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Josh Berry pulled from car after it catches on fire in terrifying situation at Bristol

ProfilePhotoby: Nick Geddes09/14/25NickGeddesNews
Josh Berry
Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images

Josh Berry‘s night is done. Berry is out of Sunday’s Bristol Night Race after his No. 21 Ford caught on fire on Lap 76 of Stage 1.

With smoke filling the inside of his car, Berry could hardly see as he came down pit road. The situation quickly became serious as smoke continued to pour out of Berry’s car on pit road; Berry’s team had to physically remove him from the car.

NASCAR did not immediately throw the caution. The No. 21 was hot on the radio.

“There’s a f*cking fire up here on pit road,” Berry’s team said, via Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic. “No caution, NASCAR. We got a driver on fire.”

Berry was checked and cleared from the infield care center. He spoke with NBC Sports about the incident.

“We started smoking a couple laps before we pitted. We tried to ride it out a couple laps, and when we slowed down, it was getting pretty bad there. Man, just so disappointing,” Berry said. “That was going to be a lot of fun; that was right in our wheelhouse. We were moving forward, [and] I think that’s why we were trying to stick it out as long as we could because that could have been our opportunity right there, for sure.”

Josh Berry’s postseason is over

Berry, who came into the race -45 below the cutline, has been eliminated from the playoffs. Name something that could go wrong, and it did for Berry in the Round of 16. Berry wrecked on Lap 1 of the Round of 16 opener at Darlington and got spun by Chase Elliott on Lap 36 at Gateway. He finished last in both races. Saturday will make it three consecutive lap place finishes.

Just about none of it was in Berry’s control. Unfortunately, his championship hopes are done.

“Man, it’s been a tough couple of weeks, but it hasn’t been because of performance. These guys have been doing a good job,” Berry said. “… Definitely not the way we wanted our first round to go. We felt like we executed well and ran well, just haven’t had the finishes. This is going to be a tough one to watch. That was going to be a lot of fun.”