Jon Wood: Berry ‘The Obvious Choice’ For No. 21

Josh Berry will drive the Wood Brothers' famed No. 21 Ford next year. (Rusty Jarrett/NKP photo)

MOORESVILLE, N.C. – In the eyes of the famed Wood Brothers racing family, they got the man they wanted for the foreseeable future in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Speaking during a Wednesday press announcement to confirm the news of current Stewart-Haas Racing driver Josh Berry joining the organization beginning next year, team president Jon Wood noted that Berry was “the obvious choice” to drive the iconic No. 21 Ford into its next era.

“We had to look at Chase (Briscoe) first with the relationship that we had with Ford [as a manufacturer] and that [Chase] had with Ford, but once it was obvious that wasn’t going to work out, Josh was by far and away the top prospect as far as we were concerned,” said Wood. “[Josh] being a Ford driver works, but his results speak for themselves aside from that.

“We’re just happy it worked out.”

Outgoing Wood Brothers driver Harrison Burton has been with NASCAR’s oldest race team since the start of the 2022 Cup Series season and has made all but one of his 92 premier series starts in the No. 21.

He has five top-10 finishes in the Cup Series to-date, with a best result of third at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in 2022, during his rookie year. The team’s season best so far this season is 10th.

Wood was quick to give Burton due appreciation for his efforts, but added that often a change in team chemistry – and overall performance – can come quickest from shifting the driver behind the wheel.

“I think when you plug a driver into a new team, it seems this car the results change faster than any other prior car,” Wood admitted. “Look at Justin Haley this year [since his move to Rick Ware Racing]. I mean, who would have imagined that they’d be running how they have lately? … [Carson] Hocevar, it’s the same thing. You can use your own judgment in how you feel about it, and if I’m right or I’m wrong, but just those two changes have started producing results … and that gets back to chemistry.

“It’s not that it’s the driver’s fault that [a certain situation] is not working out. It just seems like a driver can make a change with this [Next Gen] car quicker.”

Berry owns a career-best Cup Series finish of second at Richmond (Va.) Raceway in 2023, and he’s riding a run of four top-10 finishes in the last seven Cup races, including two third-place runs at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway in May and New Hampshire Motor Speedway in June.

But it was that Richmond appearance last April – when Berry was filling in at Hendrick Motorsports for an injured Chase Elliott – that stood out the most in the mind of Jon Wood.

“When he substituted for Hendrick [in the No. 9], that was pretty eye-opening. [Josh] can tell you, but I can’t, that these cars are monsters … and to have no experience in a Next Gen car or a Cup car and to hop in that thing and go like he did, it gave every one of us pause even if we didn’t really know it at the time,” explained Wood. “It’s not something that you’re aware of. You’re not like, ‘Well, this might be our next driver,’ but you still remember those moments … and it stood out, that’s for sure.”

As the Wood Brothers approach their 75th anniversary in NASCAR later this decade, Wood was also asked Wednesday what he feels the team’s role in the sport will be going forward.

After a long moment of reflection, Wood offered his thoughts and looked back to a critical turning point, when the team scaled back from full-time racing for nearly a decade between 2007 and 2015.

“If you had asked me 10 years ago if we’d be sitting here in this position, I would have probably told you that we’d have been watching it from home,” Wood noted. “We’ve had so many close calls, so many opportunities that other teams did and would have failed, and somehow, we made it through. Whether it was because we made a right decision or whether it was due to relationships and being good people … I don’t know what made it work, but to make it now coming up on 75 years, we had to do something right.

“A lot of people a lot of times question the decisions we make,” Wood added. “That makes it tough to be on Twitter and Facebook anymore, because they give us a hard time at times, but you kind of have to take that and brush it off. The mindset and the decisions that our people make in the end seem to be right, so I just trust them in their judgment and try to do right with what we have in front of us.”

The latest decision rests on Berry taking the reins of one of NASCAR’s most iconic cars starting in February, when the 67th Daytona 500 hits the Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway high banks on Feb. 16, 2025.

For Berry, it will mark arguably the brightest spotlight yet on his racing career, but he feels eager and ready to take on the challenge.

“I feel like I fit [the Wood Brothers’] brand, with who they are and how I’ve gotten here and how they’ve gotten here … I just feel like this is a great fit for all of us,” he said. “I’ve really enjoyed my relationship with Ford, and to continue that on was something that’s important to me and I appreciate and am thankful to have that opportunity. It just really means a lot to drive an iconic car like the 21.

“I feel like this is a great opportunity for me; I feel ready to provide results and I think that, all in all, it’s going to be a great relationship on all sides.”

Team CEO Eddie Wood was more matter-of-fact, but still offered a smile amid the whirlwind day.

“We [all] met the Monday after Sonoma, which was right away, and it was a really easy process,” said Eddie Wood of getting Berry’s deal completed. “We’re just happy that he’s with us.”

Because of that, at least for the next couple of years, the Wood Brothers have their guy.