Wood Brothers Racing – Race Report: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Event: Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG
Location: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis, Indiana
Date: Sunday, July 26, 2026
Start: 26th
Finish: 7th

In a season that has seen Josh Berry and the No. 21 team battle through their share of adversity, they delivered a much-needed breakthrough Sunday with a season-best seventh-place finish in the Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

With the iconic No. 21 Ford Mustang Dark Horse carrying the colors of race sponsor PPG, Berry and the team combined speed, strategy and solid execution to secure a top-10 finish in one of NASCAR’s crown jewel events.

Berry started 26th and the team elected to stretch its opening fuel run, making its first pit stop on Lap 44 before finishing the opening stage in 18th.

The PPG team stuck with the strategy in Stage 2, cycling to the lead on Lap 93 before making a pit stop with six laps remaining in the stage. Berry crossed the Stage 2 finish line in 21st place.

The team’s final pit stop came under a debris caution on Lap 116. By taking two tires and fuel, Berry gained valuable track position and lined up ninth for the ensuing restart.

Berry capitalized with another strong restart, advancing to eighth shortly after the green flag before moving into seventh with 33 laps remaining. From there, he maintained the position to the checkered flag, earning his best finish since a 10th-place run at Martinsville in March and the team’s strongest result of the 2026 season.

“It was a really good day,” Berry said. “I thought we did a really good job…executed a really good race.

“It wasn’t perfect, but we had some really good restarts the second half of the race and made some progress and had some really good long-run pace.

“Overall, it was a really solid day that we needed. I’m just happy to finally get a good finish.”

Berry and the No. 21 team now head into the off week before returning to action at Iowa Speedway for the Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol on August 8.

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The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SpeedwayMedia.com

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