Entering their 76th NASCAR season, the Wood Brothers are built for a rebound

From 2022 to 2024, the Wood Brothers looked nothing like one of NASCAR's most historic and successful organizations. In fact, an organization that once contended for wins on a weekly basis reached lows not seen by the team in a decade. 

The three-year stretch certainly wasn't the team's first rough patch, nor could said stretch be boiled down to one specific issue. All the fault couldn't be placed on slow cars, as the team had made the Cup Series playoffs in 2020. Nor could driver Harrison Burton, a Cup Series rookie in 2022, be entirely blamed. His sudden promotion to the iconic No. 21 was a result of a domino effect that rushed his maiden voyage in the Cup Series. 

Regardless of the messy circumstances going into 2022, a 27th-place points finish for Burton and the Wood Brothers in their first season together was sub-optimal. So too was a 31st-place points finish in 2023. Burton earning the team's 100th victory — and the first of his career — at Daytona in August 2024 was an incredible storyline, but the win and subsequent playoff appearance covered up his worst season yet. An average finish of 25.7 resulted in Burton being demoted to the NASCAR Xfinity Series for 2025, where he'll compete for AM Racing in the No. 15 car. 

All of a sudden, the seat of one of the most iconic vehicles in NASCAR history was left vacant. 

Enter Hendersonville, Tennessee's own Josh Berry, a short-track ace who was a Cup Series rookie with Stewart-Haas Racing in 2024. When SHR announced that it would shut its doors at the end of 2024, however, Berry was left without a ride for 2025. 

Enter the Wood Brothers, led by third-generation team president Jon Wood, who found a driver that couldn't fit the culture of their organization any better. 

The 34-year-old Berry is not your conventional second-year Cup Series driver, nor is Wood Brothers Racing your conventional Cup Series team. Both parties came to fame from humble beginnings, and both parties have seen mountains and valleys throughout their respective tenures in racing. 

In a way, Berry's pairing with the Wood Brothers almost feels like it's been ripped out of one of Greg Fielden's immense NASCAR history volumes. A team taking a chance on a 34-year-old, second-year driver who only recently came to prominence in the NASCAR world is a relic of a bygone era. While rarely seen today, in the 1980s and 1990s, most Cup Series "prospects" were in their 30s, rather than their late teens and early 20s as is the custom today. 

Of course, a culture fit doesn't guarantee results on the racetrack. After a strong first half of 2024, Berry failed to capture a top-10 finish over the final 18 races of the season, resulting in a 26th-place points finish. The Wood Brothers also have plenty of work to do at the shop to make sure Berry is provided with cars quick enough to compete. 

However, it's safe to say that the organization seems to be on the upswing going into 2025. With a new driver, crew chief and mindset going into the Wood Brothers' 76th season of competition, there's no reason Berry can't be a fringe playoff contender and make the No. 21 car a consistent top-10 threat once more.