Josh Berry’s risky move at Martinsville cost a Team Penske driver a shot at the title. Then Wood Brothers Racing defended him anyway. The two teams share a technical partnership and Ford Performance support, which makes the fallout awkward. Berry, in his final season with the Wood Brothers, failed to take accountability for the move. His team backed him regardless.

While Team Penske has not issued an official statement on the incident, Wood Brothers Racing’s President, Jon Wood, has gone on record to defend his driver during his appearance on the SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Interviews. While Wood has explained how his driver had nothing to gain by intentionally ruining the title contender’s race, he has also admitted that he should have owned up to how the situation played out, whether or not he was at fault.

“I’m not going to ask Josh if he did it on purpose,” he said. “It doesn’t matter. You know, the intent at this point was one race to go, and then he’s on to the next opportunity, and we’re on to our next opportunity. That doesn’t really matter. It’s uncharacteristic of Josh to do something like that. So, you know, you try to weigh the totality of evidence, and it’s just not, not like him. And then for it to be a teammate of sorts in Ryan Blaney, a guy that, you know, you really wish no ill will toward. It’s hard to think it was on purpose.”

Wood’s comment came days after Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney saw his title hopes disappear, after a lap 252 contact with Wood Brothers Racing’s Josh Berry damaged his front end, consequently damaging his radiator and water pressure. Moments later, the driver spun in Turn 1 after making contact, bringing out the caution.

The Team Penske driver had to sit and watch the field continue as his No. 12 car underwent major repairs for over 50 laps of the race. While he did return to the track, he was already 59 laps down on the field and finished 35th at what could have been a points-gaining run in Martinsville.

While Blaney doubled down on how Berry ruined his race by brake-checking him and overreacting to the slightest tap to his rear bumper, which, according to the Team Penske driver, was accidental, Josh Berry had a different stance on how the situation unfolded.

He countered that the No. 12’s slight bump was actually severe, forcing him to brake and regain control as he lost his groove. While Blaney’s championship run ended, Berry went on to finish fourth at the Xfinity 500 during his final Martinsville outing with Wood Brothers Racing.

The damage could also put the Wood Brothers’ relationship with Team Penske under scrutiny. The two teams share a technical alliance, a key link for the Wood Brothers as a single-car Cup operation, making the latest hit to the No. 21 car potentially more significant than a setback on track.

While the duo has shared a highly respectful relationship over the years, the recent incident has tarnished their bond.

Talking about the aftermath of the situation and how Berry could have handled the situation differently.

“But you know, I don’t know. And I’m, it’s, I don’t, I guess I don’t want to know,” Jon Wood highlighted. “But it happened as I said a dozen times and you know you can’t really take it back…I know Josh and Blaney have spoken, and I’m sure it hasn’t changed Ryan’s perspective of being upset about it. But it does take a man to own up and say, look, I ruined your day; whether it, again, was on purpose or not, it happened. And I have the utmost respect for both of those guys and, again, it’s just not typical of what Josh Berry does.”

While both Team Penske drivers saw their championship hopes vanish as Joey Logano, too, had a disastrous run and finished 18th at the Xfinity 500, another Team Penske driver suffered the wrath of NASCAR’s new softened bumper, and drivers weaponized it against their closely trailing rivals.

Carson Hocevar was the first driver to pull the brake-checking maneuver multiple times on Austin Cindric during stage two of the race. Hocevar slammed on the brakes multiple times into Cindric, eventually damaging his front end and ending his race.

While Hocevar shrugged off the allegations and argued that he was “just having fun” and dismissed the contact as “normal Martinsville racing,” Austin Cindric did not hold back on voicing his frustration over the radio.

“NASCAR, what are we doing? Like, we’re just weaponizing cars here. I stack on entry with the guy, and he has a mental breakdown,” Cindric exclaimed.

While Hocevar finished the race in 21st place with two laps down, Cindric DNF’d and ended up finishing 36th after the chaotic Martinsville campaign.

While Carson Hocevar and Josh Berry have not been penalized for brake-checking Austin Cindric and Ryan Blaney respectively, the Team Penske drivers ended up suffering the most because of NASCAR’s revised softened bumper.

While many more drivers like title contenders Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell were caught up in other drivers’ reckless bumping fiasco, costing them important positions in the race, NASCAR’s efforts to improve the racing product at Martinsville and other short-track races backfired on the drivers who saw their promising race fade away because of the new controversial softened bumper.

23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace highlighted that while the new bumper did reduce the intensity of stackups as drivers focused on not damaging their front end, it did penalize innocent drivers who suffered because of cars ahead spinning into them and ruining their race.

While Jon Wood may have offered limited insight on the situation, Team Penske surely will expect a broader answer from their ally in the Cup Series.