Event: Window World 450
Location: North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina
Date: Sunday, July 19, 2026
Start: 28th
Finish: 36th
For a portion of Sunday night’s Window World 450 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, Josh Berry and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Dark Horse were making steady progress through the field before another stroke of misfortune ended their night before the halfway point.
After qualifying was canceled due to inclement weather on Saturday, the starting lineup was set by the NASCAR performance metric, placing Berry 28th on the grid. Undeterred, Berry methodically worked his way through the field, climbing to 17th by the conclusion of Stage 1 on Lap 80.
Berry’s charge continued when the green flag waved to begin Stage 2. Displaying the short-track prowess that has become one of his trademarks, he advanced to 12th before making a scheduled green-flag pit stop.
On a track the size of North Wilkesboro, green-flag pit stops typically leave drivers multiple laps down while the field cycles through. Berry’s stop was clean, but a caution flag flew before the remaining frontrunners could complete their stops, trapping the No. 21 and significantly altering the team’s strategy.
Despite battling to recover, Berry’s night came to an abrupt end on Lap 199 when Christopher Bell’s No. 20 car slid up the racetrack and made contact with the left side of the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang, sending Berry into the outside wall.
The damage proved too extensive to continue, relegating Berry to a 36th-place finish.
“It looked like the 20 just got loose and chased it up into us and we wrecked,” Berry told reporters at the track, adding that it was especially frustrating given that his Mustang was so fast. “We drove up to probably just outside the top 10.
“We had top-five lap times, the car was good, and then we pit and the caution of course comes out and we get trapped two laps down, wave around, just back there in the crap and just get wrecked.
“It’s disappointing. I felt like tonight was the night we certainly could have gotten a good finish like it looks like our teammates are going to do, but that was tough. I’m aggravated at the 20, but he’s in the same position I am. He was back there and just got loose.”
Berry said this season’s string of setbacks has been unlike anything he has experienced in his racing career.
“I’ve never lived through a season like this when it’s just one thing after another,” he said. “Things that people don’t see that don’t make it on TV. I don’t go on social media every week and post about every little thing that went wrong in our race.
“We just can’t catch a break, flat out. Even this week, we were eighth in practice and had a good car and, of course, qualifying gets rained out. If we get to qualify, I felt like we would have had a much better starting spot, a much better pit stall.
“It’s just one thing after another and it’s certainly discouraging.”
Berry and the Wood Brothers Racing team will look to rebound next weekend in the Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
