LAS VEGAS — Josh Berry spent much of his racing career content as a journeyman driver who probably would never make it beyond the local short-track scene.
When the Tennessee native got a break in NASCAR — Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. has believed in Berry for years — he made the most of it by winning five second-tier Xfinity Series races for JR Motorsports. That led to a shot in the top-tier Cup Series, then a full-time job last year with Stewart-Haas Racing.
When SHR decided to shutter at the end of last season, Berry was dumped into the free-agent market — and immediately grabbed by Wood Brothers Racing. In his fifth race with his new team, Berry scored the first Cup Series victory of his career by taking NASCAR’s oldest team to victory lane Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
“I’m just thankful to be in the situation I am driving fast race cars,” said the 34-year-old Berry, who was born in Hendersonville. “With my experience on the short tracks, you think that’s where you’re going to win. But if I’ve learned anything in this sport, it is that you never know when it’s going to be your day.”
Berry, driving the famed No. 21, also had the first victory for a Ford team through five races this season. William Byron opened the year with a Daytona 500 victory in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, and Christopher Bell in a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota won the next three races at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, and Phoenix Raceway.
Berry, meanwhile, had to run down Daniel Suarez in a Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet after a restart with 19 laps remaining to take control in Las Vegas. Although Harrison Burton won at Daytona last summer for Wood Brothers Racing, Berry’s victory is the first not at a superspeedway since Ryan Blaney won for the team in 2017 at Pennsylvania’s Pocono Raceway.
“This one was legit,” WBR team president Jon Wood said. “You know, sometimes they’ll put an asterisk besides a speedway race and say, ‘Well, it’s speedway racing.’ But (Berry) dominated those last 20 laps.”
The Wood Brothers are celebrating their 75th season in NASCAR. It was the 101st victory for the organization, success spanning 20 drivers.
“Everybody with Wood Brothers Racing gave me a great car, and we just battled and battled, and man, it was our day,” Berry said. “I just can’t believe it. It was such a battle with Daniel there at the end. Beating and banging at a mile-and-a-half (track) is crazy. But whoever was going to get out front was probably going to win.”
Suarez, after finishing second was “definitely a little disappointed, but congratulations to the 21 team and Josh. They did a great job. They’ve been fast lately. They’ve been in contention. So congratulations to them.”
Ryan Preece was third in a Ford for RFK Racing. Byron was fourth, followed by Ross Chastain of Trackhouse, Austin Cindric of Team Penske and Alex Bowman of Hendrick. AJ Allmendinger of Kaulig Racing was eighth, and Hendrick drivers Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott rounded out a top 10 that included seven Chevy drivers.
Reigning Cup Series champion Joey Logano had control of the race late until Las Vegas native Noah Gragson hit the wall with 25 laps remaining to bring out the ninth caution of the day. Berry was in second when the yellow flag came out and second behind Suarez on the restart.
Berry, who won in his 53rd Cup Series race, was a 40-1 underdog to win Sunday, but his victory puts the Wood Brothers back into the playoffs for a second consecutive season. The team has a tight alliance with Team Penske, which has input on who drives the No. 21.
Meanwhile, Bell came to Las Vegas with an opportunity to become the first driver since Jimmie Johnson in 2007 to win four consecutive Cup Series races.
His chance to extend his streak was stymied when Joe Gibbs Racing had to change the throttle body on the No. 20 Toyota after Bell qualified 13th and the penalty dropped him to the back of the field for the start of the race. He never recovered in what was an overall subpar day for the four-driver JGR contingent.
Bell, who complained about the handling of his car most of the race, finished a team-high 12th, which was the best result for any Toyota on Sunday.
Only eight drivers have won four straight Cup Series races in the modern era of NASCAR that began in 1972.
“I don’t know. It’s fine. It was a grind, for sure,” Bell said. “I don’t really know how I feel yet, but we certainly didn’t do what we did the last couple of weeks, and that was just have a nice clean race.”
JGR’s Chase Briscoe was 17th and Ty Gibbs, who rolled a sprint car Saturday night on the dirt track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, finished 22nd. Denny Hamlin, the winner of more than $200,000 over two nights of playing slots in a Las Vegas casino, couldn’t convert his luck to the track and finished 25th.
The Cup Series races next Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, a track that had been in the playoff rotation the past three years but has now been moved to a spring race. Tyler Reddick won last October’s race and Bell won there in 2023.