CUP: Josh Berry’s disastrous start to the Playoffs hands the Wood Brothers consecutive last-place finishes for the first time in their history
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
SCREENSHOT: USA
Josh Berry picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 at the World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway when his #21 Motorcraft / Quick Lane Ford crashed after 35 of 240 laps.
The finish, which came in Berry’s 76th series start, was his second of the season and second in a row. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 25th for the #21, the 695th from a crash, and the 763rd for Ford. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 42nd for the #21, the 1,075th for Ford, and the 1,431st from a crash.
Berry arrived in Gateway looking to shake off both a disappointing start to his longshot Playoff push and a last-place finish in last year’s race at the St. Louis oval. Without a top-five finish since his win at Las Vegas in March, Berry began the weekend qualifying an impressive 3rd, only to wreck in Turn 2 on the opening lap. Driver and crew rallied – the crew pieced the car back together in 119 laps, and Berry walked away with the bonus point for fastest lap of the race. And though Berry couldn’t climb out of last place, a difficult night for the other Playoff contenders kept him within 19 points of the bubble, tied with Alex Bowman.
For Gateway, Berry was one of only 36 entered in the race as both part-time teams of Garage 66 and the NY Racing Team stayed home. He ranked 21st in practice with a lap of 33.307 seconds (135.107mph), then again improved in qualifying, taking 12th with a lap of 32.698 seconds (137.623mph).
“No, I don’t think it’s ‘must win,’” Berry told DoorStopNation’s Joe Laracuente before the race. “But obviously we need to run well and score points to claw back into it. But I feel like being 19 down, we’re not quite to ‘must win’ yet.”
Securing the 36th and final starting spot was Cody Ware in the #51 Parts Plus Ford, who was to line up alongside 35th-place Ty Dillon in the #10 Draft Kings Chevrolet. But by the time the field took the green flag, Dillon had pulled up to 33rd, making way for 31st-place Justin Haley to start to Ware’s left in the #7 Gainbridge Chevrolet. Haley incurred a late tail-end penalty for unapproved adjustments.
When the green flag dropped, Ware inched ahead of Haley with Ware 3.027 seconds back of the lead to Haley’s 3.052, and 29th-place Cole Custer was briefly shown 160 laps down, continuing Saturday’s issues with timing and scoring. Heading down the backstretch, Haley inched ahead of Ware, who fell to last again off Turn 4, showing 4.153 seconds back of the lead. Haley then made quick work of Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. in Turn 1, putting the #47 Ram Self Storage Chevrolet in 35th.
Over the next several laps, Ware’s deficit to the leaders grew, but he remained within three-tenths of the car in front of him. At the start of Lap 3, he was 5.419 seconds back of the lead, then 6.915 on Lap 4, 10.381 on Lap 7, then 11.608 on Lap 8, when he closed within a tenth of Stenhouse. Stenhouse opened the gap on Lap 9, when Ware was 13.035 back of the lead, and on Lap 22, when Ware was 26.310 back of first place, he was just under one full second back of the 35th-place Stenhouse.
Ware was still in last place on Lap 27 when the first caution fell for Kyle Busch, who spun his #8 Rebel Bourbon Chevrolet off Turn 2 and bent the left-front corner of his splitter after light contact with the inside wall. Busch lost a lap as he turned his car around, then made a stop for repairs to the splitter. On the Lap 33 restart, Busch trailed the field by open track, hoping for a quick caution. He got it just three laps later, though at the cost of Berry.
On Lap 36, Berry had lost just three spots back to 15th when he found himself locked in a three-wide battle entering Turn 1: Joey Logano’s #22 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford running just ahead of Berry’s right-front fender, and Chase Elliott’s #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet down low, near Berry’s left-rear. Entering the corner, Elliott moved up and may have made slight contact with Berry’s car, which looked loose on corner entry. During the opening laps, Berry had also snapped loose racing Bubba Wallace on the backstretch. But this time, Berry’s car spun 180 degrees, nearly collecting Erik Jones before he slammed the wall with the left-front.
Under the ensuing caution, Berry limped down pit road with the right-front suspension destroyed, his wheel knocked loose and dragging alongside his car. Berry took last place on Lap 38 as he made the hard left turn into the garage area. He drove through the garage building, then was directed by officials to complete a left-hand u-turn into another stall, where the crew lifted the hood. On Lap 40, Busch earned the “Lucky Dog,” putting him back on the lead lap. The next time by, NASCAR declared Berry out of the race. The car’s onboard camera was shut off by the end of Stage 1 on Lap 46.
Finishing 35th was Daniel Suarez, whose #99 Choice Privileges Waffle Chevrolet was struck by Chase Briscoe’s #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, whose brakes were locked-up into Turn 1. Suarez hit the outside wall, then pulled into the garage on Lap 84. The only other DNF was Ty Dillon, who after an early spin was running laps down when he suffered a right-front brake failure into Turn 1, ending his afternoon. Rounding out the Bottom Five were Front Row Motorsports teammates Zane Smith, who qualified an impressive 10th in the #38 Long John Silver’s Ford, and Todd Gilliland in the #34 Morton Buildings Ford. Smith and Gilliland each finished a lap down.
Berry now faces a “must win” next week in Bristol - a track where the Wood Brothers have won only once, with Elliott Sadler in 2001. He ranks 16th and last in the Playoff standings, 45 points below the cutoff line.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first last-place finish for the #21 in a Cup race at Gateway.
*This marked the first time the Wood Brothers finished last in consecutive Cup races points-paying races. Twice in their long history they finished last in two out of three consecutive Cup races. On March 16, 1980, Neil Bonnett broke the rear end on his #21 Purolator Mercury after 30 laps at Atlanta, then on April 13th in Darlington crashed on the opening lap. On October 25, 2015, Ryan Blaney’s #21 Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Ford lost the engine after 84 laps, then on November 8th in Texas crashed after 26 laps.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #21-Josh Berry / 35 laps / crash
35) #99-Daniel Suarez / 64 laps / crash
34) #10-Ty Dilon / 207 laps / crash
33) #38-Zane Smith / 239 laps / running
32) #34-Todd Gilliland / 239 laps / running
2025 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) 23XI Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Kaulig Racing, Trackhouse Racing (3)
2nd) Garage 66, Legacy Motor Club, Penske Racing, Wood Brothers Racing (2)
3rd) Front Row Motorsports, Hyak Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, NY Racing Team, RFK Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Rick Ware Racing, Spire Motorsports (1)
2025 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (13)
2nd) Ford (8)
3rd) Toyota (6)
2025 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
