CUP: Josh Berry unable to escape the chaos this week, gives #21 first Atlanta last-place finish since 1980
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Steven Taranto, @STaranto92
Josh Berry picked up the 6th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Autotrader 400 at the EchoPark Speedway when his #21 Motorcraft / Quick Lane Ford was involved in a multi-car accident after 81 of 271 laps.
The finish, which came in Berry’s 86th series start, was his first of the season and first in a Cup Series race since September 13, 2025 at Bristol, nine races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 27th for the #21, the 702nd from a crash, and the 768th for Ford. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 44th for the #21, the 1,084th for Ford, and the 1,446th from a crash.
When Berry was last featured on this site, he’d just endured a miserable first round exit from the Playoffs, where he swept all three last-place finishes of the “Round of 16.” He nearly earned his fourth in a row the next week at Loudon following a spin on the backstretch, but recovered so impressively that he nearly earned his second career victory, coming home 2nd to Ryan Blaney. He then closed out the year with finishes of 10th and 7th in the season’s final two races.
Last week, it was reported that Berry and his Wood Brothers car were the only ones not involved in an incident during either of this year’s Duel races or the Daytona 500. He finished 6th in his Duel race and came across the stripe 9th on Sunday, just behind the last-lap pileup. He hoped to keep up the momentum in Atlanta, where a year ago he qualified 3rd and led 56 laps, only for his wreck on the backstretch to freeze the field on the final lap.
This time around, Berry arrived as one of 38 entrants for 40 spots in Sunday’s race. He drew the 29th spot in the qualifying order, but when rain cancelled the session, his Daytona finish buoyed his starting spot to 10th place.
Securing the 38th and final starting spot was J.J. Yeley, whose #44 Built To Work / Barnett Southern Chevrolet made the show after his failed to qualify in Daytona. No team were sent to the back for pre-race penalties, so Yeley started to the outside of 37th-place starter B.J. McLeod in the now unsponsored #78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet. When the green flag dropped, Yeley’s high lane pulled ahead, the #44 crossing the stripe 3.377 seconds back of the lead to McLeod’s 3.630. Stuck behind Todd Gilliland’s #34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford on the inside line, McLeod found a way under the #34 at the line, when he was 3.112 seconds back of the lead. But when Austin Dillon’s #3 Morgan & Morgan Chevrolet moved up the track, McLeod had to lift off Turn 2, and was now blocked in behind Dillon and Yeley, running door-to-door.
On Lap 10, McLeod dropped Yeley back to last, 3.323 seconds back of the lead. The two were still drafting each other, separated by about one-tenth of a second. Just ahead in 36th was the #43 Advent Health Toyota of Erik Jones, who was struggling with a very loose handling car. Coming off Turn 4 to start Lap 13, Yeley got under Jones and dropped the #43 to last place. “I can barely get around the track right now,” said Jones on Lap 17. Jones managed to stay in Yeley’s draft until Lap 28, when he was about eight-tenths of a second behind new 37th-place runner Ryan Preece in the #60 Kroger / Red Baron Frozen Pizza Ford. That gap increased to seven seconds by Lap 42, though by then Jones had climbed to 37th.
On Lap 30, 9th-place Carson Hocevar glanced his #77 Spectrum Chevrolet off the Turn 4 wall and started losing spots, complaining of a right-front tire going down. By Lap 32, he dropped to last place as the now stranded Jones whistled past in the high lane. Hocevar made it to pit road under green, where the crew discovered a cut in the tire’s sidewall. He returned to the track by himself, already one lap down. And on Lap 42, race leader Joey Logano led a now 2nd-place Berry past him on the inside, putting him a second lap down. But with fresh tires, Hocevar moved back ahead of the leaders on Lap 46, holding the spot until Lap 51, when new leader Chase Elliott moved his #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet back around oft Turn 2. A few more cars moved past Hocevar, but the #77 remained among the leaders until the final five laps of Stage 1, when Hocevar reported another right-front tire was going down. A lap later, he also radioed his right-side window had come loose. Hocevar wasn’t black-flagged before the end of Stage 1 on Lap 61, and his tire held together long enough to make his next stop. This caution also gave Hocevar one lap back, leaving him one lap down to the rest of the field.
