Josh Berry will not return to Wood Brothers Racing in 2027, with NASCAR's oldest active team declining to pick up its option on the 35-year-old, a decision Berry himself broke to reporters before the team had even gone public.
Berry was on Ford's weekly media call to mark his 100th Cup Series start at Pocono this weekend when he pre-empted the announcement. "I didn't want to sit here and feed a line to you guys and then have it get announced in 30 minutes. I feel like that would make me look pretty ignorant," he said. He had learned the news less than 24 hours earlier.
The Tennessee driver did not hide his disappointment, but pointed to a difficult campaign in the No.21 Ford. "It's been a tough year. That's the reality of it," Berry said. "If we had ran better, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation. It's been a struggle for a lot of the Fords and a lot of the guys this year."
Wood Brothers Racing confirmed the split in a statement, framing it as an option it chose not to exercise. "We thank Josh Berry for all he's done for Wood Brothers Racing and our partners over the last two seasons. Josh has been a great teammate and we look forward to a strong finish to this season," the team said. "We will announce who will be driving the No. 21 Ford Mustang Dark Horse in 2027 soon and we are excited for what lies ahead."
The numbers tell the story of the parting. Berry joined the Wood Brothers in 2025 after Stewart-Haas Racing closed its doors, and delivered immediately, winning at Las Vegas with three top-fives and eight top-10s on his way to the playoffs. This year has been a grind: just two top-10 finishes in the opening 15 races, ninth in the Daytona 500 and 10th at Martinsville, with a current standing of 30th in points. Before a 15th at Michigan last weekend, he had not finished better than 27th since March.
Berry framed the setback as a lesson rather than a low. "The sun came up this morning, and it's a new day, and you land on your feet, and go to work, and that's all you can do," he said. "It's a great opportunity for me to show my kids how to handle adversity and how to work through things when life doesn't go your way."
He admitted he was still processing the speed of his reversal of fortune. "Sometimes things work out, and you're not sure why, and sometimes they don't work out and you're not sure why," he said. "Unfortunately, I'm kind of living in the latter of that right now."
The move throws one of the sport's most storied rides open for 2027 and lights the touchpaper on a silly season that now has a marquee seat and a race-winning free agent in play.
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