A weekend that ought to have been memorable and exciting for Josh Berry took a completely dark turn at the culmination. The Wood Brothers Racing driver returned to his Late Model racing roots for the 25th Thanksgiving Classic at the Southern National Motorsports Park this weekend. The goal was to simply have fun and aim to win a third title after winning the event in 2021 and 2022.
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Berry qualified to start the race in third and finished in a rather disappointing second place behind Doug Barnes. While the result in itself was underwhelming, the worst was yet to come. Berry and his team protested Barnes’ victory for reasons that are still not clear. But this move backfired as Barnes and Co. counter-protested Berry’s result and got officials to pay heed to them.
Short Track Scene confirmed that Berry had been disqualified from the race as a result, and his team, Tom Usry Racing, issued an apology to fans.
It said, “The ruling found our team to be outside the guidelines due to a specific part that has been inspected numerous times this season by multiple tracks and multiple officials – and has never previously been identified as being outside of NASCAR NASCAR-sanctioned rule book. While we are disappointed, we fully respect and accept the decision.”
The Tom Usry Racing No. 17 Josh Berry drove to P2 in the Thanksgiving Classic was disqualified.
They were protested by winner Doug Barners after they protested Barnes.
Barnes is still being torn down and the results are not yet confirmed. pic.twitter.com/ZmkLzj6YAV
— Short Track Scene (@ST_Scene) December 1, 2025
The disqualification was only the last of the blows that Berry was dealt. He had missed a clutch shift when moving from second to third gear during the race. And later, he spun after making contact with Lee Pulliam during a restart. All these tiny hurdles hurt his chances of winning the race and resulted in lamentation.
He admitted to the clutch mistake, “The first one, honestly, I think I didn’t use the clutch. I’ve had trouble from going to Cup cars, Xfinity cars, to coming back here, and I think I just spaced out, made a mental mistake there. Just didn’t use the clutch, didn’t get it in fourth, I tore up some cars there. That was pretty embarrassing, but after that, it was fine.”
It is unclear whether Berry has any more offseason races lined up on his calendar. If there aren’t any, fans will get to see him next when the 2026 season begins at the Bowman Gray Stadium for The Clash. As things stand, however, he will have to wait to bring home that third Thanksgiving Classic win.