Under caution, Hocevar completed his extended stop on Lap 66, the crew securing the right-side window and changing tires. But as he continued around the track, he reported a small vibration he hadn’t had before, a vibration which he pinpointed in the right-rear once the race restarted on Lap 69. On Lap 73, Hocevar was still running at the back of the pack, following Jones in the high lane, which kept him well clear of the next incident, which put him back on the lead lap.
On Lap 82, Josh Berry was running 15th in a three-wide formation with Alex Bowman’s #48 Ally Chevrolet on the outside and a fast-closing Christopher Bell moving up the inside in his #20 DeWalt Toyota. Coming into Turn 3, Ty Gibbs saw an opening between Bowman and Berry, which along with Bell’s move low suddenly put them in four-wide formation. But the hole closed quickly, causing Gibbs’ #54 SAIA Freight & Logistics Toyota to suddenly appear to Berry’s right and cross the nose of his car. Berry checked-up as Gibbs wrecked into the outside wall, only to be rear-ended by Denny Hamlin’s #11 National Debt Relief Toyota, sending Berry head-on into the same barrier. Both Berry and Gibbs ended up stopped in the grass, where both drivers climbed from their cars. Gibbs’ car briefly caught the grass on fire as emergency crews arrived. On Lap 86, Gibbs’ car was towed nose-first to the garage with Berry’s following after, pulled in rear-first. Berry’s onboard camera was shut off on Lap 91 followed by Gibbs’ on Lap 93, and NASCAR declared both out on Lap 102 with Berry shown in last place.
PHOTO: Turn4Productions on YouTube
The next multi-car incident came off Turn 2 on Lap 103, which resulted in heavy damage for Riley Herbst’s #35 Monster Energy Toyota and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.’s #47 Chef Boyardee Chevrolet, both part of the battle for last Sunday’s Daytona 500 victory. Herbst’s car had a rough ride back to the garage, dragged backwards to the infield. This dropped Herbst to 36th, one lap behind Stenhouse, who was declared out of the race on Lap 111. B.J. McLeod, who struck Stenhouse’s car in the wreck, turned eight more laps before he returned to the garage, done for the afternoon on Lap 120. As more cars filtered their way into the garage, Herbst’s crew set to work getting the car repaired to gain as many points as possible. The car was pushed to another stall on Lap 126, where repairs were finally completed with 44 laps to go. By then, both Kyle Busch’s #8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet and Kyle Larson’s #5 Valvoline Chevrolet had also wrecked out in separate incidents. By the checkered flag, Herbst climbed to 33rd, out of the Bottom Five, dropping Stenhouse to 36th, McLeod to 35th, and Busch to 34th. Due to two overtime finishes, Herbst came within four laps of passing Larson for 32nd.
Shane and Zane impress in final outcome at Atlanta
After a strong run early in last week’s Daytona 500 was spoiled by a multi-car crash, Shane Van Gisbergen rallied from two spins in his #97 Red Bull Chevrolet to finish 6th on Sunday – his best-ever finish on an oval. One spot behind him came Zane Smith, who while driving the #38 Aaron’s Rent to Own Ford backed up his 6th-place run in the 500 with a 7th in Atlanta, having run in and among the leaders for much of the day. This kept Smith 5th in the standings, 54 points out of the lead.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*The #21 had only one previous last-place finish in a Cup race at Atlanta, which came on March 16, 1980 after Neil Bonnett’s #21 Purolator Mercury had rear end trouble after 30 laps. Bonnett, who started outside-pole, nearly didn’t get the finish as Buck Simmons’ #12 Ramey’s Chevy City Chevrolet lost an engine on the same lap.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #21-Josh Berry / 81 laps / crash
37) #54-Ty Gibbs / 81 laps / crash
36) #47-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. / 103 laps / crash
35) #78-B.J. McLeod / 111 laps / crash
34) #8-Kyle Busch / 124 laps / crash
2026 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Live Fast Motorsports, Wood Brothers Racing (1)
2026 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet, Ford (1)
2026 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
