Stewart-Haas Racing announced on Tuesday that Josh Berry’s No. 4 Ford Mustang Dark Horse will feature the image of WNBA star Caitlin Clark on its hood during the upcoming Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis. The 22-year-old basketball prodigy is in her rookie season with the Indiana Fevers and her transcend into racing through Berry is only far too ideal considering that the driver is in his rookie season in the Cup Series as well.
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The car’s paint scheme for Sunday comes from its primary sponsor, Panini America. The company is the official trading card partner of NASCAR and recently released a Caitlin Clark collection. The overlap in associations is what has led to this partnership. The scheme will depict “Raining 3s”, one of the cards from the collection. The image on it is from Clark’s days with the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Raining 3s with the No. 4⁰⁰@joshberry will race at Indianapolis with @PaniniAmerica and Indiana Fever star @CaitlinClark22. pic.twitter.com/f87gyp4h67
— Stewart-Haas Racing (@StewartHaasRcng) July 16, 2024
Unfortunately, the player will not be in attendance at the 2.5-mile oval when the car bearing her face fires around. This weekend marks the WNBA All-Star Weekend and she has been named in Team WNBA. She is expected to be in Phoenix for the celebrations when the race unwinds. Berry, however, will hope to make them both proud through a strong maiden run on the track.
The 33-year-old driver is in the battle for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year award and is currently in prime position to win it. “The No. 4 team has a bunch of really smart guys putting together strategies, building fast cars, and giving me a chance to go race hard,” he told the press. “We set off this year with the goal of winning the Sunoco Rookie of the Year award and we are close to that.”
Berry is yet to make it into the 2024 Cup Series playoffs
Berry landed a seat with Wood Brothers Racing for 2025 following tumultuous weeks of uncertainty about his future. With the neediest box now checked, he can return his complete focus to his performance on the track.
Five more races are left in the regular season and he sits far too below the elimination line to qualify for the playoffs on points. A win, as unlikely as it may be, would end up shaking a lot of ground.
His best results to date came at Darlington and New Hampshire, where he finished in third place each. NASCAR will take a two-week break after the Indianapolis race as the Paris Olympics gets into the spotlight. Berry will hope to enjoy the comfort that a good debut in a crown jewel race offers during this period.
