Josh Berry becomes 206th different NASCAR Cup Series winner
LAS VEGAS — Josh Berry’s win Sunday in the Pennzoil 400 marked the Wood Brothers Racing driver’s first NASCAR Cup Series victory.
Berry led the final 16 laps at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to earn his first premier NASCAR series win in his 53rd start, the 206th driver in NASCAR history to do so.
“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.”
The most recent first-time winner in the series prior to Berry was Harrison Burton at Daytona in August of last year, when he was racing for WBR.
Before his win Sunday, the 34-year-old Berry’s highest finish in the Cup Series was a second-place finish at Richmond in April 2023, when he was filling in for Chase Elliott in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 car.
The last five winners for WBR all claimed their first victory in the Cup Series: Elliott Sadler (2001 Bristol), Trevor Bayne (2011 Daytona), Ryan Blaney (2017 Pocono), and Harrison Burton (2024 Daytona).
Prior to Sunday, the team’s highest finish at Las Vegas was second-place twice with driver Matt DiBenedetto, with both instances coming in 2020.
The win was the 101st for the Virginia-based team and the first time the team has won in back-to-back seasons since Kyle Petty did in 1986 and 1987.
Overall, 20 drivers have won for the team. Three-time series champion David Pearson has the most with 43.
WINNERS FOR WBR
David Pearson – 43
Cale Yarborough – 13
Neil Bonnett – 9
Marvin Panch – 8
A.J. Foyt – 5
Dan Gurney – 4
Glen Wood – 4
Kyle Petty – 2
Speedy Thompson – 2
Buddy Baker – 1
Curtis Turner – 1
Dale Jarrett – 1
Donnie Allison – 1
Elliott Sadler – 1
Harrison Burton – 1
Josh Berry – 1
Morgan Shepherd – 1
Ryan Blaney – 1
Tiny Lund – 1
Trevor Bayne – 1
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Dominic Aragon View All
Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.
From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book "All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story" with racer Geoff Bodine.
Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.
You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.