In a field of 18 desperate drivers, only the top two finishers + the points provisional (Alex Bowman) were going to transfer from the last-chance-qualifier (LCQ) into the main event.
Bowman was happy to take the points provisional on offer to him (as the highest driver from the 2025 championship not yet locked in) instead of racing for it and risking his car, so the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet dropped from fifth on the grid to the very back for the start of the LCQ.
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Josh Berry cruised to the checkered flag in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford, saying after the race: “I feel good about (the car). Just struggling a little bit on the restarts. Cold temperatures there and locking up the left-front. I got it locked up a bit under AJ (Allmendinger). But once we were able to settle in and get some heat into the tires, I felt good about our car. I think we can make a few small adjustments to make the car a little bit better, but obviously we don’t have track position. It’s a long night when you don’t make this race, though.”
Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Ford
Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Ford
He will be joined by fellow Ford driver and pseudo-teammate Austin Cindric, who prevailed in a made battle for second that turned into bumper cars between himself, Corey LaJoie, and AJ Allmendinger.
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“That was about as fair as I think that could have gotten for an LCQ,” said Cindric. “I appreciate Corey racing hard, and obviously, we advanced in, but long road ahead starting last with some scuffs for the final here.”
Cindric then added: “I don’t think I got full throttle for the entire race there (due to the increased horsepower), except for when emotions got high. Pretty interesting to try and manage. Hopefully we didn’t get too much damage there, and we’ll try to have a good final.”
Berry will start 21st, Cindric 22nd, and Bowman 23rd in the main event. Kyle Larson earned pole position for the feature race in qualifying, beating Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron.
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Race recap
Battle for the final transfer spit between Corey LaJoie, Austin Cindric, AJ Allmendinger
Battle for the final transfer spit between Corey LaJoie, Austin Cindric, AJ Allmendinger
It didn’t take look for the Madhouse to live up to its reputation in the 75-lap LCQ. Just six laps into the race, Riley Herbst got spun out, and John-Hunter Nemechek slammed into his driver’s door. Cody Ware also spun out, and various other cars sustained minor damage.
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Additionally, race leader McDowell was black-flagged for jumping the initial start over pole-sitter Berry.
On the following restart, there was a lot of contact as Allmendinger powered into the race lead from the outside. Berry took it back a few laps later, and they both enjoyed a comfortable margin over third.
Herbst’s race didn’t get much better after that first caution, and got spun sideways after contact from Cole Custer, but the race remained green.
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LaJoie muscled his way by Nemechek for third, but he had a lot of ground to make up in order to reach one of those transfer spots.
Todd Gilliland limped his car behind the wall after abruptly falling off the pace, but the race remained green as Berry began to lap into the top ten.
With 14 laps to go, LaJoie caught Allmendinger and immediately moved him out of the way for the final transfer spot. But immediately afterwards, he faced an attack from Cindric.
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What followed was a tense back-and-forth as LaJoie and Cindric traded blows in a full-contact battle. On the final lap, Cindric was on the inside and LaJoie was on the outside. Allmendinger drove in deep and pushed them both up the track, but Cindric managed to hand on.
As Berry captured the checkered flag, Cindric crossed the line in second, while LaJoie was third, Allmendinger fourth, and Nemechek fifth.
“It was like a game of chess at like 50mph,” said LaJoie. “He wanted to be the guy on the inside, obviously, but you didn’t want to pass the guy either because then he had the opportunity to get back to you. Came up a little short, but it was exciting, it was fun to be in the fight.
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“Hadn’t been in the fight like that in a long time. Kudos to the #6 team man, they had a lot to deal with during the offseason. I know Brad is watching from home, and he’ll be ready to go next week. It was really cool to get in this car and knock the rust off. Unfortunately, we’ll be watching from the couch, but I feel really good about next week (at Daytona).
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