Josh Berry Stats: 9 Top 10s in 14 Races After Losing His Ride
Welcome to the Happy Hour Racing Driver Spotlight - where we pull one Cup Series driver into the garage, look under the hood at their career, and tell you what makes them tick. This week: the number 21.
The Short Version
The Josh Berry stats tell two stories this year. In his first 21 races of 2026, the driver of the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford had two top-10 finishes and lost his ride for 2027. In the 14 races since, he has nine top-10s, a new job and career highs in top-fives and top-10s. He is 36, he was once a bank teller, and he ran fourth at Martinsville last Sunday. His last race in the 21 is this Sunday at Homestead-Miami.
The Bank Teller Who Met Dale Jr. Online
Berry was born October 22, 1990, in Hendersonville, Tennessee. He won Legends car titles as a teenager, including a 2009 track championship at the Nashville Fairgrounds, and he worked as a bank teller back home to help keep racing affordable.
The break came from a computer. Berry got to know Dale Earnhardt Jr. through online racing, and in 2010 Earnhardt hired him to drive a late model for JR Motorsports. Berry moved to North Carolina and did a little of everything. He drove, he worked on the cars, and he helped mentor younger drivers, including William Byron and Sam Mayer.
He also won, a lot. He took track titles at Motor Mile Speedway in 2012 and Hickory Motor Speedway in 2014, then the CARS Tour late model stock title in 2017. He holds the CARS Tour career record with 22 wins. In 2020 he won the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national title with 24 wins in 37 starts. Even he did not see the Cup Series coming. "I thought that my career would lead me to be a career short-track racer and a very good one," he told NBC Sports.
A Very Late Break
JR Motorsports could never find the sponsor to run him full time in the Xfinity Series, so he waited. When a part-time ride finally came in 2021, he won at Martinsville that April, his first Xfinity win, at age 30.
The Cup Series noticed in 2023. Hendrick Motorsports used him as a substitute while Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman were hurt, and he finished second at Richmond in Elliott's No. 9. That earned him Kevin Harvick's old seat, the No. 4 at Stewart-Haas Racing, for 2024. He was 33 when he started his first full Cup season, an age when plenty of drivers are already thinking about the end. He finished 27th in points, and the team closed its doors after that year.
Las Vegas, March 16, 2025
The Wood Brothers picked him up for 2025, and it took five races. At Las Vegas, Berry got past Daniel Suarez on Lap 254 of 267 and pulled away to win by 1.358 seconds. He led only 18 laps. It was his 53rd Cup start, the 101st Cup win for the Wood Brothers, and it made him the first Weekly Series national champion to win a Cup race. "Man, it was our day," he said. "I just can't believe it."
Josh Berry Stats: By the Numbers
Here is the Cup career so far, through 35 of 36 races in 2026. His four top-fives and 11 top-10s this year are both career highs.
Losing the Ride, Then Finding the Speed
On June 10, Berry said he would not be back in the No. 21 for 2027. He was 30th in points at the time, and his best finish in 15 races was ninth in the Daytona 500. A week later the team named Jesse Love as his replacement.
It did not turn around right away. He finished 25th or worse in each of the next six races. Then came Indianapolis on July 26, where he ran seventh, and everything changed. He followed with fourth at Iowa, eighth at Richmond, ninth at Daytona and seventh at Darlington. In between, at New Hampshire, he led 73 laps and finished third, his best run of the year.
Asked Josh Berry if his recent hot streak has helped him make progress on his 2027 plans. He said "Yeah" and then just smiled.
- Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) September 7, 2026
Berry said his cars have been better the last two months, and it's shown with six-straight Top 10s - the best such streak for the Wood Brothers since… https://t.co/mw0mMlWSyJ pic.twitter.com/Rrv6Sv4Ebt
Better cars are part of it, and Berry has offered another reason. He told reporter Jeff Gluck that "a lot of those races were spent more or less racing for an opportunity," and that he now sees no point in leaving anything on the table. On September 8, Legacy Motor Club announced he will drive its No. 42 Toyota in 2027. Co-owner Jimmie Johnson pointed to Berry's "experience, perspective and wisdom."
Martinsville, and One Race Left
He kept running up front after the deal was done, with sixth at Bristol and fourth at Charlotte. Last Sunday he took fourth at Martinsville, the track where he won his first Xfinity race, in a day that also brought a dispute. Contact between Berry and Ryan Blaney in Stage 2 ended up costing Blaney his race, and the two tell it differently. Blaney said he "just barely, accidentally tapped the 21" and that Berry "decided to slam on the brakes." Berry said "Ryan got into me pretty good there" and that he "got out of the groove trying to save it."
Berry heads to Homestead-Miami 22nd in points and outside the Chase, so there is no title on the line. There is just one more start in the No. 21, Sunday at 3 p.m. ET.
The Bottom Line
Josh Berry went from a bank in Tennessee to a Cup Series win at 34, and when he lost that ride, he answered with the best stretch of his career. He has one race left in the 21 and a fresh start waiting in the 42.
Grab a piece of the Josh Berry story. A few in stock right now, including gear from his year in the No. 4:
- Josh Berry #21 First Cup Win Las Vegas Tee
- Josh Berry 2024 Stewart-Haas Flame #4 Hat
- Josh Berry #4 2024 SunnyD Racing Pit Uniform Shirt
- Josh Berry 2024 Big #4 Mesh Hat, Black and Gray
See it all in the Josh Berry collection. New driver spotlights drop every Thursday.
