While most drivers have welcomed the Chase format’s return with open arms, recognizing it will place a premium on both consistency and victories across the campaign, several competitors find themselves on the wrong end of this regulatory shift. Josh Berry, for instance, recently acknowledged how the Chase structure will heap additional pressure on him and his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing team compared to the tenure during the elimination era.
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The format works against drivers with specialist abilities, such as Shane van Gisbergen, with his road course prowess, which he used in abundance last year to qualify for the postseason. But Berry’s roots trace back to the Late Model Series. Still, he senses mounting pressure, knowing consistency will carry substantial weight under the revamped framework.
Unlike the ‘win-and-you’re-in’ architecture, simply bagging a single win will fall short of guaranteeing a berth among the top sixteen, especially for a team like Wood Brothers Racing, which does not find itself at the sharp end of the field every week.
The Chase format mandates drivers crack the top sixteen in points before the 26 races of the regular season end, with or without wins. On that, Berry asserted, “I think that obviously it’s a different format, but first-time winners and first wins in this sport have always been something that are really popular and make for great stories. Now it doesn’t include an automatic berth into the playoffs or the Chase, but it’s still a great story.”
“There are going to be a lot of storylines that evolve throughout the season, and as that changes, relying on consistency a little bit more is probably going to put the best guys in the Chase at the end of the year. As a team, we feel a little more pressure going into this knowing that we’ve got to execute week in and week out, and, to me, that’s not a bad thing,” Berry continued, as he talked to the media.
Across four NASCAR Cup Series campaigns, Berry has contested in two full-time seasons, with his best average finish coming in 2023, when he made 10 starts and posted an average finish of 20.7. Last year, though he managed to salvage 16th in the playoff standings, Berry’s average finish throughout the year settled at 21.7, with one win, three top-five finishes, and eight top-ten finishes.
Last season’s elimination structure proved favorable for him, as his Las Vegas win punched his ticket straight into the playoffs. But throughout the regular season alone, Berry had crossed the stripe inside the top ten on just five occasions, with merely two top-five results. During the final ten playoff contests, Berry added three additional top-ten performances, alongside one top-five finish, before eventually being eliminated from the hunt for the title.
However, the incoming Chase format will demand uncompromising consistency from the Wood Brothers Racing driver throughout the regular season to ensure that he secures his place among the top sixteen and gains entry into the playoffs, irrespective of whether he challenges further or not.
And for a single-car outfit like Wood Brothers, the added pressure can only mean one thing: more reliance on their technical partners in Team Penske if they want to up their performance ante in 2026.
