Josh Berry Opens Up About Gateway Heartbreak as Chase Elliott Hurts His Playoff Chances

Josh Berry’s playoff hopes are in a crisis. After securing a victory at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway earlier this year, many hoped that the Wood Brothers Racing driver would go on a ‘Cinderella run’ during the postseason and potentially mount a serious title challenge. However, for the second straight week and the second year in a row, the racer has crashed at the World Wide Technology Raceway. At Darlington, the Tennessee-native was forced to retire early on, and this time around, his No. 21 Ford made contact with Chase Elliott on Lap 36.

With Bristol Motor Speedway on the horizon, Berry finds himself in must-win territory, as he’s currently rock-bottom in the playoffs. But despite the heartbreaking finish at Gateway, he refused to pin blame on the Hendrick Motorsports driver, calling the situation “unfortunate” and vowing to try again at the short track.

Josh Berry hopes for redemption at Bristol

Josh Berry knew he had to get a result at the 2025 Enjoy Illinois 300. Starting in 12th place, the Wood Brothers Racing driver’s optimism was short-lived after a three-wide battle with Chase Elliott and Joey Logano went disastrously wrong on Lap 36. The No. 9 Chevy made contact with the No. 21 Ford, sending it spinning and crashing hard, driver’s side, into the outside SAFER barrier. At first glance, it looked like the 34-year-old would have been able to continue racing, but when he turned, the left front wheel and suspension were completely ripped apart.

Sharing his thoughts on the incident in the post-race interview, Josh Berry candidly said, “Obviously, it was a chaotic restart back there and checked up a little bit to try to stop Joey (Logano) and (Zane Smith), and (Chase Elliott) got a run and kind of slid in there and got loose and slid up into us. Chase and that team have done a lot for me, and I really doubt that was on purpose. Just wrong place, wrong time for us again. Obviously, it’s unfortunate. We’ll just go to Bristol and try to do the best we can and put ourselves in position to race for a win, and that’s really all we can do at this point.”

Chase Elliott and Josh Berry have some history together. Back in 2023, when the Hendrick Motorsports driver suffered a leg injury after a snowboarding incident, Berry subbed in as a replacement for five races in the No. 9 Chevy. He finished second at Richmond Raceway at that time, a performance that may have earned him a seat at Stewart-Haas Racing the following year. Perhaps that’s why the 34-year-old is refusing to blame his Cup Series competitor for the incident.

Unlike Darlington, when Berry returned to the racetrack after spending over 120 laps in the garage, the No. 21 crew couldn’t salvage the vehicle this time around. As a result, he was forced to settle for just one point, his sixth DNF of the season. This means he’s -45 points off the cutline going into Bristol Motor Speedway, and nothing other than a win will help him progress into the Round of 12. While getting a result at the Bass Pro Shops Night Race will be easier said than done, it’s well within the realm of possibility that Josh Berry puts up a clutch performance next week.

Chase Elliott needed that result. After finishing 17th at Darlington Raceway, the Hendrick Motorsports driver knew getting a good performance at the World Wide Technology Raceway would ease the pressure on his shoulders going into Bristol. Despite starting 19th, the No. 9 Chevy steadily gained track positions as the laps ticked on, finishing 10th at the end of Stage 1 and eighth in Stage 2. But despite the result, the Georgia-native couldn’t help but apologize for wrecking Josh Berry early on.

Chase Elliott expresses remorse for the incident

Sharing his thoughts in the post-race interview, Elliott said, “First off, just want to apologize to Josh and the 21 team. I had no intention of getting into him. I’ve known those guys my whole life, so I just hope that they at least know it wasn’t anything intentional, and I’ve known Josh for a long time, too. So, just want to make sure those guys know that I feel terrible about that. Felt terrible about it right when it happened, and wish I could take it back. But yeah, unfortunately, that transpired.”

Ultimately, it’ll all come down to the final Round of 16 showdown at Bristol Motor Speedway. Being a short-track, the outcome will be impossible to predict, but the pressure will be high on the likes of Alex Bowman, Shane van Gisbergen, Josh Berry, and Austin Dillon to pull off a result. Do you think the Wood Brothers Racing driver will manage to secure an unlikely win at ‘The World’s Fastest Half-Mile’? Let us know in the comments!