Josh Berry in the midst of career-worst NASCAR Cup Series season

All the promise that surrounded Josh Berry and the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing team in the spring of 2025 has vanished just as quickly as it arose. 

After a quick elimination in the 2025 NASCAR playoffs, Berry, 35, came back for a second season with WBR that is trending toward being the worst of his career. 

Berry won his first Cup race at Las Vegas in March 2025 but has not shown any of that same speed through the first 14 races of 2026. The Hendersonville, Tennessee, native is 31st in the standings and has only one top 10. 

Berry has failed to finish four races, has a career-worst average finish of 26.9 and has 11 finishes of 26th or worse. He hasn't finished inside the top-20 in over two months, last doing so with a 10th-place run at Martinsville on March 29. He finished 31st on Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway, crashing out in his home race. 

Josh Berry struggling mightily in 2026

Notably, it's been a down year for Ford and WBR's affiliate, Team Penske, as a whole. The Blue Oval has only won a single race this season with Penske's Ryan Blaney at Phoenix. Meanwhile, Penske drivers Austin Cindric (16th) and Joey Logano (18th) are in the thick of the Chase bubble battle. 

Berry, meanwhile, is nowhere near the Chase conversation. He trails Cindric by 132 points and would need a Herculean effort over the final 12 races of the regular season to get back to the Chase. 

What his 2026 season means for his future with the Wood Brothers in 2027 is unclear. Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass previously reported that Berry's ride is somewhat safe, but if his third Cup Series campaign gets any worse, WBR might be wise to at least explore its options should a change be necessary.