Promising Run for Josh Berry Derailed by Last-Lap Crash
While the end result didn’t end up being indicative of their performance, Josh Berry and Wood Brothers Racing were able to kickstart their 2025 NASCAR Cup Series campaign in Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The Hendersonville, Tennessee-native ran exceptionally well on Sunday, and even spent 56 circuits pacing the field – a single-race high for Berry in the NASCAR Cup Series, and the most for Wood Brothers Racing since May 2017 at Kansas Speedway.
“We had a really fast car,” Berry said post-race. “We saw yesterday that all of our cars were fast. We were able to stay aggressive, stay on the offense, stay up front. I feel that I am in a situation now where I can succeed. We tried to make the most of it there, but we obviously didn’t get the finish we deserved.”
Berry was in contention for the victory in the closing laps of the event, playing blocker for Austin Cindric – his defacto teammate at Team Penske. But, as the laps wound down, and the Chevrolet teammates of Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain moved forward, they shuffled the No. 21 Ford Mustang out of line.
In NASCAR Overtime, Berry found himself in contention for a top five finish on the afternoon but couldn’t get into the proper lane to move forward, falling back to about eighth place before the field devolved into chaos on the final lap down the backstretch.
“It was just crazy. Honestly, it was a lot of fun, but it was just crazy. A lot of the aggressive moves racing there at the end. [Carson Hocevar] threw [Ross Chastain] out of line and I kind of pushed him through the middle and then we just got squeezed together once into [Turn 1] and then again off [Turn 2]. We all just ran out of room there.”
Berry, who was poised to finish in eighth place, had his stellar run derailed with half a lap remaining in the event, when his No. 21 Motorcraft Ford Mustang got sandwiched between Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain, triggering a multi-car accident on the backstretch – which included teammate and defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano.
“It’s just disappointing. I have to go back and look to see if there is something I could have done better. I mean, what’s the use of wrecking for eighth, or whatever? I hate that we didn’t get the finish we deserved.”
When the smoke finally faded away after the last-lap carnage, Berry was credited with a 25th-place finish and a DNF – his second in two points-paying NASCAR Cup Series events in 2025.
“It was a great day with a not-so-great ending,” Eddie Wood said in a post-race team release. “You really can’t feel too bad about it,” Wood said. “Josh and (crew chief) Miles Stanley did a great job all day. I feel really good about where our race team is at this point.”
Following Sunday’s event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Josh Berry sits 31st in NASCAR Cup Series point standings, but despite the poor finish on Sunday, has a lot of momentum as the series tackles its first road course event of the season at Circuit of The Americas.
Following Sunday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Josh Berry sits 31st in NASCAR Cup Series point standings. But, despite a pair of poor finishes to start the season, the team has a bunch of momentum as the series heads to its first road course of the year at Circuit of The Americas (COTA).
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-a54bf325b08a5e9f769b818f5c4a244c.png "Joseph Srigley")
Joseph Srigley covers NASCAR for TobyChristie.com, Racing America, and OnSI, and is the owner of the #SrigleyStats brand. With a higher education in the subjects of business, mathematics, and data analytics, Joseph is able to fully understand the inner workings of the sport through multiple points of perspective.