Just over one week after it was announced that Josh Berry would not be back for a third NASCAR Cup Series season with Wood Brothers Racing behind the wheel of the No. 21 Ford in 2027, the team have confirmed his replacement.
Reigning O'Reilly Auto Parts Series champion Jesse Love, who is in his third O'Reilly Series season driving the No. 2 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, is set to take over for Berry in 2027.
It's the second confirmed driver change for the 2027 season, just one year after there were only two total changes confirmed during the entirety of silly season.
NASCAR sees second driver change for 2027, matching 2026 already
23XI Racing had previously announced that development driver Corey Heim is set to replace Riley Herbst behind the wheel of the No. 35 Toyota. Herbst has driven the No. 35 car since 2025, while Heim has made select starts with the team in a part-time fourth entry since 2025 as well.
Wood Brothers Racing's confirmation of Love comes after Richard Childress Racing had confirmed that Austin Hill is set to be behind the wheel of the No. 33 Chevrolet for the remainder of the 2026 Cup Series season. The No. 33 car was run as the No. 8 car before the passing of two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch.
Hill, who is Love's teammate in the O'Reilly Series, has not been officially named the driver of the No. 33 car for 2027. Hill and Love were supposed to – and for a time, did – share the team's part-time third entry, which was run as the original No. 33 car.
After his planned race at Charlotte Motor Speedway was knocked off the schedule, Love does not have any further Cup Series plans with Richard Childress Racing for 2026. He finished 27th at both Circuit of the Americas (COTA) and Talladega Superspeedway.
Love also ran five Cup races in 2025, incuding three for Richard Childress Racing and two for Beard Motorsports. His top finish of 24th came for the latter at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Berry's future plans have not yet been confirmed.
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