In just his fifth Cup Series race in the iconic No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang Dark Horse, Josh Berry earned his first career Cup Series victory in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 Presented by Jiffy Lube at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It was the 101st win for his Wood Brothers team, and Berry becomes the 20th driver to win a Cup race in the No. 21. The victory also was the first for crew chief Miles Stanley.
“Man, I just can’t believe it,” Berry said. “I’m just so proud of everybody on this team. The car was really solid all day. We just executed. We had a mishap on pit road and were able to rebound again, and I’m just super proud of these guys. I’m just really trying to soak this all in, honestly. I’m trying to take my time with everything and really enjoy this moment.”
Berry ran among the leaders all day. He overcame an extra stop to tighten a loose lug nut, then emerging from a late-race duel with Daniel Suarez to take the lead with 16 laps to go and pull away to a 1.358-second victory.
The victory should have come as no real surprise given the performances by Berry and the No. 21 team in recent races and in Sunday’s 400-miler. He qualified third at Atlanta and led 56 laps before being collected in a late-race wreck. Then last week at Phoenix he qualified fourth, ran strong all day and finished fourth.
At Las Vegas, he qualified seventh and raced in the top-five and top-10 throughout the first Stage. He ended that 80-lap segment in eighth place, earning three Stage points. In Stage Two it was more of the same as he raced in the top five and top 10 before finishing the Stage in eighth place and earning three more Stage points. The team did have one hiccup in the final segment of the race. Berry had to return to pit road after a stop during the Stage break to tighten a loose lug nut.
“It was obviously disappointing, but thankfully the wheel stayed on and we were able to make it to pit road before Miles was going to get a vacation,” Berry said. “It just broke up the race. There was a lot of strategy going on and we were able to capitalize on it. We had a great battle with Joey [Logano] and was hoping it would go green, but we got the caution and this pit crew rebounded and they dug deep at the end and had a great stop and we fought for the win.”
He restarted 19th after getting his wheel tightened and steered through a multi-car crash on the restart to rejoin the top 10. From there he steadily moved forward, moving into the top five with 45 laps remaining and into the top two with 34 to go. From that point on it was a two-driver race between Berry and Suarez, with the 34-year-old Berry pushing the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang to the front to take the lead and the win in his 53rd career Cup start.
“I’m just really proud of everybody on this team,” Berry said. “This is a great group. They build great race cars, and it’s just been a privilege to drive for them. I’m just so really thankful to be here. There are so many people I could thank for this moment, but to be a Cup Series winner is really special.”
Next up for Berry and the Wood Brothers team is next Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.