The inaugural Battle of the Broadway 150 turned into a race within a race Thursday night with NASCAR Cup Series drivers Ross Chastain and Josh Berry trying to outdo each other at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.
Chastain and Berry warmed up for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Ally 400 (2:30 p.m. CST, KeynoteUSA) at Nashville Superspeedway by competing in the Pro Model race alongside 22 other mostly local drivers.
The two Cup drivers were in the top eight for the entire race and then found themselves in fourth (Chastain) and fifth (Berry) respectively with 15 laps remaining.
“It was definitely a race between the two of us,” said Chastain, winner of the 2023 Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. “He sure wanted to beat the city boy.”
Berry, a Hendersonville native, grew up racing Legends cars on the fairgrounds’ quarter-mile track. However, he had never competed at the 0.596-mile track before the Broadway 150.
“Josh is a great guy and a great competitor, but I still wanted to beat him,” said Chastain, who ended up doing just that by finishing fourth and Berry fifth.
Both drivers said they took the race very seriously and wanted to win.
After the final restart on lap 135, Chastain took the lead. However, the restart was canceled after a spin at the back of the field and Chastain never returned to the front.
“I had a chance to win tonight and I’m happy about that,” said Chastain, who drives in Cup races for Trackhouse Racing, which has offices in Nashville, but drove Tootsies’ No. 1 Chevrolet on Thursday.
“Plus, this was on my bucket list. I’ve wanted to race here for a long time. My life at Trackhouse really draws me back to Nashville. This city feels like home to me and I now have a race at the Fairgrounds under my belt. It won’t be my last, I promise.”
Berry, who is in his rookie season in the NASCAR Cup Series, passed Chastain for fifth place for the first time on Lap 136. Chastain moved back in front of Berry on the next lap.
“It was a fun battle (with Chastain) the whole race,” said Berry, who drove the No. 4 Fetcho Racing Late Model Pro car. “It seemed like we were kind of halfway down the straight behind the leader the whole race. We just didn’t have the track position to get there and compete. But overall it was a lot of fun.”
Berry said he experienced some emotions during the start of the race when he realized he was back at the fairgrounds where he started his race.
“It was great to see all the cheers from the crowd before the race,” Berry said. “I spent a lot of time here, so it’s fun to come back and do this. My competitive ability came out today and I wanted to run better than I did. That affected me a little bit, but it was still fun.”
As far as wanting to win, even if it’s not a NASCAR race, it’s natural, Chastain said.
“I wasn’t practicing for (Nashville Superspeedway) tonight; I did that on Wednesday before I came here after testing,” Chastain said. “That prepared me for the big track. What this does is make me sweat in my race suit, drive the car, spin these Hoosier tires and make me a better race driver. It’s just good to race.”
“Racers compete. Football players throw the ball. Baseball players throw the ball. On Thursday nights we race cars at the fairgrounds.”
Trey Craig won the race followed by Brett Robinson and Corey Deuser.
“This means everything,” said Craig, who is from Louisville. “The fact that, with 10 games left, I have Ross Chastain and Josh Berry behind me is incredible. That’s why I got so excited. That’s not happy every day. Those Cup guys don’t want us to beat them.”
Contact Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or X @MikeOrganWriter.
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