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Josh Berry No. 21 car destroyed after contact from Chase Elliott, championship chances take massive hit

JHby: Jonathan Howard09/07/25Jondean25
Josh Berry Gateway wreck
Screenshot credit: NASCAR on NBC via X.com

For the second week in a row, Josh Berry is out of the race early. His NASCAR Playoffs are likely going to be short-lived. As it sits right now, Berry is 43 points below the cutline and almost 20 points below the next driver ahead of him in the standings.

If this were the final race of the Round of 16, Joey Logano, Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman, and Josh Berry would all be eliminated. The stakes are starting to get higher with every lap on the track.

Josh Berry made it further than last week. But this is likely putting him in a must-win position going into the Bristol Night Race. Not an ideal place to be.

Chase Elliott gets into Josh Berry as they went three-wide. From there, the 9 washed up into the 21 and led to this massive wreck. The wheel was barely hanging on to the left front of the car.

Kelly Crandall of RACER picked up radio communications for the 21 team. They are clearly not happy with the 9.

“To me, it looked like you were checked up from the 38, and the 9 drove it in there on the inside. It looks like he got our left rear quarter,” a team member of the 21 car said.

“He washed up off the bottom, right?” Berry responded. “I saw it coming. I left a little bit of space.”

This appears to be a racing incident, but even racing incidents can be avoided. There is room to be three-wide at Gateway. Josh Berry even said it himself; he gave him space. But when a car washes up the track, there isn’t much else you can do.

Josh Berry out of second playoff race early

It wasn’t the Lap 1 exit that Josh Berry had last week at Darlington. However, the result is more or less the same regardless of when the wreck happened. Being in the garage in Stage 1 is not where anyone wants to be.

For the Wood Brothers, it is unfortunate. However, they are going to get the money from being a playoff team and that is a big deal. Two years in a row now, this organization has won a race and made the postseason. Of course, Berry did better in points than Harrison Burton a year ago.

While the NASCAR Playoffs run likely ends for Berry after Bristol, he has shown that he belongs in the Cup Series. Perhaps another year of that playoff money and another year of chemistry for that driver and team can take them to new heights.

Josh Berry couldn’t do much to avoid that wreck today. Now, the team has to put together a plan, and a car, capable of winning the Bristol Night Race.