Berry and Allgaier never seemed to stray far from each other throughout the race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Allgaier came away with the lead on Lap 163 of 200 following a final round of green-flag pit stops.
By Lap 176, Berry had caught back up with Allgaier and the two raced side-by-side and traded crossover moves before Berry reclaimed the lead on Lap 178 as Allgaier hit the wall.
Allgaier hit the wall again on Lap 186 and this time was forced to pit under green for a flat tire, which left Berry to cruise to the victory by 18.039 seconds over Ty Gibbs.
After taking the checkered flag, Berry said over his team radio, “I’m doing things I never thought I could do. Thank you all. I’m not gonna do a burnout because you don’t tear up a car this good.”
The win was the second of the season for Berry and fourth of his career. Despite all its successes in the series, it was also JRM’s first victory at Charlotte.
“This car was so good. We’ve been getting better every week. I think the sky’s the limit,” Berry said. “That was a battle with Justin – it always is with us. I don’t know, we always seem to run good at the same places and always have to race each other.
“But he slipped up in (Turn) 1 and I got loose, too, and it all worked out.”
JRM driver Sam Mayer finished third after starting on the pole, Noah Gragson was fourth and Ryan Preece rounded out the top-five.
Allgaier recovered from his late pit stop to finish seventh.
“At the beginning of the race, I thought we were going to battle for the win. To get three of our four JR Motorsports cars in Victory Lane (this season) is huge,” he said. “Just battling Josh, he got really close to the left rear getting into (Turn) 1 and just got me loose.”
Stage 3
Following the break between Stages 2 and 3, all the lead-lap cars elected to pit with Berry first off pit road. Sheldon Creed had an uncontrolled tire and had to restart from the rear of the field.
On the restart on Lap 100, Berry was followed by Trevor Bayne, Mayer and Allgaier.
Riley Herbst blew a tire and wrecked on Lap 104 which brought out another caution. Allgaier remained in the lead on the restart on Lap 110.
Shortly after the restart, a multi-car wreck erupted in Turn 3 involving Joe Graf Jr., Ryan Sieg, Austin Dillon, Anthony Alfredo and Stefan Parsons. The incident appeared to start with Dillon’s car suffering a cut tire.
Preece had moved into the lead just before the wreck. On the restart on Lap 120, Preece was followed by Berry, Allgaier, Mayer and Bayne.
Berry got around Preece on the restart to reclaim the lead.
On Lap 130, A.J. Allmendinger tagged the wall and cut a right-front tire which forced him to pit under green. He returned to the track in 26th, two laps down.
Preece was among the first of the leaders to make their final green-flag stop for on Lap 155 for new tires and fuel to make it to the finish. Both Bayne and Austin Hill were penalized for speeding on pit road and had to serve a pass-through penalty.
Once the cycle of stops was completed on Lap 163, Allgaier emerged as the leader after passing Berry on the track for position following their stops.
Berry reclaimed the lead on Lap 178 after a side-by-side battle with Allgaier that saw Allgaier run up into the outside wall.
On Lap 186, Allgaier hit the wall and suffered a flat tire, which sent him to pit road under green and taking him out of contention for the win.
With 10 laps remaining, Berry held a 16-second lead over Gibbs followed by Mayer, Preece and Gragson.
Stage 2
Allgaier cruised to the Stage 2 victory teammate Berry by 1.9 seconds as fellow teammate Mayer ended up third. It was the 10th consecutive stage win for JRM teams.
Bayne was fourth and Allmendinger rounded out the top-five.
Following the break between Stages 1 and 2, the lead-lap cars all pit with Allgaier first off pit road. Gragson made an extended stop during the break as his team checked on his engine. He also had too many crew members over the wall during his stop and had to restart from the rear of the field.
The race returned to green on Lap 50 with Allgaier out front followed by Berry, Brandon Jones and Mayer.
With 25 laps remaining in the stage, Allgaier held nearly a 1-second lead over Berry while Mayer ran third. Gragson’s No. 9 Chevrolet appeared to be down a cylinder in its engine.
On Lap 75, Jeb Burton spun through Turns 1 and 2 which brought out the fifth caution of the race.
Most of the lead-lap cars remained on the track and Allgaier still led the way when the race returned to green on Lap 79. He was followed by Berry, Mayer and Allmendinger.
With five laps remaining in the stage, Allgaier held a 1.8-second lead over Berry while Mayer remained in third.
Stage 1
A multi-car spin with three laps remaining brought out a caution and secured Berry’s Stage 1 win over Allgaier.
Gragson was third, Allmendinger fourth and Daniel Hemric rounded out the top-five.
Mayer started on the pole and led the first two laps until Preece got around him on Lap 3. Gragson passed Preece on Lap 4 as JRM held four of the top-five positions.
On Lap 15, Jones – who had driven up to 12th after starting in the rear – spun in Turn 1 to bring out a caution.
Just a handful of cars pit and Gragson remained in the lead when the race returned to green on Lap 20.
Shortly after the restart, Timmy Hill spun off Turn 3 to put the race back under caution. Gragson continued to lead on the restart on Lap 26.
Brandon Brown lost control and spun around in Turn 3 on Lap 32 to bring out another caution. Once again the lead-lap cars remained on the track and Gragson remained out front on the restart on Lap 36.
Berry quickly powered around Gragson on the restart to take the lead for the first time in the race.
On Lap 42, Kyle Weatherman, Ryan Vargas and Jeffrey Earnhardt went spinning down the frontstretch to bring out a caution to end the stage.
Among the drivers who had to start the race from the rear of the field were Bayne, Jones, Earnhardt, Gibbs and Herbst.