NASCAR Cup Series

Josh Berry joining Wood Brothers in 2025 following Stewart-Haas Racing closure

Published Jul. 3, 2024 12:26 p.m. ET

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Bob Pockrass

FOX NASCAR Insider

Josh Berry has landed at Wood Brothers Racing for next season, making him the second Stewart-Haas Racing driver to already find a new home.

The NASCAR Cup Series rookie, who sits 19th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings, replaces Harrison Burton, who has struggled in his two-plus seasons at the Wood Brothers and sits 33rd in the standings.

With SHR closing at the end of the season, Berry and Chase Briscoe (going to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2025) have landed new deals five weeks since SHR announced it would close after this season.

"Josh was the obvious choice," Wood Brothers president Jon Wood said. "We had to look at Chase first with the relationship we had with Ford and the relationship he had with Ford.

"It was obvious that wasn't going to work out. Josh was by far and away the top prospect. Him being a Ford driver worked, but his results speak for themselves."

Berry won't bring his crew chief with him, though, as he heads to his third organization in three years.

The 33-year-old Berry joined SHR this season to replace the retiring Kevin Harvick and was paired with Harvick crew chief Rodney Childers, one of the most successful crew chiefs in the sport and whose short-track racing roots were expected to match well with Berry.

The two-year deal quickly evaporated into a 1-year deal when SHR owners Tony Stewart and Gene Haas announced in May that they would cease operations after the season. The four-car Cup, two-car Xfinity organization will shut down while a new one-car Cup organization, two-car Xfinity organization will run under a Haas-owned Haas Factory Team company.

That left the SHR drivers looking for rides, including Berry, who struggled over the first nine races of the year but has blossomed over the last 10 with seven finishes of 16th or better.

Part of that has been the growth of Berry along with him and Childers learning each other. Wood indicated they had not finalized a decision on a crew chief for 2025 but with its Team Penske alliance, it likely would come from Penske.

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"The crew chief part hasn't been worked at yet," Wood said. "There are a lot of good people at Team Penske. We have a really good team now."

Current Penske crew chief Jeremy Bullins is crew chief for the Wood Brothers and is used to working with relatively new Cup drivers.

"We're going to attack this together and go through and make whatever changes or no changes that we feel to make to give me what I need and give us what we need to go be competitive," Berry said.

Childers posted on X, formerly Twitter, a message about Berry's signing with the Wood Brothers.

While Berry and Childers had a strong first 19 races together, Berry is used to working with a variety of crew chiefs. While at JR Motorsports in 2023, he subbed for Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman and Noah Gragson.

Berry said that experience has helped him learn how to explain what he needs in the car, something that he hasn't had much experience with at the NASCAR national series level as his first main Xfinity season was in 2021. He had a couple of different crew chiefs in winning five Xfinity races in 2021-2022.

"I think I've grown tremendously in that area,' Berry said. "When I first sat in the Xfinity car, I really didn't have a clear picture on what I needed as a driver or what I wanted necessarily.

"I was just kind of happy to be there in a way, and now after working with several different guys, I have a clearer picture of what I'm looking for and that will help us through the process.'

The fact that Berry is at least in the top 20 in points shows that adaptability for him in working with new people.

"Even though we've had some bumps in the road [this year], and things that I wish I could do over for mistakes that I made. we're outside the playoffs but we're on the grid — we're in the picture, which is cool," Berry said.

"I think we can win a race. That says a lot for a rookie in this series. We've been in contention last few weeks."

There are still two SHR Cup drivers still looking for 2025 rides.

Gragson is a top candidate for one of the two open Front Row Motorsports rides. Ryan Preece's future appears more fluid. Front Row, Kaulig Racing and Rick Ware Racing are among those that have not finalized their 2025 lineups.

Also, obviously looking is Burton, who does have some sponsorship behind him to bring to a team in any of the three national series.

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.

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Bob Pockrass