Josh Berry is having the kind of Playoff stretch that makes you wonder if he accidentally smashed a mirror, walked under a ladder, and opened an umbrella indoors all on the same day. Two races into the first round, and he’s got two DNFs to show for it — the kind of stat line that doesn’t just sink your title hopes, it torpedoes them.
On Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway, Berry’s day unraveled faster than a cheap sweater. Running 15th on Lap 35, the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford got caught in a three-wide mess when Chase Elliott dove low in Turn 1. The bump from Elliott’s No. 9 Chevy shoved Berry up into the SAFER barrier, crunching the left side of his car like a beer can. From there it was a slow, limping crawl to the garage and an early exit.
“It looked like Chase just made a late move and got a little loose and was just enough to slide up into us,” Berry said afterward. “I don’t think it was anything intentional by no means. Just an unfortunate scenario, I guess.”
Unfortunate is putting it lightly. Last week at Darlington, Berry didn’t even make it past Lap 1 before becoming the first casualty of the Southern 500. Now, with back-to-back last-place finishes, the rookie’s Playoff run looks less like a Cinderella story and more like a horror flick where the hero gets eaten in the first act.
The math is brutal: Berry sits rock bottom in the standings with one shot left to save himself. That comes under the lights at Bristol Motor Speedway this Saturday in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race. Four drivers will be eliminated. For Berry to not be one of them, he’ll need nothing short of a divine miracle — something along the lines of Moses parting the Red Sea, but with horsepower.
Still, he hasn’t given up.
“We’ve got no choice,” Berry said. “It’s been a rough couple weeks, for sure, but I know these guys are working really hard and just gotta do the best you can next week.”
And so, the Playoffs march on, with Josh Berry hoping the racing gods finally decide to throw him a bone instead of another brick wall.
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Josh Berry is having the kind of Playoff stretch that makes you wonder if he accidentally smashed a mirror, walked under a ladder, and opened an umbrella indoors all on the same day. Two races into the first round, and he’s got two DNFs to show for it — the kind of stat line that doesn’t just sink your title hopes, it torpedoes them.
On Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway, Berry’s night unraveled faster than a cheap sweater. Running 15th on Lap 35, the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford got caught in a three-wide mess when Chase Elliott dove low in Turn 1. The bump from Elliott’s No. 9 Chevy shoved Berry up into the SAFER barrier, crunching the left side of his car like a beer can. From there it was a slow, limping crawl to the garage and an early exit.
“It looked like Chase just made a late move and got a little loose and was just enough to slide up into us,” Berry said afterward. “I don’t think it was anything intentional by no means. Just an unfortunate scenario, I guess.”
Unfortunate is putting it lightly. Last week at Darlington, Berry didn’t even make it past Lap 1 before becoming the first casualty of the Southern 500. Now, with back-to-back last-place finishes, the rookie’s Playoff run looks less like a Cinderella story and more like a horror flick where the hero gets eaten in the first act.
The math is brutal: Berry sits rock bottom in the standings with one shot left to save himself. That comes under the lights at Bristol Motor Speedway this Saturday in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race. Four drivers will be eliminated. For Berry to not be one of them, he’ll need nothing short of a divine miracle — something along the lines of Moses parting the Red Sea, but with horsepower.
Still, he hasn’t given up.
“We’ve got no choice,” Berry said. “It’s been a rough couple weeks, for sure, but I know these guys are working really hard and just gotta do the best you can next week.”
And so, the Playoffs march on, with Josh Berry hoping the racing gods finally decide to throw him a bone instead of another brick wall.
Greg was a writer for DriveTribe supporting Amazon's The Grand Tour and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, and a Masters degree in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek and a regular contributor to Forbes.
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