Josh Berry and the No. 21 DEX Imaging Ford Mustang Dark Horse will start on the front row for Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway, continuing their strong form at the 1.5-mile oval. Berry matched the pole speed in Friday’s qualifying session, clocking in at 178.960 miles per hour to tie Team Penske’s Joey Logano.
While Logano earned the pole based on owner points, it marks another impressive showing for the No. 21 team at one of NASCAR’s most unpredictable tracks with its superspeedway-like nature.
The effort ties Berry’s best qualifying result of the season, previously earned at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and marks his second top-three start at Atlanta in 2025 after qualifying fourth in February. It also stands as his fourth top-five qualifying effort this year, showing continued growth and consistency in his sophomore season and first with the Wood Brothers.
“Great job by the 21 team and everybody at Wood Brothers Racing and Team Penske to take the top four like that and have all the cars that close says a lot about how good a job they are doing,” Berry said in his post-qualifying comments. “Hats off to everybody here at the track and everybody back home. It’s a great starting spot for us, and we’ll go race tomorrow.”
Berry’s performance led a strong showing by the Ford Performance camp, with the Penske-Wood Brothers alliance sweeping the top four starting spots. Team Penske drivers also locked down the second row, while Ford drivers swept positions five through eight to dominate the starting lineup.
The 160-lap Quaker State 400 is scheduled to go green just after 7 p.m. ET Saturday night with live coverage on TNT. Stage breaks are planned for Laps 60 and 100.