Josh Berry is leaving Wood Brothers Racing at the end of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, and he does not yet know where he will race next. The team informed Berry less than a day before the public announcement that it would not exercise its option for the following season.
According to Yahoo Sports, Berry said he was not entirely caught off guard. "You hear the rumor mills start going, so I'm not going to say that I was completely caught off guard… Obviously, hit the ground running here, working hard to try and find out what's out there, and certainly open and optimistic about any opportunities that come my way," Berry said.
Berry currently sits 30th in the Cup Series standings. He has recorded four DNFs and only two top-10 finishes this season. That performance stands in sharp contrast to his 2025 campaign, when he won his first Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and reached the playoffs. The drop-off in results has driven much of the speculation around his future that Berry acknowledged had been circulating before the announcement.
Berry did not deflect from the team's struggles this year. "If we had run better, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation, but we didn't. Now, we've got X number of races throughout the rest of the year to turn that back around and change the narrative and get back closer to the front," he said.
Despite a difficult season, Berry pushed back against the idea that 2026 defines what he is capable of. He pointed to his Las Vegas win and a near-victory at New Hampshire during the 2025 playoffs as evidence of his ability. "I'm still the guy that won Las Vegas. I'm still the same guy that nearly won New Hampshire in the playoffs… It's been a tough year, but we'll work through it and try to find what's out there," Berry said.
The Tennessee native also made clear he is not dwelling on the news. "The sun came up this morning, and it's a new day. You land on your feet and you go to work, that's all you can do," he said.
Berry will finish out the remainder of the 2026 season with Wood Brothers Racing while simultaneously searching for a ride elsewhere. No team has been publicly linked to him as a landing spot, and no timeline has been set for when an announcement might come.
