Friday’s practice session.

The pole is the second this season for Berry, with both coming in the last three races. It’s also the third of his career.

Berry said he and his No. 8 JRM team are determined to atone his race at Pocono two weeks ago, where he ended up 24th after starting on the pole.

“I’m just really proud of these guys on this No. 8 team. They’ve been working really hard,” said Berry, who has yet to earn a win this season. “I’m not going to lie, we let one get away two weeks ago and every single one of us have thought about it every day since then.

“We wanted to come here and finish what we started a couple weeks ago. Hats off to these guys and everybody at JR Motorsports. The cars are faster and driving better.”

Austin Hill ended up third fastest, Berry’s teammate and last week’s race winner Sam Mayer was fourth and Riley Herbst will line up fifth.

Completing the top-10 starting lineup are Chandler Smith, Carson Hocevar, Ty Gibbs, Sammy Smith and John Hunter Nemechek.

Inspection issue

During inspection on Friday, NASCAR confiscated the splitter from Cole Custer’s No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford for further inspection at its R&D Center in Concord, N.C. Any penalties will be announced next week.

Using another splitter on the car, Custer qualified 13th-fastest for Saturday’s race.

Cole Custer, Stewart-Haas Racing, Haas Automation Ford Mustang (Photo by: Gavin Baker / NKP / Motorsport Images)

Cla	Driver	#	Time	Interval	Mph
1	JOSH BERRYJR Motorsports	8	37.985		189.549
2	JUSTIN ALLGAIERJR Motorsports	7	+0.254	0.254	188.289
3	AUSTIN HILLRichard Childress Racing	21	+0.276	0.022	188.181
4	SAM MAYERJR Motorsports	1	+0.318	0.042	187.975
5	RILEY HERBSTStewart-Haas Racing	98	+0.329	0.011	187.921
6	CHANDLER SMITHKaulig Racing	16	+0.344	0.015	187.847
7	CARSON HOCEVARSpire Motorsports	77	+0.377	0.033	187.686
8	TY GIBBSJoe Gibbs Racing	19	+0.397	0.020	187.588
9	SAMMY SMITHJoe Gibbs Racing	18	+0.448	0.051	187.339
10	BRETT MOFFITTAM Racing	25	+0.469	0.021	187.237
11	JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEKJoe Gibbs Racing	20	+0.469	0.000	187.237
12	ROSS CHASTAINKaulig Racing	10	+0.469	0.000	187.237
13	COLE CUSTERStewart-Haas Racing	00	+0.486	0.017	187.154
14	BRANDON JONESJR Motorsports	9	+0.546	0.060	186.863
15	SHELDON CREEDRichard Childress Racing	2	+0.567	0.021	186.761
16	DANIEL HEMRICKaulig Racing	11	+0.569	0.002	186.751
17	PARKER KLIGERMANBig Machine Racing Team	48	+0.579	0.010	186.703
18	ANTHONY ALFREDOBJ McLeod Motorsports	78	+0.657	0.078	186.326
19	CONNOR MOSACKSam Hunt Racing	24	+0.658	0.001	186.321
20	KYLE WEATHERMANDGM Racing	91	+0.706	0.048	186.090
21	KYLE SIEGRSS Racing	28	+0.764	0.058	185.811
22	RYAN SIEGRSS Racing	39	+0.770	0.006	185.782
23	JEB BURTONJordan Anderson Racing	27	+0.814	0.044	185.572
24	PARKER RETZLAFFJordan Anderson Racing	31	+0.838	0.024	185.457
25	KAZ GRALASam Hunt Racing	26	+0.898	0.060	185.171
26	GARRETT SMITHLEYJD Motorsports	4	+1.016	0.118	184.611
27	JEREMY CLEMENTSJeremy Clements Racing	51	+1.050	0.034	184.450
28	JOE JR.RSS Racing	38	+1.214	0.164	183.678
29	JOSH WILLIAMSDGM Racing	92	+1.305	0.091	183.253
30	STEFAN PARSONSSS-Green Light Racing	07	+1.424	0.119	182.699
31	MASON MAGGIOSS-Green Light Racing	08	+1.466	0.042	182.505
32	DAWSON CRAMCHK Racing	74	+1.486	0.020	182.412
33	SAGE KARAMMotorsports Business Management	66	+1.509	0.023	182.306
34	MASON MASSEYAlpha Prime Racing	44	+1.517	0.008	182.269
35	JEFFREY EARNHARDTAlpha Prime Racing	45	+1.616	0.099	181.814
36	RYAN ELLISAlpha Prime Racing	43	+1.634	0.018	181.731
37	EMERLINGБ PATRICKEmerling Gase Motorsports	35	+1.641	0.007	181.699
38	BRENNAN POOLEJD Motorsports	6	+1.659	0.018	181.616
39	CJ MCLAUGHLINEmerling Gase Motorsports	53	+1.757	0.098	181.169
40	BLAINE PERKINSOur Motorsports	02	+1.841	0.084	180.786