Tag: Wood Brothers Racing

The first month of the NASCAR Cup Series season has been better than expected for Wood Brothers Racing.

“Where we’ve run (for) the start of the season has exceeded my expectations, for sure,” Miles Stanley, the crew chief of the No. 21 with Josh Berry, said. “But my goal for this team and with Josh and where we want to go and what we want to accomplish this season, this is it. We want to win a race, we want to make the playoffs, we want to advance in the playoffs. We’re marching down the path to do that.

“I strongly believe we can be a contender week in and week out.”

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The first step in that progress came on Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Berry restarted second on the final restart of the afternoon with 19 laps to go and hunted down leader Daniel Suarez for the victory. He made the winning pass with 13 laps to go.

It was Berry’s first win in the Cup Series, and the 101st victory for the Wood Brothers. And for Stanley, it’s his first as a Cup Series crew chief after he was promoted for the 2025 season to be the leader of Berry’s team.

“There are weaknesses in our program that we have to work on and I’m honestly surprised with how we ran this weekend,” Stanley continued. “It wasn’t one of the races that I had pegged as we’re going to be in contention to win this thing. There are races in the beginning of the season that I think we can, but this was not one of them. So, I’m very surprised.

“It does help build the confidence in the team and the organization and all the guys. Confidence, as we all know, is super important for everyone in this sport, in this industry. This is a pretty good step in the right direction for all the people on our team, from the pit crew to the mechanics, to the guys in the shop, the engineers, everybody. It helps everything, so it’s a good step.”

Through five races, Berry and the No. 21 team have a victory, two top-10 finishes, and sit 13th in the standings. Berry’s average finish is 18.6 with 74 laps led. The bulk of those came at Atlanta Motor Speedway (56) where he started third but was collected in a crash, and on Sunday in Sin City, he led on two different occasions for 18 laps.

A week before the win, the team earned a fourth-place finish at Phoenix Raceway. Berry also qualified fourth. It was a history-making day as the first time Wood Brothers Racing had finished inside the top five at Phoenix.

The momentum carried over to Las Vegas. A seventh-place qualifying effort led to Berry finishing eighth in both stages and having an average running position of 7.88, which was third best on the day behind William Byron (7.51) and Kyle Larson (7.57).

“We’ve run really well all year so far, early in the season and things felt right,” Eddie Wood said. “They just feel right. I think Josh fits us. Miles fits us. Everything just fits.

“I used to make fun of people years ago when they would talk about chemistry – football teams, baseball, all that. Then it kind of bled over into racing. This goes back a few years, but when things click, they click. I’ve been doing this since I was a kid. I was there when David Pearson and Leonard Wood, my uncle, hooked up, and that clicked instantly, like right off the bat.

“This feels like everything is clicking. It feels good to win the hundredth one last year with Harrison and that was good for him, good for us to get that one. Now to get the next one is just a really big deal to us; really special.”

Josh Berry repeatedly used some variation of the phrase “a good fit” Wednesday when discussing his 2025 move to Wood Brothers Racing to drive the No. 21 Ford Mustang.

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe in these guys,” Berry said. “I know the effort that goes into putting the 21 car on track every weekend; I think that’s been pretty clear, and I feel like this is a great fit for me. There’s no excuses from my side of things. I feel like we’re going to have what we need to perform, and it should be a great opportunity.”

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Berry’s new deal came together quickly, although it wasn’t until the last week that Berry officially signed the contract. Stewart-Haas Racing publicly announcing May 28 that it was shuttering its NASCAR program at season’s end put things in motion as the season-long rumors became fact.

Wood Brothers Racing initiated the talks with Berry, who was the next candidate after the team could not come to a deal with Chase Briscoe, who signed with Joe Gibbs Racing.

Jon Wood, the president of Wood Brothers Racing, said Berry was an obvious choice. He will be the team’s fifth driver since 2016, when the company returned to full-time NASCAR Cup Series racing.

