In 2010, Josh Berry was celebrating signing with JR Motorsports to compete in late models across the region in the CARS tour. He was a bank teller at the time supporting his local track ventures in Nashville looking to get noticed.

15 years later, Berry wheeled the iconic #21 Wood Brothers Motorcraft Ford Mustang into victory lane for his first ever win in the NASCAR cup series at 34-years-old.

What came between those two events was countless wins across multiple series, including the all-time wins record in the CARS tour with 22 and a Weekly Series title in 2020. Five wins for JRM in Xfinity, including two at Las Vegas, added to his pedigree before Cup.

It might be an upset for some, but Berry was fine tuned for this moment from the get go.

Working on every car he’s driven with his crew, he goes hand in hand with the Wood Brothers team, who captured their first win in eight seasons last year in the 2024 Coke Zero 400 with Harrison Burton.

It wasn’t easy for Berry and company however, as a slew of pit road issues throughout the race for multiple drivers caused various restarts and strategy changes in the field.

The race started with pole sitter Michael McDowell racing against Joey Logano, who captured the lead quickly against the #71. Lap 34 saw the first incident of pit issues, as Chase Briscoe’s left rear flew off after exiting pit road.

Drivers worked through the stage finding different grooves and lanes to try and gain time, as Austin Cindric worked his way to the lead against a group of Hendrick Chevrolets and held it to secure the stage one victory.

Stage two saw the 23 of Bubba Wallace capitalize on a consistent first stage, clearing the #2 of Austin Cindric and sailing to the lead. By lap 97, the race had eight lead changes among seven drivers as Kyle Larson closed in on Wallace and took the lead to make it nine.

A spin by the full time Cup Series rookie Shane Van Gisbergen halted the action and forced a restart. It wouldn’t last long as Kyle Busch was the next victim of the desert pit crew curse, as he lost his right rear tire and flew into the wall.

McDowell and Alex Bowman pitted, but were tagged for speeding. Another addition to Vegas’ list of pit road victims. The mistakes moved many fast cars to the back, shaking up the running order with 147 laps to go.

Larson pitted for four tires, putting him behind Ross Chastain, Erik Jones and Denny Hamlin who all took two. It wouldn’t take long for the driver of the #5 to make hay and capture the lead back on fresher tires, as he would carry it to a stage two victory, becoming the first repeat stage winner of the season.

Daniel Suarez opted into the two tire strategy and immediately put himself at the front for the start of stage three, along with the pole sitter McDowell. The two battled with Austin Dillon and Byron for the lead as Larson again took advantage of the hard racing and snatched the lead off of turn four.

As the stage carried on, Larson found himself leading Byron as the two Trackhouse Chevrolets of Suarez and Chastain battled for third. Blaney made his presence known and charged to fifth, fighting pit road miscues and a bad start.

During a restart following a Cody Ware self spin (shocker) Bubba Wallace rocketed forward and looked to make it four wide with Noah Gragson, Christopher Bell, and Ryan Blaney.

Bell eased up to the middle of the track unknowingly, causing Blaney to spin into the wall and giving damage to Jones, Dillon and Wallace. An unfortunate ending for the 12 team who fought tooth and nail to have a spot in the top 10. For the 23 team, it was such a promising day of speed and consistency ended by racing mistakes.

“I don’t know how much higher I can f***ing go!”, exclaimed Wallace on the radio after the incident.

With 47 laps to go, Tyler Reddick found himself pacing the field, with a hard charging Suarez in tow. McDowell and Hamlin were next, with all drivers coming within seven tenths of one another.

Suarez soon caught up to Reddick, capturing the lead and looking to turn the tide on an unfortunate season start. The #21 of Berry stayed consistent in fifth place.

Green flag pit stops would ensue, and Reddick had taken far longer in the pits than anticipated, taking yet another contender from the race due to pit road issues.

Meanwhile, the #21 of Berry captured the lead with his Ford teammate Logano along with him. The final caution of the race at Lap 245 gave Suarez the advantage off pit road, but he would have to hold off a hungry Josh Berry, who has had a wonderful start of 2025 with one top five and a stage win.

Berry contested the lead immediately, side drafting the 99 and looking to capitalize. It took a huge shot to the back of Suarez’ Chevy by Chastain to give him the speed to overtake Berry, and Suarez would assume the lead.

Suarez was 15 laps away from silencing his doubters and earning Trackhouse their first win of 2025, amid a season of rumors and the threat of Connor Zilisch looming. It’s then that he got loose in turn two, allowing Berry to get to his inside and command the lead.

From there on out, it was a Sunday drive for the former bank teller from Hendersonville, Tenn. He proceeded to cushion his lead over the #99 and coast to victory lane, putting the iconic blue and white #21 there once again and captured his first Cup Series win in his fifth race with the team.

“I love this track. Las Vegas has been so good to me, I’ve had so many great moments here”, said Berry on the front stretch.

“Just struggled in the Next Gen car here, but man Miles (Stanley) and this whole #21 team, they gave me a great car today.”

With the win, the 2020 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Champion becomes the first Weekly Series title winner to take victory in a Cup Series race.

For Suarez, it’s a continued season of heartbreak as the driver of the #99 let a win slip away at a traditional intermediate track, something that doesn’t come often for the team. With the threat of Connor Zilisch looming, how many opportunities can Suarez miss before looking at other opportunities?

Berry’s sensational start to 2025 secures him into the NASCAR Playoffs and is sure to see him rise from 13th in the points standings. With only five starts under his belt with the Wood Brothers, do we see the single-car program return to being a weekly threat in the series? Based on the results thus far, it sure seems that way.

The Cup drivers will continue to tackle traditional 1.5-mile ovals as they’ll head to the other side of the country in Miami at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the Straight Talk Wireless 400.

The green flag waves at 12:00 p.m. PST.

Takeaways:

Cam: What a race! This Gen 7 car has really figured out intermediates, as we’ve seen throughout the last three seasons. I absolutely love the different lines drivers can look for at these tracks and this car gives them the capability to stick to it and still make ground. The pit strategy of the race was the real kicker here and saw strategies get thrown out and contenders’ days crumble.

Having the Wood Brothers show such promise at the start of the year just feels right. With the bastardization of Petty Motorsports continuing, having an old school team find victory lane once again is like a warm hug. I think the combination of the Wood Brothers and Josh Berry will only continue to pay dividends. Very excited for Homestead with the various stories at play.

Jack: I’ll start by echoing Cam’s sentiment about the overall race, what an absolute delight this one was to watch. From the three wide restarts to tire and fuel strategy, this was a NASCAR fan’s dream. It had me on the edge of my seat even after my favorite drivers were nuked off the face of the planet.

The Wood Brothers’ fantastic start continues and I’ll be the first to admit, I didn’t see this coming. Berry has struggled in his Cup Series career to this point, but he’s proving to be a threat to find victory lane every week.

This week also proved that Christopher Bell is mortal, suffering some pit road issues of his own that trapped him back in the pack for most of this race. He’s still my championship favorite however Toyota, outside of 23XI, struggled mightily all day at Las Vegas. I can’t wait for Homestead with a field that has as much parity as we’ve seen in the sport.