Wood Brothers Racing seemingly have a new habit of announcing future replacements for NASCAR Cup Series drivers who end up almost immediately going on career-best runs after effectively being fired.
Josh Berry was announced as the replacement for last-place Harrison Burton for 2025 during the 2024 season, and all the talk became about whether or not he could be the one to finally deliver them their 100th win, after they had been sitting on 99 since 2017. Then Burton ended up not only winning at Daytona International Speedway but qualifying for the playoffs.
Excluding health-related instances, Burton became the first driver not to attempt to qualify for the Daytona 500 (2025) after winning the previous Cup race at Daytona (August 2024) in Cup Series history.
Now Jesse Love has been announced as Berry's impending replacement for the 2027 season, a confirmation that was made amid a rough start to Berry's second season behind the wheel of the No. 21 Ford. He recorded only two top 10 finishes in the season's first 21 events.
But since that stretch, he hasn't placed lower than eighth.
He has finished seventh at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, fourth at Iowa Speedway, eighth and Richmond Raceway, and a season-high third at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
After his third place finish at New Hampshire on Sunday, the USA Sports broadcast team commented that he is the first Wood Brothers driver to finish in the top 10 in four consecutive races since Morgan Shepherd in 1994.
That is true. Shepherd finished fourth at Pocono Raceway, fifth at Michigan International Speedway, ninth at Daytona International Speedway, sixth at New Hampshire, and fifth at Pocono again. But Shepherd's streak, a five-race streak, did not feature all top eight finishes like Berry's has.
No Wood Brothers driver had finished four consecutive races inside the top eight since Marvin Panch in 1964, when he finished second at Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds, second at Columbia Speedway, third at North Wilkesboro Speedway, second at Martinsville Speedway, and second at Savannah Speedway for a five-race streak.
Yes, the team had gone on a number of lengthy streaks with even better results since, such as their five consecutive race wins with David Pearson in 1973, but those wins came in consecutive appearances; the team did not run every single race contested from the start to the finish of that streak.
Whether or not it's too late for Berry to land a ride for the 2026 season, even at a level lower than Cup, remains to be seen. But he's reminding everybody why he was signed to drive the iconic No. 21 Ford to begin with, and he's reminding everybody that he still has what it takes to do what he did at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March 2025.
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