Josh Berry needn’t worry about being unemployed in 2025.
The Wood Brothers Racing team on Wednesday announced Berry has signed for 2025, giving him his best chance to prove he belongs in the NASCAR Cup Series.
So far in his rookie season, Berry has raced admirably – the No. 4 team sits 19th in the Cup Series standings and has posted four top-10 finishes – but he had to take his chances on the job market with the upcoming closure of Stewart-Haas Racing.
With the Wood Brothers sitting on 99 wins, Berry could be the lucky driver who is forever etched in NASCAR history if he were to deliver the organization’s 100th victory. The last time the Wood Brothers won a Cup Series was in 2017, when future 2023 Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney held off Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick to win at Pocono.
While the team has fallen on hard times over the past three seasons with Harrison Burton behind the wheel, it has still been competitive. During the 2017 season, Blaney took the No. 21 team all the way to the Round of 8 while Matt DiBenedetto took the Wood Brothers to the Cup Series playoffs in 2020 before narrowly missing the postseason in 2021.
Burton’s rookie season with the team in 2022 was mediocre even by rookie standards, though, and in 2023 and 2024, the team regressed. Burton currently sits 33rd in Cup Series points, second to last among full-time competitors.
Berry, 33, gives Wood Brothers Racing a driver who has proved he can run inside the top 10 at the Cup level. He doesn’t have the highest ceiling when compared to his competitors, but for a team desperate for any semblance of success, he is a viable option behind the wheel.
Berry shouldn’t be expected to operate as a weekly contender in 2025, but if he can at least bring the No. 21 car inside the top 20 in points, his first season with the team should be labeled a success and something to build on.