NASCAR insiders break down impact of Josh Berry Las Vegas win for Wood Brothers Racing

Josh Berry returned the Wood Brothers to Victory Lane on Sunday, notching his first career NASCAR Cup Series win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The No. 21 Ford has had speed all season long, and they finally took it to the next level in Sin City, clinching their spot in the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

The victory has NASCAR insiders Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi wondering how high the team could climb in 2025. During the latest episode of The Teardown, the duo waxed poetic about the Wood Brothers, and where Berry could take them moving forward.

“They have a history of really being able to overachieve, but they have to hit the driver component. They’ve got to get some lucky breaks along the way. We said this last year when Josh Berry signed, this was a really good fit for this team. It felt like they had a driver,” Bianchi stated. “I personally felt like they were a year away. I felt like [Berry] needed some more seasoning in the Cup Series. He only has, I think — this was his 57th career start. I thought he needs some more time. Another year in the Xfinity Series. I thought Miles [Stanley], first year crew chief, getting his feet wet, was going to have to get it — I thought this was a build for 2026 thing. You know, have some good runs and kind of turn that corner. I didn’t expect to see it this year, but it’s really been impressive.

“They have had speed a lot of different places. Obviously on the super-speedways. We know how good they are there. But the Phoenix thing, we probably understated this last week, how impressive it was for them to go there and run like that. Then today, the cautions fell their way, but you know what, you’ve still got to take advantage of it. They still had a fast car. Josh executed great on that last restart. Made the moves when he had to. It could be really easy to say this is a fluke win. There’s nothing fluke about this. This is a deserved win by a very good driver who has showed his stripes multiple times in the Xfinity Series and a team who, when they have things going right, have shown they can win races at this level.

“It’s been a rough few years, but it certainly seems like now the future is very bright for this organization. … John Wood, who’s kind of taken over the leadership role within the organization has done a really good job of pointing this team forward. He played a huge role in selecting Josh Berry. He has played a huge role in kind of shaping this team and bringing it forward out of the last dark ages that this team has had these last few years.

“The Daytona win aside, it has been a struggle. This team is much different and much more forward-thinking than it has been for some time, and it’s starting to come to pay dividends now on the racetrack.”

It’s easy to see where Bianchi is coming from with his take on Berry and the Wood Brothers. Gluck was in agreement with the sentiment towards the No. 21, thinking he could be a factor in the playoffs if the first month of the season is any indication.

“Based on these last couple weeks here, you go, ‘Okay, they’ve really got something here.’ You know, they’re in the playoffs now. It sets up well for them, if they can continue to build this season,” Gluck added. “Because as you said, you know, second-year driver, first-year crew chief — you would think that it would take them some while, a while to gel and get together and work on things. But fast cars do a lot.”

Time will tell how far Josh Berry can take the Wood Brothers in Year 1 with the team. Still, it’s a beautiful thing to see the legendary No. 21 competitive week-in and week-out, and the bar is being raised for one of NASCAR’s famed organizations in 2025.