Josh Berry sheds light on the ‘idea of rotating’ NASCAR Championship race amid Team Penske’s dominance

Modified Mar 21, 2025 17:12 GMT

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Josh Berry, last week's Cup Series winner at Las Vegas, recently weighed in on the possibility of NASCAR changing up the site of the championship race every season. The driver of the #21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford isn't opposed to NASCAR "rotating" where the title race is held.

Berry's comments were brought to light via Rubbin is Racing on X. In the clip, the Tennessee native was asked whether or not he'd like to see different tracks get the opportunity to host the season-finale race of the Cup Series.

"I know there's a lot to it that I don't probably even know about, but I kinda like the idea of it rotating maybe every couple of years. Maybe not get stuck on one thing for as long as we have, but if we're going to keep the championship race, I think it needs to hit a few different venues every few years," Josh Berry said. (0:08 onwards)

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Wood Brothers Racing has an alliance with Team Penske, the team that's won the last three Cup Series titles with Ryan Blaney in 2023 and Joey Logano in 2022 and 2024. All of those title races were held at Phoenix Raceway.

As the driver of the Wood Brothers Racing machine, Berry was asked if he's told to keep quiet about moving the championship race because of Penske's dominance at the 1.0-mile track over the last three years. Berry made it known that isn't the case as he said:

"It's just like Joey said, we could go win this weekend. People thought we didn't want to have a championship race at Vegas and we whooped their a** this weekend, right? So that's the deal there too." (0:32 onwards)

Berry passed Daniel Suarez for the lead with 16 laps to go en route to victory in last Sunday's Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas. It was his first career Cup win in his 53rd start and his fifth race with Wood Brothers Racing.

Berry is amid his second full-time season in the Cup Series. Prior to Wood Brothers, Berry piloted the #4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford after Kevin Harvick retired at the conclusion of the 2023 season. However, SHR ceased operations at the end of last season, leading Berry to Wood Brothers Racing.

Josh Berry's team penned three-word caption after driver's first career victory

Josh Berry became a winner in the NASCAR Cup Series with his triumphant victory last Sunday in Las Vegas. It marked the 101st win for his team, Wood Brothers Racing.

In the wake of Berry's victory, Wood Brothers Racing took to Instagram and penned a three-word caption to signify the win. They wrote:

"Victorious in Vegas!"

The win qualified Josh Berry for his first Cup Series playoffs. It'll be the second straight season Wood Brothers Racing has made the playoffs after doing so with Harrison Burton in 2024.

About the author

John Breeden is a NASCAR content writer at Sportskeeda with over three years of sports journalism experience. His career began back in 2021, when he started writing for The Breeze - a student-run publication at James Madison University that covered a wide variety of collegiate sports. He graduated from JMU in May 2022 with a degree in media arts and design concentrating in journalism. He currently writes for his local publication, the Daily News-Record, in Harrisonburg, VA, where he covers a variety of sports at the high school and collegiate level.

John has been a lifelong NASCAR fan and has followed the sport closely since 2005. He stays informed on motorsports developments through social media, NASCAR.com, and NASCAR podcasts, which help him craft unique and engaging stories. Interviewing Hendrick Motorsports Vice Chairman Jeff Gordon at Martinsville Speedway was a career highlight for John, where he wrote about William Byron taking the famed No. 24 car back to the Championship 4.

Beyond motorsports, John enjoys writing about other sports such as football, baseball, and basketball. He believes that NASCAR could reach the global popularity of Formula 1 by expanding its audience with more international races and enhancing its mainstream appeal, just like F1 has done.

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Edited by Tushar Bahl