“I had committed to them pretty quickly,” Berry said. “It felt like the right fit. They didn’t waste any time and I felt like it was the right fit for me. I’m confident in what they have here, and obviously, the affiliation with Team Penske is huge. To get to work alongside Joey [Logano] and, Ryan [Blaney] and Austin [Cindric] as teammates, I think that’s another big plus. Then obviously, Ford supporting this is a big deal as well.”

Wood Brothers Racing will continue its technical alliance with Team Penske and receive manufacturer support from Ford.

“I think they’re going to look forward to having him in those meetings,” Wood said of the Penske drivers working with Berry. “With this car being so equal and so dependent on the driver, more so than in years past where it was a lot about car preparation, now a driver has a lot to do with it. They’re going to be a little more apt to listen to somebody like Josh in those meetings. He’s going to help them, and they’re going to help him.”

As the fight for results continues, Wood Brothers Racing was ready to make a change. The organization has been winless since 2016. Burton has one top-10 finish in two-and-a-half seasons.

Wood is not putting the blame solely on Burton’s shoulder, admitting perhaps it has been organization, too. Either way, not performing as the organization wants has been frustrating.

“I think we were at a point where we had given this season enough time to be pretty sure that was the road we were going to go down,” Wood said of making a driver change. “The Stewart-Haas thing, it wasn’t like flipping a light switch where one day they’re in business, and the next day they’re done. This had been going on for a while; the discussion of them going out of business, and we had more reason to think they were not going to make it than they were, and so we kind of knew once that formal announcement was made, it would be an opportunity to make those moves and have those discussions.

“But we didn’t have them until that happened. We were trying to respect the system and the process (and) not make a move or talk to any of those drivers — that included Chase [Briscoe]. We waited until it was the right time and by that time, it was too late with him. We didn’t do anything wrong — we respected the system, and we landed where we needed to be with [Josh].”

It is a multiyear deal for Berry to drive the famed No. 21.

“It’s a multiyear deal as long as I run (well),” he said with a smile. “And I don’t plan on running bad.”

Josh Berry will drive the No. 21 Ford Mustang for Wood Brothers Racing beginning next season.

Berry joins the Wood family from Stewart-Haas Racing, which is shutting down at the end of the season. The 33-year-old Tennessee native is in his rookie NASCAR Cup Series season and the No. 4 team continues to impress despite the circumstances. Berry has four top-10 finishes in the last seven races.

Before signing with Stewart-Haas to replace Kevin Harvick, Berry made 12 starts in the series as a substitute driver. He drove for Hendrick Motorsports in 2023, filling in for the injured Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman. Berry had three top-10 finishes in 10 starts. Before the ’23 season, Berry made two starts in 2021 driving for Spire Motorsports.

“When you think of the history and legacy of NASCAR, it’s hard to not think of the Wood Brothers and the incredible impact they’ve made on the sport. It’s an honor and a privilege to be a small part of carrying on that legacy,” said Berry. “To be able to add my name to the list of drivers who have piloted the iconic No. 21 is something I don’t take lightly.”

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A short track ace, Berry was noticed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and drove late models for JR Motorsports. In a part-time Xfinity Series schedule in 2021, Berry won two races and was given a full-time ride in 2022 and ’23. Berry won three races and finished a career-best fourth in points in 2023.

Wood Brothers Racing returned to full-time NASCAR Cup Series competition in 2016. Berry will be the team’s fifth driver since that season.

Founded in 1950, Wood Brothers Racing is the longest-active team in NASCAR. The organization is sitting on 99 victories in the Cup Series.

“Over the years, we’ve had the privilege of working with a multitude of successful drivers, and now having the opportunity to add Josh Berry to that list is a significant milestone for our team,” said Jon Wood, president, Wood Brothers Racing. “Josh brings a wealth of talent and determination, evident through his success in every level of competition, from grassroots NASCAR to present day. He fits the values of our team, and we believe that with Josh behind the wheel, we will achieve great things together on the track.”

Berry will replace Harrison Burton, who has driven the No. 21 for three seasons.