You couldn’t have written a more horrendous start to Josh Berry’s first career NASCAR Cup Series Playoff run than what has transpired in real life.
Berry, who crashed in Turn 1 on the opening lap of last week’s Playoff-opening race at Darlington Raceway, will begin the Round of 16 of the Playoffs with back-to-back last-place finishes as he crashed hard on Lap 36 of Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway.
The incident was triggered by contact with Chase Elliott as Berry was in the middle of a three-wide battle with Elliott and Joey Logano in Turn 2.
Contact with Chase Elliott sends Josh Berry into the wall and brings the second caution of the day. ?
? USA Network pic.twitter.com/3QhRXBcZPQ
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 7, 2025
The contact sent Berry spinning, and he collided driver’s side first into the outside SAFER barrier, which ripped the left front wheel and suspension on his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse.
Here is a look at the contact between Elliott and Berry, which started the crash, from both drivers’ onboard cameras.
We take a closer look at what happened to @joshberry on Lap 36. #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/tbWIUkE7yX
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) September 7, 2025
While it was another sad exit from the race for Berry, the formula for advancement into the Round of 12 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will be simple for Berry and the No. 21 team next weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The driver and team will need to snag their second win of the 2025 season if they hope to continue chasing the Bill France Cup this year.
