Josh Berry’s win in the No. 21 Ford for Wood Brothers Racing in Las Vegas last year was enough to secure a playoff berth for the legendary team. The momentum he built from that victory also helped him earn a full-time ride for the 2026 season. Unfortunately for Berry, his stay in the Cup Series has now become a battle for survival, with Wood Brothers deciding not to exercise his contract option for 2027. That has made every setback feel even more costly for Berry, as Silly Season begins to take shape.
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“I’ve worked my whole life to get in this position, and now I feel like people view me completely differently after this year compared to what I’ve done up until this point. It’s just been, I’ve never lived through a season like this when it’s just one thing after another,” Berry said in an interview posted by NASCAR journalist Matt Weaver on X, after his DNF at the Window World 450 earlier today.
It was a promising afternoon that slipped through his fingers. Berry looked set for one of his best finishes of the season, with the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford showing strong pace all weekend. He was eighth in practice, but a rainout washed out qualifying, leaving him without track position. Despite starting 28th, Berry worked his way forward and was consistently running inside the top 15. Alas, disaster struck on Lap 199.
While battling for 25th place, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell got into Berry entering Turn 4, sending the No. 21 hard into the outside wall. The impact caused enough damage to end Berry’s race on the spot.
Berry admitted it has become exhausting because many of the setbacks never make the television broadcast. Mechanical issues, poor qualifying luck, race incidents, and circumstances outside the team’s control have combined to make it a season where, in his words, they simply “can’t catch a break.”
The statistics tell a similar story. Josh Berry has been caught in incidents at Atlanta, Phoenix, Talladega, and Nashville, with the races ending long before the team had the chance to show its true pace. Those results have dropped him to 33rd in the Cup Series standings. The position hardly reflects the flashes of speed the No. 21 team has shown throughout the year.
The timing of the crash in North Wilkesboro could hardly be worse. Berry is searching for a ride in 2027 after Wood Brothers Racing opted against bringing him back. That means every remaining race serves as an audition. Not only for potential employers but also for a garage watching the final results far more closely than the circumstances behind them.
Berry knows one strong finish will not erase months of bad luck. But he also knows perceptions can change quickly in NASCAR. With only a handful of races left to prove himself, every lap carries added importance for a driver fighting to keep his place at the sport’s highest level. As veteran NASCAR journalist Weaver put it, Josh Berry is just “incredulous” at this point.