By Luis Torres, Staff Writer/Photographer
The first signs of silly season 2027 begins wreaking havoc in the NASCAR Cup Series garage after Josh Berry confirmed Wednesday morning he won’t be back with the Wood Brothers next season.
Rather than create speculation, Berry outright told the press during the morning’s media availability call that he’ll be looking for a new ride ahead of his 100th Cup start at Pocono Raceway Sunday.
“I’m obviously disappointed about that,” said Berry. “They’ve been amazing to work with. They’re amazing people and it’s been such a great opportunity. Obviously, going to Victory Lane for the first time and winning your first race with them will always be really special, but I’m not gonna be back in the 21 next year.
“I’m gonna hit the ground running and working hard to try to find out what’s out there and I’m certainly open and optimistic about any opportunities that come my way. But, first and foremost, we’re gonna do our best to finish this season strong and leave in a good place.”
The one victory to his Cup arsenal took place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last spring which punched his ticket into the postseason. However, his first year with the No. 21 team was overshadowed by an onslaught of DNFs, including the entire Round of 16 playoffs.
After 15 races, Berry sits 30th in the standings with only four top-15 results, two of those resulting in top-10 finishes with a ninth in the Daytona 500 being his best result thus far.
Berry explained he had found out that his contract wouldn’t continue past this year less than a day ago. Therefore, he’s been put in a rough predicament of job hunting despite not being off guard with the announcement.
At the same time, he didn’t felt great hearing the news after things looked optimistic last year by making the playoffs and getting the win at Vegas. Now, it’s a matter of closing one chapter at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November and start a new one as soon as possible to assure he’ll strap into a stock car somewhere in 2027.
“What I didn’t want to do was sit here and feed a line to you guys and then have it get announced in 30 minutes, so I feel like that would make me look pretty ignorant, so I wasn’t gonna do that,” Berry commented. “I still have a lot of representation with KHI (Kevin Harvick, Inc.). I spoke a lot with Josh (Jones) over the last day and it’s just about trying to put the pieces together and see what’s out there. You never know what kind of opportunities come about and where it goes from here.
“It’s tough to have happen, but at the same time I’ve been extremely fortunate to get the opportunities that I’ve had and been extremely fortunate to drive for the Wood Brothers and this team,” Berry continued.
“Unfortunately, it’s going in a different direction, but you never know what doors might open up and we’re gonna work hard to try and land on our feet and find something. I don’t really have any expectations or plans for what that might be. I’m certainly open to really anything. I still feel like I’m the same guy that won Las Vegas. I’m still the same guy that nearly won at New Hampshire in the playoffs.
“It’s been a tough year, like I said, but we’ll work through it and try to find out what’s out there. The sun came up today regardless of how bad it might have felt yesterday. It might have felt like it might not, but the sun came up this morning and it’s a new day. You land on your feet and go to work and that’s all you can do. It’s a great opportunity for me to show my kids how to handle adversity and how to work through things when life doesn’t go your way and, like I said, we’ll pick up the pieces and move on.”
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