Josh Berry Dominates LCQ, Austin Cindric Races His Way Into the Clash

Josh Berry and the No. 21 Ford cruised to a win in the Cook Out Clash last chance qualifier on Feb. 4 at Bowman Gray Stadium, earning a 21st-place starting spot in the 200-lap main event.

While Berry won by nearly seven-and-a-half seconds, it came down to the last corner to decide the other driver to advance. Austin Cindric won out a physical battle with Corey LaJoie — filling in for Brad Keselowski — and survived a last ditch effort by AJ Allmendinger to finish second and nab the main event’s 22nd-place starting spot.  

Alex Bowman was locked into the main event as the highest points finisher from last season that didn’t qualify in the top 20 earlier in the day. He opted to start the LCQ, but pulled off track late to finish 17th. He’ll start last in the main event later tonight.

The chaos expected from the 1/4th-mile flat oval only reared its head once in the race. On lap 6, Riley Herbst and Cody Ware both spun to bring out the race’s first and only caution.

Michael McDowell took the lead at the drop of the green flag from the outside of the front row, but NASCAR ruled he jumped polesitter Josh Berry and was sent to the back during the first caution. He finished 11th.

Allmendinger took the lead on the restart, but Berry was able to catch him and retake the lead for good on lap 17. The duo of LaJoie and Cindric eventually caught Allmendinger with 14 laps to go with LaJoie putting the bumper to Allmendinger to allow him and Cindric by.

Cindric and LaJoie traded the second-place spot several times over the final 10 laps, going into the final corner side-by-side. Allmendinger, in an attempt to clear both, pushed Cindric ahead and forced LaJoie wide to give the No. 2 Ford the transfer spot.

Todd Gilliland finished last after a mechanical issue forced him to retire with 25 laps to go.

Clash Last Chance Qualifier Results

The 200-lap main event is set to begin at 6 p.m. ET on FOX.