Berry replaced the future HOFer Kevin Harvick in SHR’s No. 4 Ford this season, but the team later announced that it was effectively shutting down after 2024Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
Wood Brothers Racing is in advanced talks to sign driver Josh Berry to compete for the team starting with the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, according to sources, as the fallout from Stewart-Haas Racing’s downsizing continues.
Berry
replaced the future HOFer Kevin Harvick in SHR’s No. 4 Ford this season, but the team later announced that it was
effectively shutting down after 2024. SHR co-owner Gene Haas has since backtracked somewhat and
decided to keep one of SHR’s four charters to run a single-car team next year, without the involvement of fellow SHR co-owner Tony Stewart.
But that seat is seen as likely to be filled by SHR exec Joe Custer’s son, Cole, who currently drives in the Xfinity Series. That means SHR’s four current Cup drivers all have to find new seats for next year, with Chase Briscoe having already announced his move to Joe Gibbs Racing.
Berry, who is represented by Harvick’s KHI Management agency, would stay in the Ford camp by moving to Wood Brothers, NASCAR’s longest-running team, which has an alliance with Team Penske and was founded in 1950.
Wood Brothers is a one-car team that runs the No. 21 Ford, currently driven by Harrison Burton, whose future after this year is unclear.
Berry and WBR have been in negotiations for weeks and are moving toward finalizing an agreement, the people said. Terms and sponsorship details were unclear as of press time.
Burton is also represented by KHI, along with over a half a dozen other drivers in NASCAR including Ryan Preece, another of SHR’s four drivers. The 33-year-old Berry was plucked out of the grassroots levels of racing by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2021 to compete for JR Motorsports, winning five times in the Xfinity Series before Berry graduated this year to the premier series with SHR.
He also subbed last season in a handful of appearances for Hendrick Motorsports while Chase Elliott was injured. Berry, a Tennessee native, has impressed on the track in recent weeks including qualifying 2nd for last weekend’s Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.
