Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Atlanta 2 Media Availability
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
Josh Berry, driver of the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Wood Brothers Racing, has already clinched a spot in the playoffs after his win earlier this year at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Berry, who is coming off a 12th-place finish last weekend at Pocono Raceway, is also part of this year’s inaugural In-Season Challenge and is paired against John Hunter Nemchek this weekend at EchoPark Speedway.
JOSH BERRY, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Dark Horse – DO YOU HAVE A GOOD FEELING ABOUT THIS WEEKEND? “I feel good going back there. I felt like we had a really strong race there in the spring. We led laps and won a stage. We were in the battle the whole race, so it’s been fun going back and reviewing that one with my team together and learning and working with my spotter, Jason, and Miles on how to up our communication a little bit better and do a little bit better. Honestly, it was a really good race for us and we found ourselves in position, so I feel if our car is as good as it was in the spring, we’ll have a chance at it.”
DOES YOUR MATCHUP AGAINST JOHN HUNTER GET YOU EXCITED AS THE IN-SEASON CHALLENGE STARTS? “I think all of us will be paying attention to it and who we’re paired up against and how they’re doing. It should be interesting to follow, for sure. Obviously, a drafting style track will be a lot about just making it to the finish. That will play a big part of that. It will be hard to have a perfect bracket with a place like Atlanta because you never know. An accident can take you out or something like that, but it will be exciting to follow. I have not really overly thought that much about it, but we’ll pay attention to how John Hunter’s race is going compared to ours and hopefully we can come out on top.”
DO YOU SIZE UP THE OTHER TEAM YOU’RE GOING AGAINST OR ARE YOU JUST FOCUSED ON THE RACE AND YOUR TEAM STRATEGY? “Obviously, all of us want to win it. It would be really cool. It’s a really cool thing to follow and be a part of. I think anything can happen any week. Atlanta is gonna be a little bit of a wild card like I said earlier. It’s a drafting track and the accidents that can happen there, but even when you go to a road course or something like that, I mean you never know what can happen. If somebody has an issue, gets run off the track or gets spun out on a restart it will change, so it’s gonna be tough to make a perfect bracket in that thing because there are gonna be a lot of things that happen that are unexpected.”
WHAT MAKES YOU SO GOOD AT DOVER? “I don’t know. From the first time I went there in the Xfinity car I felt really comfortable. I remember before I went there for the first time I was pretty intimidated going to a place like that and not knowing what to expect. Even back then when I was making my first start there we didn’t have practice or qualifying either, so it’s a place that I took to well. We obviously got the win there with JRM. Their cars were always really strong there and I was able to carry that confidence into the Cup Series, too. It’s a place that it’s probably my favorite track. It’s a lot of fun racing there. I’ve had some really good days, so it’s one I’ve got circled coming up that I’m excited to get to.”
CHICAGO AND SONOMA ARE BOTH COMING UP. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR ROAD COURSE PROGRAM? “I thought there were a lot of positives for us in Mexico. Obviously, the weather threw a wrench into everything to start the race, but practice and qualifying we were much more competitive. It seemed like our whole group was more competitive. We were faster. We were all closer together, so there are positives to that. Chicago is tough. It’s a street course and it’s a really difficult racetrack. Sonoma is a totally different kind of road course, but we took a lot of positives out of Mexico. I think we’re working on the right areas and doing the right things. I think we’ve made our cars better and I feel I’ve adapted to the cars better, so I’m just excited to go run there and see how we do, stay out of trouble, execute and you can get a good finish in those races.”
YOU CAN REALLY SEE THE SPEED AT DOVER. DO YOU FEEL THAT SENSATION MORE THERE? “It’s fast. I think that’s what I enjoy the most about it. I think it’s just how fast it is and how it feels to have it down in the corners there. I just felt really comfortable going that fast. Even when I first started Xfinity racing, as much as I short track raced going to some of the intermediates I always felt really comfortable at the two mile intermediates, places like that that are fast and Dover kind of fit that. I’m excited to get there for sure.”
DOES THE IN-SEASON CHALLENGE CHANGE HOW GUYS WILL RACE THIS WEEK? “I don’t think it’ll change too terribly much. I think that each individual is gonna pay attention to who they’re up against and how they’re race is going. I’m sure over the course of the next month there’s gonna be battles late in the race that are matchups that they got paired pre-race that will be interesting to follow. I don’t think any of us are thinking that we need to be more or less aggressive. Obviously, I think Atlanta is gonna be a big opportunity for a lot of people to try to win a race and make it into the playoffs, so I think the aggression is gonna be higher more so for that than this tournament, but I’m sure there will be some interesting battles over the course of the next month.”
FORD AND PENSKE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN FAST AT THESE SPEEDWAY RACES, ESPECIALLY WITH THIS CAR. CAN YOU SHARE WHAT KIND OF COMMUNICATION GOES INTO THAT ON SUNDAY MORNING BEFORE THE RACE? “No (laughing). In general it’s pretty easy to see that we try to work together the best we can and take care of each other and our teammates and our teammates at Ford to keep as many numbers up front as we can when we get to the end of the stages and the end of the race. It’s pretty simple. If you can have people around you at the end of these races that you can trust and rely on, it just slows down the decision making at the end of these races. Obviously, I’ve only been a part of it for a couple years with these guys, but it’s worked out well and I’m excited to go there and keep working on it and take what I’ve learned in the spring race.”
