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CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA – JANUARY 12: Team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. addresses the media during the NASCAR Championship Format Announcement at NASCAR Productions Facility on January 12, 2026 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by David Jensen\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Josh Berry\u2019s NASCAR future has become one of the biggest talking points of the 2026 season after Wood Brothers Racing confirmed he will not return in 2027. The decision came after a difficult campaign that followed an impressive first year with the team. Dale Earnhardt Jr.,<\/a> who helped guide Berry\u2019s racing career for more than a decade at JR Motorsports, admitted the situation has been hard to watch.<\/p>\n Speaking on the latest episode of the Dale Jr. Download<\/a>, Earnhardt shared his emotions about Berry\u2019s uncertain future. With few seats available across NASCAR, Berry now faces an uphill battle to secure another opportunity after a season filled with setbacks despite proving himself at the Cup Series level in previous years.<\/p>\n Dale Earnhardt Jr. Opens Up About Josh Berry\u2019s NASCAR Future<\/p>\n Dale Earnhardt Jr. spoke honestly about Josh Berry\u2019s NASCAR future and explained why the current situation feels personal.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s heartbreaking for me because I think of Josh as a family member. Josh Berry moved here from Nashville, moved in with my mom and Willie (Jackson), ate their dinners, and worked at the shop. We got him racing. He raced with us for 10 years. We won hundreds of races, track championships, national championships. We won O\u2019Reilly races. And we did everything we could to give him everything we could give him.\u201d<\/p>\n Berry built his career through Late Model racing before moving into the Xfinity and O\u2019Reilly Series with JR Motorsports. He later joined Stewart-Haas Racing in the No. 4 Ford after Kevin Harvick retired before moving to Wood Brothers Racing in 2025.<\/p>\n That move quickly paid off. Berry earned his first NASCAR Cup Series victory at Las Vegas and reached the playoffs in his debut season with the famous No. 21 team.<\/p>\n Earnhardt remembered that successful period.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was this big announcement. I mean, it was emotional. It was cool. And he ends up winning his first race for the Wood Brothers. I\u2019m hearing that Penske was very high on Josh. Blaney and all the guys were saying that he was great as a teammate and a big addition to the operation. They had this really solid first year. He wins a race at Vegas, qualifies, runs well at a lot of different racetracks. And it looked like things are going to be positive.\u201d<\/p>\n Josh Berry\u2019s NASCAR Season Takes an Unexpected Turn<\/p>\n The 2026 NASCAR season has been far different for Berry.<\/p>\n He sits near the bottom of the standings after struggling to produce strong finishes. In June, Wood Brothers Racing announced reigning O\u2019Reilly Series champion Jesse Love will replace Berry in the No. 21 Ford for the 2027 season.<\/p>\n Earnhardt admitted he still cannot explain what changed.<\/p>\n \u201cI do not know what has happened. I really don\u2019t. I don\u2019t bug Josh too much about it. I think the world of the Wood Brothers. I idolize Leonard and them, but I don\u2019t know what has happened. It\u2019s unfortunate because I don\u2019t know where this goes for Josh. I don\u2019t know what opportunities even exist.\u201d<\/p>\n He also described the current driver market as challenging.<\/p>\n \u201cThe landscape right now is crappy for guys like him. Pick a series, Truck, O\u2019Reilly, or Cup. Where is there a car or a truck that is looking for a driver? I don\u2019t know. It\u2019s just a bad time.\u201d<\/p>\n Josh Berry Remains Hopeful Despite an Uncertain NASCAR Future<\/p>\n Josh Berry has also spoken openly about how difficult the season has been.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like people view me completely differently after this year, compared to what I\u2019ve done up to this point. Like I\u2019ve said, I\u2019ve never lived through a season like this, when it\u2019s just one thing after another\u2026 We just can\u2019t catch a break, flat out.\u201d<\/p>\n He also added, \u201cI\u2019ve worked my whole life to get to this position, and now I feel people view me completely different after this compared to what I\u2019ve done up till this point.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the setbacks, Earnhardt believes the remaining races could still improve Josh Berry\u2019s NASCAR future.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m hopeful that there\u2019s still some racing left for Josh and them to do some things this year that will bolster Josh\u2019s opportunities\u2026 It\u2019s heartbreaking because man, he has worked his ass off to get to this point and I think he\u2019s proven good enough, but it\u2019s frustrating. I worry how this is going to shake out.\u201d<\/p>\n Berry will now focus on finishing the 2026 NASCAR season strongly while searching for his next opportunity. Whether that chance comes in the Cup Series or another national series remains to be seen, but Earnhardt\u2019s comments showed how much Berry\u2019s journey means to those who have supported him from the beginning.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tDogli Wilberforce<\/a> is a writer covering NASCAR, Formula 1, and the IndyCar Series for Heavy Sports. He has also written for Sportsnaut, FanSided, Total Apex Sports, and Last Word on Sports. Wilberforce focuses on the NASCAR Cup Series, breaking down news, driver stories, and key moments with a clear, fast, and engaging style. His work connects headlines to context, helping readers understand what matters most in the sport. More about Dogli Wilberforce<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA – JANUARY 12: Team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. addresses the media during the NASCAR…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":821055,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-821054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=821054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821054\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/821055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=821054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=821054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=821054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}