The future of the Wood Brothers’ No. 21 has become one of the biggest talking points of NASCAR’s silly season. Following the abrupt June announcement that Josh Berry would not return to the team in 2027, fans were left wondering why a driver who delivered a win for the organization just last season at Las Vegas was being unceremoniously dumped.

Now, veteran Kenny Wallace has offered a different perspective. He is suggesting that WBR doesn’t have the final say in such a decision-making process.

“In the normal world, it’s like, Oh my God, the Woods made a mistake and everybody’s like, it’s not the Woods. Ford let him go, so Ford let Josh Berry go. It’s almost like the Wood Brothers are just. They can’t do anything,” Kenny Wallace said on the Herm and Schrader podcast.

Wallace’s comments highlight how the No. 21 team actually works behind the scenes. The team relies heavily on a technical alliance with Team Penske and receives substantial manufacturer support from Ford Performance.

Penske provides cars, technology, and significant organizational resources, giving the championship-winning organization considerable influence over the direction of the No. 21 team. That relationship has fueled speculation about Berry’s departure.

One theory making the rounds among fans and insiders is that Penske and Ford wanted to move toward a younger driver for the future. That led to 21-year-old Jesse Love replacing Berry in the No. 21 seat, representing the exact kind of long-term investment a manufacturer wants to build around.

While hiring Love makes sense on paper, the way Berry was let go did not seem right.

When Toby Christie asked him in June whether he would return to the Wood Brothers for 2027, Berry revealed that he had only been informed the previous day that the team would not exercise its option for the following season. Instead of dodging questions, Berry broke the news of his own firing live on the call.

“Just to go ahead and put it out there, that I will not be back in the 21 car next year. You know, obviously, I’m disappointed in that. They’ve been amazing to work with, amazing people. And it’s been such a great opportunity,” Josh Berry said.

The Wood Brothers then quickly issued an official statement after the public revelation. That timeline made the decision appear particularly abrupt.

Berry’s own numbers also provide another possible explanation. After joining the Wood Brothers in 2025, Berry recorded one victory but also suffered nine DNFs. His 2026 campaign has been even more difficult, with five DNFs and no victories. He currently sits 29th in the Cup Series standings.

The comparison with Penske’s other Cup drivers makes the gap even more noticeable. Ryan Blaney sits second in the standings, Joey Logano is ninth, and Austin Cindric is 15th.

But losing his job led to a tragic irony. Since being fired, Berry and the No. 21 team have completely turned things around. He recently put together four straight top-10 finishes, including a season-best third place at New Hampshire.

This late surge caused former Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick to call out the team and their old habits.

“I love the Wood Brothers, but it’s the consistent cycle with this car,” Harvick said on his Happy Hour podcast following the New Hampshire race. “You change the driver, get everything back together, and then you’ve already fired the other driver. You get it together for the driver you fired at the end of the year, and then he’s out, right?”

In 2021, the team told Matt DiBenedetto he was losing his ride, and he immediately followed it up with a string of strong top-10 finishes. The same thing happened with Harrison Burton in 2024.

Just weeks after the team announced they were replacing Burton with Berry, a fired Burton shocked everyone by winning the summer race at Daytona. He earned the team’s historic 100th win and a playoff spot when he already knew he was out of a job.

Now Berry finds himself in the same spot.

Berry’s situation has drawn support from industry figures. Dale Jr. in particular has been vocal about his future.

“I will be pretty disappointed in the landscape of this industry if he – in February at Daytona, he doesn’t have a full-time gig in one of the three (national series). If he doesn’t have a full-time gig in Truck, O’Reilly, or Cup, I will be pretty damn disappointed,” Earnhardt said via On3.

As the 2027 grid fills up, Berry faces a very tough job market. Open Cup Series seats remain at teams like Kaulig Racing and Rick Ware Racing, but those organizations depend heavily on drivers who bring their own sponsor money.

Berry recently laid out the harsh financial reality of his search, revealing that one Cup team asked him for $3 million in sponsorship just to get the ride. Without a major corporate sponsor behind him, Berry may be forced to drop back down to the O’Reilly Series in 2027 to rebuild his career.