Berry in the #21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang was fighting over fifth with van Gisbergen in the #88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet Camaro when they clashed on Lap 82.
Berry looked to have cleared van Gisbergen through Turn 1 before the Kiwi surged forward and into the right rear of the preceding car.
On corner exit, they banged wheels before Berry spun, leaving the American at a loss.
“Man, I don’t know. Like I said, I haven’t seen the replay to really know. Those things happen here,” Berry told reporters post-race.
“It’s a choice. It’s a choice on a restart, whether you’re going to leave your right front in there and wreck ‘em or you’re going to live to fight another day.
“On all these restarts, there is choice after choice after choice, and sometimes… even if I did come down a little bit, I’ve been cutting him plenty of breaks over the course of the year.
“Just live to race another lap. There are still 200 or something laps to go.”
Some contact on @joshberry and he’s spun around on the track 😳 #NASCARPlayoffs
📺: @USANetwork pic.twitter.com/fvBgSG4Dk2
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 21, 2025
Despite the spin, Berry went on to recover and finished second behind Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney.
Berry looked like he might threaten for the win before he slid up the road trying to pass the #12 Ford Mustang.
“It was definitely an awesome day,” said Berry.
“Had a really good car. Hats off to Ryan at the end. All of our cars were really strong, and Ryan did a great job there.
“I was honestly surprised. I was a little worried when he got around me as quick as he did, but it seemed like it levelled out, and I was able to keep him honest at least at the end.
“All in all, (crew chief) Miles (Stanley), this whole team done a great job. We were down a set of tyres after the spin. So I think it kind of forced our hand.
“We didn’t want to take our last rights at least that early with that many laps left. We still made the most of it. Hats off to everybody at Wood Brothers and Team Penske.
“Yeah, just a shame to finish second, but after the last couple weeks, it feels good. This is definitely what we’re capable of, and hopefully we can keep it going.
“I was going to race him. It’s definitely a tough situation. You’ve got to take care of him. That’s how I try to race, anyway.
“These restarts and stuff, I try to do the best I can to be smart. It’s tough out there sometimes. I was going to race him hard but clean.”
Van Gisbergen scored his first oval stage points at New Hampshire and was looking likely to equal or better his career-best finish on a speedway.
However, his run was undone when RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski tried to sneak the #6 Ford Mustang between van Gisbergen and the Turn 2 wall.
Keselowski hit van Gisbergen, who spun and copped a hit from Richard Childress Racing driver Kyle Busch in the #8 Chevrolet Camaro.
“It’s a real shame how our race ended today,” said van Gisbergen.
“My 88 team brought a really good Jockey Chevy that had a lot of potential.
“It was fun battling in the top five during the first two stages. We’ll give it another try next weekend in Kansas.”
The NASCAR Cup Series continues at Kansas Speedway on Monday, September 29 (AEST).
Get the latest NASCAR news, stats, and US racing coverage at Speedcafe US
Discussion about this post