The week of early October proved a roller-coaster for Wood Brothers Racing and its driver Josh Berry. A sudden tire failure in Las Vegas forced the team onto a backup eero Ford Mustang Dark Horse while a rain-shortened qualifying session in Charlotte placed Berry deep in the field. Despite those hurdles, Berry extracted a respectable 26th-place finish from the desert oval and then vaulted into a career-best fourth at the heart of NASCAR’s “track-queen” – Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Las Vegas Motor Speedway – South Point 400 (October 4, 2026)
During Saturday’s final practice, a tire blowout slammed Berry into the wall, destroying the primary chassis. The crew scrambled to ready a backup car, relegating the No. 21 entry to the 35th starting spot for the South Point 400. From the outset Berry avoided the first-lap melee and began clawing forward through the opening 80-lap segment. By the end of Stage 1 he had slipped a lap behind the leaders and was recorded in 32nd position.
Stage 2 saw a renewed surge. Berry threaded his way past traffic, re-joined the lead lap with a late-stage push, and crossed the finish line of the second segment in 25th place – earning valuable stage points and positioning the team for a solid run. The final stage was a battle of endurance; Berry held inside the top-25 for most of the run before taking the checkered flag one lap down, officially placed 26th. The result, while modest, demonstrated the resilience of a crew that turned a compromised start into a finish ahead of many full-season entries.
Charlotte Motor Speedway – Bank of America 400 (October 11, 2026)
The following weekend, qualifying was cancelled when rain drenched the Charlotte complex. The starting grid was set by the NASCAR rulebook, landing Berry in 27th place. Undeterred, he accelerated through the field, reaching 19th by the competition caution on lap 36. A chaotic restart saw him drop to 28th as he evaded an incident ahead, but the driver quickly rebounded.
By the close of the 80-lap opening stage Berry had climbed to 14th. The second stage delivered his first top-10 appearance of the weekend on lap 90; he continued to gain ground, finishing that segment in 8th and snagging three stage points. The decisive third stage turned into a sprint for the podium. With eight laps remaining, Berry surged into the top five, and a final pass in the closing laps secured a fourth-place finish – the best result for Wood Brothers at Charlotte since Morgan Shepherd’s runner-up performance in 1994.
“I felt like our car was really strong all day,” Berry said post-race. “We had some good progress at the start, and then when the 54 got in the wall on that restart we went all the way to the back again because it was right in front of us. We battled back from the back again, and I was really happy with the car the majority of the race.” He also praised crew chief Miles Stanley and the pit crew for maintaining tire performance during the extended green-flag run, a factor that kept the car competitive deep into the race.
Looking ahead – next stop Phoenix
With the Charlotte success still fresh, the No. 21 squad now sets its sights on the Phoenix Raceway weekend. The team’s ability to adapt – from a backup car in Las Vegas to a top-five finish on a slick, rain-affected grid – suggests a momentum that could translate into more podium opportunities. Berry summed up the outlook: “That’s another good finish. We’ll go to Phoenix and try to do it again.” The combination of a robust chassis, strategic pit work, and Berry’s determined driving style positions Wood Brothers Racing as a formidable contender as the season races toward its climax.
