Top Dog: Josh Berry
After a solid start to the season last year that included his first career NASCAR Cup Series win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Josh Berry and Wood Brothers Racing’s No. 21 team have gotten off to a slow start in 2026. After a ninth-place Daytona 500 finish, Berry only had one top-20 finish in the next five races, including two DNFs and three sub-30th-place finishes.
Berry was 32nd in points coming into the weekend at Martinsville Speedway, and the No. 21 team was one to keep an eye on due to Berry’s talent at short tracks. His first career NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series win came at Martinsville in 2021, and he picked up his first Cup top 10 finish at the track in the most recent race there last October.
In that fall Martinsville race, Berry qualified 27th and finished 10th, collecting zero stage points. If the No. 21 team wanted to continue to improve their performance at The Paperclip, they would have to unload with speed on Saturday (March 28) to have a strong qualifying effort.
Chase Elliott Wins Cook Out 400 at Martinsville
The Climb To The Top
The No. 21 team put together a strong run to qualify third for Sunday’s (March 29) Cook Out 400. Berry was able to hold his track position during the short stage one and finished the stage where he started as he ran third, collecting eight stage points.
In stage two, the longer run, pit stop speeds and altering strategies from other contenders dropped Berry to the bottom of the top 10 when the green-and-white checkered flag flew again. He hung on to 10th, which gave him a single point and nine stage points total on the day, the first stage points he has collected all season.
Then, in the final stage, Berry hung around the edge of the top 10, keeping his car clean and continuing his push for another top 10. His pass on Ross Chastain, who was on older tires because of strategy, secured him his second straight 10th-place finish at Martinsville.
Berry earned 36 points on the day, moving his No. 21 team up seven spots in the standings to 25th, 55 points behind the final Chase spot.
Looking Ahead
After the off week for Easter Sunday, the Cup Series will once again head to a short track. Berry will take to the high banks of Bristol Motor Speedway, a track where Berry has yet to score a top-10 finish in his Cup Series career. His best finish at the track came in both of the spring races he has run there, a 12th for the now-defunct Stewart-Haas Racing in 2024 and 12th last April for the Wood Brothers.
Top Dog of the Lower Series
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series: It has been a rough start to the 2026 season for Sam Hunt Racing as they expanded their NOAPS program to two Toyota Supras this past off-season. Dean Thompson returned to the No. 26 car, and SHR brought in Harrison Burton to drive its No. 24 car. Coming into Martinsville, the No. 26 team was 28th in owner’s points, while the No. 24 team was 30th.
Both cars hung around in the 15th to 20th range during the race. But this event had some attrition to it, especially after a big pileup late in the race. After a stack- up due to Lee Pulliam missing a shift, a huge wreck occurred on the frontstretch that took out Burton, but Thompson went on, avoiding serious damage.
Thompson was able to take advantage of the carnage to bring home a seventh-place finish, his first top-10 finish of the season. Thompson now sits 20th in the driver standings and the No. 26 team sits 23rd in owner points. The NOAPS will not have a week off like the Cup Series next week as they will head to Rockingham Speedway, where Thompson will try to build on this solid run at Martinsville.
Small Team Scheme of the Week
I was a big fan of the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet’s look this weekend at Martinsville as Ty Dillon piloted a blue, yellow and black Black’s Tire car for the first time this season.
Unfortunately, this car had an early end to the day as Dillon brought the car to pit road with around 100 laps remaining in the race with smoke pouring out of the right front area of the car. Dillon suffered brake failure as the right front tire was on fire on pit road, ending the team’s day and forcing them to a 37th-place finish, dead last in the event.
