Report: Wood Brothers Racing nearing deal with Josh Berry for 2025 NASCAR season

Wood Brothers Racing is nearing a deal with Josh Berry to compete full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2025, Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal reported Tuesday.

Berry and Wood Brothers have been in negotiations for weeks and are working towards finalizing an agreement. Berry, 33, replaced Kevin Harvick in the No. 4 Ford at Stewart-Haas Racing this season, but with SHR closing its doors, Berry will now make the jump to Wood Brothers to pilot the iconic No. 21 Ford. If the deal becomes finalized, Berry will replace Harrison Burton, who has posted underwhelming results in three seasons.

Wood Brothers currently operates as a one-car team and shares a technical alliance with Team Penske. David Pearson brought success to the team in the 1970s, winning 43 races during his tenure in the No. 21 car. It’s been far from smooth sailing since. A host of drivers have come through since, but the team has fallen on hard times since the turn of the century. Since Elliott Sadler’s win in 2001, Wood Brothers has compiled just two victories.

Can Josh Berry turn things around at Wood Brothers Racing?

Wood Brothers is banking on Berry being the driver to stabilize the team and bring success back. Berry is 19 races through his first full-time season in the Cup Series. He’s tallied four top 10s and two top 5s, finishing a season-high P3 at Darlington and New Hampshire. All of his top-10 finishes have come in his last seven starts.

Berry has been open in stating he feels he’s done enough to warrant another Cup Series ride in 2025.

“I feel like our results have been really strong the last couple of months,” Berry said Saturday at New Hampshire. “I don’t really know other than winning a race at this point is the only thing left that I can do. We’ve finished in the top five. We’ve ran up front. Led laps. We’ve showed the potential that we can do, so I think that’s been a big confidence boost for me.

“I really think that whole situation, at least for myself and our team, you find a lot about yourself when your back is against the wall. And everybody is performing at a really high level, the highest probably we ever have. And we’re fighting together, and I feel like opportunities will come.”