HAVE YOU FELT EXPECTATIONS SHIFT WITH YOUR MOVE FROM SHR TO THE WOOD BROTHERS? “Not too much. I feel like going into the opportunity that I had last year there were high expectations for all of us and I think we all left that opportunity with the majority of the media questioning our ability as drivers, honestly. So we all had a lot to prove going into this opportunity, but we’re all going to different situations and, for the most part, all of us have thrived in those situations. To me, I don’t feel like expectations are that much different. The 4 car had a lot of high expectations and they did a lot of amazing things, so, for me, I think it’s just about us going into new opportunities and thankfully they’ve worked out for most of us.”
HOW IMPORTANT DO YOU THINK THE FIRST ATLANTA RACE WAS TO HELP YOU TEAM GAIN CONFIDENCE IN YOU AS A DRIVER, AND WAS THAT BIG FOR YOU AS WELL? “I think it was a really big confidence boost for all of us. Obviously, those cars have been fast at Atlanta, but to execute and perform like we did and battle for the win the whole night, it was just a big confidence boost and really was kind of a tale of things to come over the course of the season that we’re gonna have speed and have a lot to be excited about. Obviously, we didn’t get the finish that we deserved that night, but that’s part of racing. I think, like I said, we took a lot of positives from that day, a lot to learn from, a lot to look at going into this week and hopefully we can capitalize and have a good finish.”
THERE WAS SOME CONTROVERSY ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT NASCAR DID OR DIDN’T THROW THE CAUTION IN BOTH RACES AT ATLANTA THE LAST TIME WE WERE THERE. HOW SATISFIED OR CLEAR DO YOU THINK THINGS ARE AS FAR AS IF THERE’S A CRASH ON THE LAST LAP THAT NASCAR WILL THROW A YELLOW? “Lately I feel like it’s been a little clearer. Thinking back to my incident, I took a couple big shots in the door – the left side door – and then obviously Connor hit a ton at Talladega. I think they’re leaning towards safety, which is not a bad thing. Overall, I think they’ve done a good job with that and generally the drivers want to err on the side of safety. It’s just up to us to try to get to the finish under green.”
CAN YOU GIVE A SENSE OF THE DISCIPLINE IT TAKES TO DRIVE WITH YOUR TEAMMATES LIKE YOU DID AT ATLANTA, ESPECIALLY THE FIRST HALF OF THE RACE? “I think it just goes back to the communication that we all have together and just trying to take care of each other out there. I think if we can work with each other and keep our group together, it increases all of our odds. That’s the best way to look at it for us. For me, I thought that’s been a big help, trying to understand this style of racing. Talking through those scenarios and opening up that conversation is something that I’ve never had with teammates and having those conversations. Obviously, every team always tells you that you all need to work with each other, but we do a really good job of communicating on how and why and when to do that. I think that pays off in the results in the end.”
WHAT’S IT LIKE ONCE YOU FALL OUT OF THE LEAD GROUP AND YOU’RE BACK IN THE BACK A BIT HAVING TO BE MORE DISCIPLINED? “It’s a battle there for sure. Obviously, that particular scenario the intention is to push Joey and stay connected. Unfortunately, it didn’t pan out and those things are gonna happen several times throughout the race. The good part about it is we’ve talked through those scenarios and understand that those things happen and when you get midpack it’s such a battle. That’s why it’s such a great race to watch on TV because the runs are so huge and it’s so exciting to be a part of. It’s a challenge to work back through there and it’s a challenge to stay up front too. It’s a lot of battling. It’s one that as a driver, you watch back those races and realize this is pretty fun to watch, so I’m sure everybody is excited for this weekend.”
SO ABOUT THAT RESTART SITUATION. IS THERE SOMETHING MORE YOU COULD HAVE DONE TO KEEP YOURSELF IN THAT OUTSIDE SECOND ROW AS OPPOSED TO FALLING BACK? “The idea is to hopefully stay connected and get control, but sometimes it depends on what the other lane does and what the guys behind you do. If they bail to the top or switch lanes, it’s all just situational. You just try to do the best you can to get going on the restarts and hopefully at least get one of us clear into the lead.”
HOW DO YOU THINK YOUR SEASON HAS GONE SO FAR WITH THE WOOD BROTHERS AND HOW EXCITED ARE YOU ABOUT THE PLAYOFFS? “It’s been a really good first season with the Wood Brothers. I’ve just really enjoyed working with them and being a part of the whole organization. Getting the win earlier in the year was a lot of excitement, but we’ve had a lot of good runs over the course of the year, a lot to learn from and look at, and I think we have a lot of room to improve and get a little more consistent. Heading into the playoffs, I think we’re a team that we feel like if we go out and execute like we know we can, that we’re gonna be able to make our way through the playoffs a little bit. It’s been a lot of fun this year, for sure.”
