Josh Berry, at 34 years old, is a first-time winner in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Behind the wheel of the historic No. 21 Motorcraft / Quick Lane Ford Mustang Dark Horse for the legendary Wood Brothers Racing team, Berry was able to make the final pass for the race lead with 16 to go, driving away and capturing his first win at NASCAR’s top level.
The Hendersonville, Tennessee-native only led 18 laps in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway including the race’s final 16 but spent a good portion of the afternoon (220 of 267 laps) running inside the top-10.
It’s the first victory for Josh Berry in his 52nd start in the NASCAR Cup Series, and in just his fifth start for Wood Brothers Racing. The No. 21 team has now won in back-to-back seasons, the first time the historic organization has done so since 1986 and 1987.
RACE RESULTS: 2025 NCS Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas
“Oh, man, I don’t even know what to think. Just awesome. I love this track. Las Vegas has been so good to me. So many great moments here,” Berry said. “Just struggled in the Next Gen car here. But Miles and this whole 21 team, everybody at Wood Brothers Racing, they gave me a great car today. Just battled and battled and battled. Man, it was our day. I just can’t believe it.”
“Such a battle with Daniel there at the end, beating and banging on a mile-and-a-half, crazy. Whoever was going to get out front was probably going to win. We were able to get in front.”
Berry, and several of the drivers that finished towards the front of the pack when the checkered flag waved, pitted for the second-to-last time at Lap 188, but when the caution resurfaced less than 10 laps afterward, several of the leaders pitted while thanks to crew chief Miles Stanley, the No. 21 did not.
They left the Wood Brothers Racing driver out front for what ended up being a long green-flag run, in which no drivers felt safe in making it to the end on fuel. As some of the leaders began trickling to pit road, though, Berry stuck to his guns, and stayed on track, getting lucky when a caution was displayed at Lap 245 for Noah Gragson.
When all of the lead-lap drivers hit pit road, the field was reset with 20 laps to go, and Berry, using track position, was able to snipe the lead away from Daniel Suarez in the No. 99, before going on to capture a victory in the Pennzoil 400.
After a couple of weeks of bad luck, Daniel Suarez was able to come home in the runner-up position for Trackhouse Racing, finishing 1.358 seconds behind the eventual race-winner. Ryan Preece, another driver looking for his first career victory, finished in third.
William Byron was among the quickest cars all afternoon at Las Vegas but was just unable to get the track position necessary to battle for the win – seeing his only real chance slip away after a moment while battling Ross Chastain, who finished just behind him in fifth.
Austin Cindric led 47 laps early on in Sunday’s event – the second-most of any driver – but got stuck back in traffic, and could only rebound for a sixth place, which for a driver entering the event outside the top-30 in points, is still a solid points haul.
Alex Bowman had a solid afternoon at Las Vegas, finishing seventh, with AJ Allmendinger, Kyle Larson, who led a race-high 61 laps, and Chase Elliott completing the top 10.
Christopher Bell’s quest for a fourth consecutive NASCAR Cup Series victory fell short on Sunday, finishing 12th, but still remained as the highest-finishing driver from Toyota GAZOO Racing, as the manufacturer struggled throughout the afternoon on Sunday.
Polesitter Michael McDowell led the opening lap of the event, but faded throughout the day, before coming home a solid 16th for Spire Motorsports.
Possibly the biggest heartbreak of the afternoon, though, belonged to Ryan Blaney, who had driven all the way up to seventh after starting at the rear of the field for a practice wreck, before getting collected in a six-car accident ending his day outside the top 30.
The NASCAR Cup Series leaves Las Vegas with William Byron still as the points leader by 29 markers over Christopher Bell. Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott, and Alex Bowman completed the top five after five races.
Next up for the NASCAR Cup Series is a trip to Homestead-Miami Speedway which will take place on Sunday, March 23 at 3:00 PM ET at FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90
