Berry won’t return to Wood Brothers Racing next season

Josh Berry has revealed that he will not be back with Wood Brothers Racing for the next NASCAR Cup Series season.

“Obviously disappointed about that,” Berry said. “They’ve been amazing to work with, amazing people, and it’s been such a great opportunity, obviously going to victory lane for the first time. Winning your first race with them will always be really special. But I’m not going to be back in the 21 next year.

“[I’m] hitting the ground running and working hard to try to find out what’s out there, and certainly optimistic about any opportunities that come my way. But first and foremost, we’re going to do our best to finish this season strong and leave in a good place.”

Berry revealed the news during a previously scheduled Ford media conference. He admittedly wanted to get ahead of an announcement to avoid looking ignorant with any answers he gave during his media availability. The team informed Berry about the 2027 plans on Tuesday.

“You hear the rumor mill start going, so I’m not going to say I was completely (caught) off guard,” said Berry. “I don’t want to really expand on it much further than that. From my side of things, I didn’t exactly feel great about it. I probably would have said myself that I was 50/50 on what was going on, and it’s been a tough year. That is the reality of it. Obviously, I don’t want it to work this way. But it’s been a tough year, and when you have some of the things we’ve had happen, and the results that we’ve had happen, regardless of the details of it, you start to question that, and that’s fair.

“If we had run better, we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation, but we didn’t. So, we now have X number of races throughout the rest of the year to turn that back around and change the narrative, and get back closer to the front. It’s been a struggle for a lot of the Fords and a lot of the guys this year, and we’ve got to turn that around and go to the next race. At the end of the day, whether you win or wreck, you go to work on Monday and go to the next race, and that’s what we’re going to do from here on out and see how it shakes out.”

Wood Brothers Racing signed Berry beginning with the 2025 season after the closure of Stewart-Haas Racing. The team went to victory lane in Las Vegas last spring, the fifth race of the season. It was Berry's first in the series and the 101st for the Wood Brothers.

But the postseason could not have gone worse, with a lack of execution in the first few races leading to an early elimination. Berry finished 26th or worse in six of the final 10 races.

The start of the 2026 season has not gone better. Berry has two top-10 finishes in 15 races and sits 30th in the standings.

“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 said. “Unfortunately, it’s going in a different direction, but you never know what doors might open up. We’re going to work hard to land on our feet and find something. I don’t really have any expectations or plans for what that might be.

“Certainly, I’m open to really anything. I still feel like that 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 get work through it and try to find out what’s out there.”