Josh Berry Is Racing for His Cup Series Career

Josh Berry‘s ascendance from late-model star to full-time NASCAR Cup Series racer has been a great story. Now in his third full-time season at the highest level of the sport, Berry is left wondering what comes next. Will he be racing on Sundays in 2027?

Over the last three races, Berry has been letting his results make the case. But is the recently improved performance enough to keep the dream alive? Or is it too little, too late?

On June 10, Berry announced he wouldn’t be returning to the famed Wood Brothers Racing team, which elected to go in a different direction. One week later, the Wood Brothers announced that reigning NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Champion Jesse Love would take over driving duties in 2027.

Berry was left without a ride.

On the surface, this wasn’t entirely surprising. Berry did manage to win a race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway driving for the Wood Brothers, but in 60 races for the team thus far, he’s managed just four top-five finishes. Love is a rising star. At the ripe old age of 21, Love already has an ARCA Menards Series Championship, an O’Reilly Series Championship, and 23 top fives in 89 O’Reilly races, driving for Richard Childress Racing.

Berry is 35 years old.

Owners often seek young, marketable talents who haven’t reached their prime yet. They face a unique prospect in Berry. He is one that has demonstrated plenty of success at the lower levels even though he hasn’t even driven 100 races in a full-time Cup ride. Still, he has amassed a Cup win and five O’Reilly wins. You can make the argument that he still hasn’t hit his prime as a Cup driver.

Yet there’s his age.

It remains to be seen if another Cup Series team will give Berry a shot to drive full-time in 2027 and beyond, and the list of available rides seems to shrink by the week.

Until recently, the Hendersonville, Tennessee native had never had three consecutive top 10 finishes in the Cup Series. Earlier this season, that feat looked unlikely. But over the last three race weekends, he’s done exactly that, boasting an average finish of 6.3 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Iowa Speedway, and Richmond Raceway.

He’s racing for his career, and doing an admirable job of it.

This recent surge of performance has come at a time when two of his corporate teammates have also finally found their groove. The Wood Brothers have a close alliance with Team Penske. Three-time champion Penske Ford driver Joey Logano was mired back in 20th in points just seven race weekends ago.

Now? Two wins and three top fives in the last four races. Logano has climbed from beyond the bubble to championship contender. Another Penske driver, Austin Cindric, just scored his second top-five finish of the season last weekend at Richmond.

If Berry’s early season struggles inhibited his opportunities with other teams, it suddenly seems pretty clear those struggles were as much or more on the team and the manufacturer than the driver.

This reality is something the team owners Richard Childress and Matt Kaulig are probably paying attention to. RCR’s no. 33 and Kaulig’s no. 10 are the only full-time cars with presumed openings for 2027. Both of these rides present numerous pros and cons for a driver like Berry, but RCR seems like the better fit of the two.

Most of Berry’s professional driving career has come behind the wheel of Chevrolets. Both teams present the possibility of returning to the bowtie brigade, but Kaulig Racing is in a state of limbo with no factory support from Chevrolet while it waits to find out if or when Dodge will make its way back into the Cup Series.

RCR has a reputation for being a blue-collar team from Welcome, North Carolina. They seem more likely to hire an older driver like Berry than some other teams would be. Their success has usually come at the hands of highly talented drivers that have the ability to elevate a team. See Dale Earnhardt, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch.

Berry probably won’t ever see the success those legendary drivers have achieved, but what better option does RCR have? They need a real wheelman to get back to being consistently competitive. Since Busch’s tragic passing, Austin Hill hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire in that car. In fact, Hill has been bad by almost any measure. He’s done an professional job handling the pressure of stepping into the seat of the goliath that was Busch under the circumstances. But the results speak for themselves. Over the last eight races, Hill hasn’t finished in the top 20.

Hill was thought to have a head start on keeping that ride, but how long can he run outside the top 30 until the team and partners decide to pursue other options? Berry would be a noticeable upgrade over the 32-year-old Hill.

This current adversity is nothing new to Berry, who also lost his ride at Stewart-Haas racing after Tony Stewart left the team at the conclusion of the 2024 season, causing it to shrink from four cars to just one, now driven by Cole Custer.

Berry’s next chapter is still a mystery. But with at least two viable options still out there, continuing to run in the top 10 every week can only help his chances.

If long-time friend, advocate, and former team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. decides to revive his occasional JR Motorsports Cup entries, perhaps we could see Berry in a part-time role there.

If Cup isn’t in the cards next year, he may just go back to being a front-runner at the lower levels, as he did for so many years before he made it to the top. In that event, a high level of performance could always cause a return in 2028.

Whatever happens, one thing seems clear. Berry will continue to strive to show that the current business model favors too many things other than talent in determining who races on Sundays.