Josh Berry

 ( Official Website ) 

Joshua William Berry (born October 22, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 21 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Wood Brothers Racing. Berry is noted for getting his start as a standout in Late model with JR Motorsports from 2010–2023 where he became the all-time winningest driver in CARS Tour history.

At the 2015 Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown, Berry spun Lee Pulliam while racing him and Timothy Peters for the lead on the final lap; Berry was moved down to seventeenth in the running order and drew criticism from Pulliam, who called Berry "the biggest joke in racing." After being spun by Bobby McCarty in CARS Tour at Motor Mile Speedway in 2019 and Ace Speedway in 2020, both times when Berry was leading the race, Berry intentionally wrecked McCarty later in the Ace Speedway race, resulting in a one-race suspension. Berry ditched a planned CARS schedule and instead focused on the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series, winning 24 races en route to a national championship.

On August 31, 2022, Berry was the crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the CARS Tour Window World 125 late model race at North Wilkesboro Speedway and on May 17, 2023, again for the race at North Wilkesboro Speedway the following season.

In 2017, Berry made his first Xfinity Series start of the season, attempting the Kansas Speedway race for newly-formed NextGen Motorsports, driving their No. 55 Toyota. After qualifying 33rd, he finished 34th after suffering an engine failure on lap 182.

In 2018, Berry made his debut in the ARCA Racing Series, driving for Chad Bryant Racing in their No. 22 Ford at Salem Speedway in April of that year, finishing fourth. In 2019, he drove for Visconti Motorsports and finished third in their No. 74 car in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at New Hampshire in September, which was his first start in that series. These were his only starts in NASCAR or ARCA in both of these years.

In March, Berry returned to the Truck Series for the first time since 2016. He substituted for Kris Wright in the No. 02 for Young's Motorsports after Wright tested positive for COVID-19.

In May, Berry made his NASCAR Cup Series debut in the Drydene 400 at Dover International Speedway, substituting for Justin Haley in the Spire Motorsports No. 77 car after Haley was sidelined by COVID-19 protocols, marking the second time that Berry was called on to fill in for a driver that had to miss a race because of COVID-19. He also drove in his second ARCA Menards Series East (formerly NASCAR K&N Pro Series East) race that weekend in the No. 41 for Cook-Finley Racing, which meant that he did triple duty that weekend at Dover. On May 26, it was announced that Berry would get to compete in the Xfinity Series race at Mid-Ohio road course in the No. 31 for Jordan Anderson Racing. Miguel Paludo was driving Berry's normal car, the No. 8 for JR Motorsports, in this race.

Another Truck return came in June in the No. 25 of Rackley W.A.R. for three races at Texas, Nashville, and Pocono after the departure of Timothy Peters. A month later, he rejoined JRM for the Xfinity race at Loudon in the No. 1 after Michael Annett suffered a leg injury.

On August 16, Berry was confirmed to drive the No. 8 for JR Motorsports full-time in 2022. Later in the week, he filled in for Spire's other Cup driver Corey LaJoie at Michigan when LaJoie was not allowed to compete due to COVID-19 protocols. When Annett was re-injured in September, Berry once again took over as replacement at Bristol and Las Vegas, and he won the latter after passing teammate Justin Allgaier with under twenty laps to go.

On March 3, it was announced that Berry would run the Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 at the Las Vegas Cup race after Chase Elliott sustained a leg injury from snowboarding in Colorado. Berry finished 10th the following week in the Cup Series race at Phoenix, and filled in for the next three oval races until Elliott recovered to return at Martinsville. Berry finished second at Richmond, his career best in the Cup Series up to that point. On April 26, Berry was announced as the substitute driver of the No. 48 after Alex Bowman suffered a back injury from a sprint car racing accident. On May 21, he raced in the 2023 NASCAR All-Star Race in place of Bowman, qualifying first place in the open qualifying race, allowing him to compete in the main race, where he finished 15th. He would then be announced as the driver for Legacy Motor Club in the No. 42 at Michigan after Noah Gragson was suspended indefinitely. He would go on to finish 34th after being involved in a crash while running sixteenth.

On May 28, 2024, Stewart–Haas Racing announced it would shut down its NASCAR operations at the end of the season.

In the Xfinity Series, Berry signed to drive the AM Racing No. 15 at Pocono.

During the 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400, Berry was involved in a major crash on lap 159. While leading the second lane down the backstretch, Austin Cindric was turned up the track following a push from behind. Cindric and Berry both spun towards the inside as a multi-car incident ensued behind. Berry's car lifted off the ground, overturned, and slid on its roof at high speed for several seconds. Still upside down, it impacted the inside wall head-on, sending it into a spin before it finally stopped on the apron of the track. After track safety workers righted the overturned car, Berry exited unharmed. Thought of a very similar nature arose to a crash suffered by Ryan Preece in the previous year's running, Berry's car did not barrel roll, due likely to the updates to the track following the former's incident that saw the grass in the area removed and replaced with pavement. The flip happened in spite of an additional air deflector implemented in the intervening week after Corey LaJoie had a similar crash at Michigan the previous race, intended to prevent cars from lifting off the ground.

Season still in progress

Ineligible for series points