A NASCAR Cup Series driver will pull double duty this weekend at Pocono Raceway as Josh Berry makes his return to Xfinity on Saturday afternoon (3 p.m. ET on USA Network).
Berry will drive the No. 15 Ford Mustang for AM Racing. According to the NASCAR Roster Portal, he will work with crew chief Matthew Lucas, who took over for Joe Williams after the May race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Viva Tequila Seltzer will serve as Berry's primary partner for the Xfinity Series race.
The partnership with Berry takes place after a major change at AM Racing. The team and full-time driver Hailie Deegan parted ways after 17 races together and a best finish of 12th at Talladega Superspeedway.
Saturday's race will mark Berry's first time competing in Xfinity this season. He will make his 96th career start in the second-tier series and his fourth Xfinity start at Pocono Raceway.
"I'm really looking forward to being back in the Xfinity Series," Berry said in a statement. "I can't thank everyone at AM Racing and Viva Tequila Seltzer enough for the opportunity. Pocono is a fun track, and I believe we can go out and have a solid result."
Adding the Tennessee driver to the lineup gives AM Racing another race-winning driver who can provide feedback. Berry has five wins at the Xfinity level, and he has put himself into contention for wins during his rookie Cup season.
Two-time Cup Series champion Joey Logano was the most recent driver to take over the No. 15 Ford Mustang. He drove the entry last weekend on the streets of Chicago, and he finished eighth. This was AM Racing's first top-10 finish since Brett Moffitt crossed the line 10th at Texas Motor Speedway last fall.
"We are proud of the hard work of our AM Racing team at the Chicago Street Course last weekend," said AM Racing team president Wade Moore. We hope to have the opportunity to work with Joey again in the future.
"We are excited about the opportunity to work with another Ford Performance Cup driver, Josh, at Pocono Raceway on Saturday afternoon."
Berry has two top-10 finishes at Pocono, headlined by a third-place finish in 2022. He also started on the pole for last season's Xfinity race at the 2.5-mile track and led 51 laps. However, he finished 24th after an incident in overtime.
Berry was on the inside of Austin Hill on the final lap of overtime, trying to make the race-winning pass, when then-teammate got a run. Berry moved up to block but collided with the side of Mayer's No. 1 Chevrolet.
This contact led to a cut tire that sent his No. 8 Chevrolet hard into the wall. Hill went on to win under caution while Mayer crossed the finish line in second place.
Berry will have another opportunity to contend this weekend at Pocono Raceway as he pulls double duty.