It’s been a tough few months for Josh Berry. In June, he learned that he would not be driving the No. 21 Ford for Wood Brothers Racing next year, with Jesse Love set to replace him. He spent the following weeks waiting for another opportunity to open up and even improved his performances in the meantime. But with barely any spots left on the grid, it now seems that Berry’s Cup Series dream may be over. Many in the NASCAR community feel he doesn’t deserve that fate. Kyle Petty, however, doesn’t agree.
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“I think the potential that a Jesse Love has, the potential that these younger drivers have, there’s a lot more blue sky for them than there is for a Josh Berry,” Petty said in a snippet of Inside the Race posted on his X account. When you get to twenty-nine or thirty now, if you’re not winning races, sorry. “We’re not like Jeff Gordon. We’re not all Jimmie Johnson who go to a place and stay your entire career.”
It was a brutal reality check for Berry. He was a star on the short-track scene but never really made a big name for himself in the Cup Series, with just one win in Las Vegas last year. Petty feels that a résumé like that doesn’t warrant a contract extension over someone like Love, who is tipped to have a glittering Cup Series career.
Berry isn’t a four-time champion like Gordon or a seven-time champion like Johnson. And that’s what allowed those two NASCAR legends to spend decades in the sport without anyone questioning their place.
From the wider NASCAR community, though, Berry has found plenty of support. Michael McCarthy, known as “Large” among fans, said on his Rubbin Is Racing podcast that Berry looked like a lonely figure in Richmond. Not having his future sorted out at this level has clearly gotten to him. In terms of results, though, his performances over the past few weeks have shown that he still has a claim to a Cup Series seat.
After recording just two top-10 finishes in the first 21 races of the season, Berry has now put together four consecutive top-10 finishes, including a season-best third place at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday. It was the first time a Wood Brothers driver had recorded four straight top-10s since Morgan Shepherd in 1994.
Petty’s view highlights a simple reality in NASCAR. Drivers need to keep winning and showing they belong if they want to stay in the Cup Series. Berry still has the rest of 2026 to race with Wood Brothers Racing, but his future remains unclear. As of now, there’s no confirmation that Berry will have a full-time seat in any of NASCAR’s national series next year.
Another nail in the coffin for Josh Berry
Earlier this month, there were rumors that Richard Childress Racing was looking to sign Josh Berry for 2027. On paper, the move made a lot of sense. Austin Hill replaced Kyle Busch on the No. 33 team after his passing in May but didn’t really make a mark. Many in the garage saw him as a temporary fix, and Berry’s recent results put him in line for the permanent spot.
However, The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi reported on X on August 24 that RCR would be going ahead with Hill. So now, only Kaulig Racing and Legacy Motor Club have seats available for 2027, with neither being remotely linked to Berry for now.
The news won’t hit Berry like a truck. He was most likely prepared to assess his options elsewhere, considering how slow the Cup Series silly season had been. He sounded pessimistic every time he was asked about his chances for 2027 and even admitted to exploring options in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and the Truck Series.
That should not be too far-fetched for Berry. And even Dale Earnhardt Jr., in a recent episode of his Dale Jr. Download podcast, revealed that he expects Berry to, at the very least, remain a NASCAR driver.
“I will be pretty disappointed in the landscape of this industry if he, if 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 d*mn disappointed,” the Hall of Famer said.
Berry’s Cup future may be uncertain, but his recent results have shown that he still has plenty to offer. With support from figures like Earnhardt Jr. and several spots still potentially available, his NASCAR journey may not be over just yet.