Berry Buoys Tough Cup Season With Strong Indy Finish

Josh Berry at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (David Rosenblum/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

By Justin Glenn, SWN Staff Writer

INDIANAPOLIS (July 28, 2026) – The position Josh Berry is currently in is something that isn’t foreign in the NASCAR industry. It’s that of a driver whose future is uncertain, someone who is racing each week like it’s a job audition for what’s next. 

With the added pressure on his shoulders, Berry delivered in the 30th Brickyard 400 with a seventh-place finish. It was his second top 10 of the season and first since Martinsville (Va.) Speedway on March 29.

Sunday was the team’s highest finish ever in the Brickyard 400.

“It was a really good day. I thought we did a really good job. We struggled Friday. I thought the guys did a really good job overnight for qualifying,” said Berry. “I know we didn’t qualify like we wanted, but we had a super early draw and felt better about the car than what we qualified and I think we just executed a really good race.”

Berry was 15th in practice and started the race in 26th. With passing being an issue, strategy and using cautions to their advantage allowed the No. 21 team to climb the leaderboard. 

“It wasn’t perfect, but we had some really good restarts the second half of the race and made some progress, and we had some really good long run pace,” he said. “Overall, it was a really solid day that we needed. I’m just happy to finally get a good finish.”

On June 17, 2025 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series champion Jesse Love was announced to take over the No. 21 in 2027. Berry was left with the remainder of 2026 as a “prove it” chance to other Cup Series and possible top O’Reilly Series teams.

A majority of Cup contracts have already been signed, leaving options slim for the 35-year-old. 

This left him with the remainder of 2026 to make the most out of his guaranteed time left in the Cup Series. Being 33rd in the points standings, third worst amongst full-time drivers, Berry is racing for himself rather than a Chase spot. 

In fairness, the collapse of the Wood Brothers since Berry’s first career Cup win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2025 is not all on the driver’s shoulders. The organization has been nearly abysmal since 2020.

The three-year period with Harrison Burton driving for the organization was largely a failure outside of a 2024 summertime Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway win, which clinched the team’s long-awaited 100th victory. Now Trans-Am Series racer Paul Menard’s two-year stint came and went with no fanfare. 

The only real recent success WBR can point towards is Matt DiBenedetto’s 2020 playoff appearance and, before that, Ryan Blaney’s 2017 rookie run before becoming a champion once he moved to Team Penske.

In the present day, Ford is in a down year with just two wins from Penske on short tracks. The No. 21, although effectively a fourth Penske car due to its technical alliance, hasn’t performed well either. That left Berry in a tough spot.  

“It’s hard to explain the amount of stuff that’s worked against us at times this year,” said Berry.  “Finally, [at Indianapolis] we executed a solid race and didn’t have anything thrown at us to take us out of it, and also we had a really good Ford Mustang.

“That’s a big part of it, too. The car was really solid and that makes the restarts better, your pace throughout the run is obviously way better and just a really solid day.” 

He didn’t grab any stage points, but being outside of the top 30 in points, that didn’t matter. The big picture is the Wood Brothers have their 2027 plans set, Berry does not, and a top 10 helps build into what could come next for the Hendersonville, Tenn., native.

Berry’s in a similar position now as Daniel Suarez was in 2025. Trackhouse Racing had announced mid-summer that phenom Connor Zilisch would take over. Suarez was shown the door and had to race for his career prior to Spire Motorsports offering him an opportunity. 

Now, while unfortunate, it’s been Berry’s turn since June after the news went public.  

He’ll have the chance to continue résumé building following the final off week of the Cup Series season. Iowa Speedway, Richmond (Va.) Raceway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway are statistically Berry’s three best Cup Series tracks.

At New Hampshire he hasn’t finished worse than third, and was second in 2025. He has an average finish of second place at the Magic Mile. 

Then at Richmond in relief of an injured Chase Elliott in 2023, Berry drove from 30th to finish second. Since then, his worst finish is 14th, and he was eighth last season. At Iowa, he was seventh in its first Cup race; he came home 13th last year. Finally, the equalizer of Daytona awaits to end the summer. 

When times get rough, an olive branch can be extended. August can be massive for Berry’s 2027 plans and beyond, whether it’s a Cup opportunity or in another NASCAR national series. 

Coverage of the Iowa Corn 350 is slated for Sunday, Aug. 9 at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.