Josh Berry, Wood Brothers looking to turn around Daytona 500 luck

Neither the Wood Brothers nor Josh Berry have had much luck in the Daytona 500 in recent years. 

In his two starts in NASCAR's most prestigious event, Berry has finishes of 25th and 37th, respectively. He's entering his second season driving the famed Wood Brothers No. 21 Ford. 

That iconic No. 21 Ford has only finished one of the last five 500s, however. Matt DiBenedetto (2021), Harrison Burton (2022, 2024) and Berry (2025) all failed to finish the race. Only Burton in 2023 managed to cross the stripe at the end of 500 miles, and he only finished 26th. 

The Wood Brothers have an abysmal average finish of just 34.8 over the last five renditions of the "Great American Race."

"We've had really, really bad 500s for quite a few years," Wood Brothers team president Jon Wood told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Friday. "I don't remember being there for the finish of one. Typically, you crash and you leave. At some point, that luck's got to turn around and change."

Can Josh Berry deliver solid Daytona result? 

Berry could very well turn around his team's recent Daytona luck on Feb. 15. He finished ninth in Daytona in August 2025 and led 56 laps at EchoPark Speedway — which like Daytona, is a drafting track — in February 2025. 

"He has a lot of speed," Wood said. "We've spent a lot of time up front. Specifically Atlanta, he should've won that thing. He has a lot of speed. I don't know that he's got a lot of experience to fall back on with the Cup drivers." 

Berry scored the only Cup Series win of his career thus far at Las Vegas in March 2025. 

Quotes provided by SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.