Wood Bros Relive Heartbreak as Cup Star’s Playoff Dream Goes Up in Flames in Bristol Chaos

It’s all over for the 34-year-old. After his triumph at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, many hoped that the Wood Brothers Racing driver would go on a ‘Cinderella Run’ in the playoffs. But it seems like history repeated itself for the No. 21 Ford, just like Harrison Burton last year; Berry’s championship hopes ended before they even began. After a disastrous start to his postseason campaign at Darlington and Gateway, the Tennessee-native’s must-win scenario at Bristol Motor Speedway turned into a nightmare in the blink of an eye.

In the smoke-filled chaos, Josh Berry was forced to throw his window net before stopping on pit road, where he also missed his stall because of a lack of visibility. The situation summed up his postseason campaign, which has steadily gone from bad to worse with every passing week.

Josh Berry’s playoff campaign goes from bad to worse

It all went down on Lap 77. Josh Berry was one of the eight drivers on the lead lap when his right front tire began to smoke heavily. Instead of going to pit road immediately, the racer stayed out, and by the time he eventually ended on pit road, one of his crew members was shouting, “There’s a f–king fire on pit road, someone throw a damn caution!” Despite his cockpit being engulfed in smoke, the driver managed to vacate his car on his own while safety officials quickly put out the flames. To say that it was a scary scenario would be an understatement.

Visibly disappointed with yet another DNF, Josh Berry told FOX’s Bob Pockrass after the race, “Yeah, given our situation, how the race was playing out and how good we were, I felt like we were trying to ride it out. They mentioned trying to put the fire out on pit road and keep going, but when I slowed down, it got way worse. Yeah, I was just trying to make it to the pit box so the guys could help me get out because I couldn’t see anything.” He went on to say, “It wasn’t hot. The flames just made it super smoky really fast. They checked me out in the care center, said all my levels were right. We probably should have come a lap or two earlier.”

While Wood Brothers Racing was a clear underdog going into the playoffs, nobody expected Berry and the No. 21 team to perform so disastrously. They’ve failed to get out of Stage 1 in all three races of the Round of 16, running just 111 laps (out of 1,107) without an incident in the playoffs. This includes the first lap at Darlington, as well as the 35 laps at Gateway, highlighting just how unprepared they were, just like Harrison Burton’s postseason run last year. At least the 34-year-old can take solace in the fact that there was very little he could do in all three situations.

As for the smoke and the subsequent fire, it came down to the high tire wear at Bristol Motor Speedway. According to the No. 21 team, the excess rubber that came off those tires contributed to the mechanical failure that led to Josh Berry’s DNF. But despite the outcome, the racer is taking plenty of positives from the performance, as he went on to say, “Our car was really good. That was going to fall right into our wheelhouse, I feel like, to have a really good night. We were able to make it pretty long on that first set (of tires), and we were going to be set up in a really good spot, I think.”

His championship run may have ended, but Josh Berry can be proud of making it this far.

Josh Berry’s crew chief weighs in on Bristol failure

Few expected him to break into the playoffs, especially when established veterans such as Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski failed, but there’s no denying that the No. 21 team will be feeling they could’ve put up a bit more of a fight. Berry even said, “Len (Wood, team co-owner and chief operating officer) was saying before the race he never thought they had two in a row, and now we’ve got three in a row.” He wasn’t the only one who was disappointed by the outcome.

Josh Berry’s crew chief, Miles Stanley, said, “The best that I can tell is it was the rubber buildup on the header (that caused the fire), and then that just spread to the rocker (panel). And once the rocker catches, you’re kind of hosed. I didn’t really see how quickly it progressed; it seemed to progress really quickly. And then, like I said, once the rocker was on fire, there really wasn’t a whole lot we could do.” He went on to say, “Once we got in the box, we tried to get the road crew out to get the fire out on the right side, and then the right side window got taken out. And when that got taken out, a bunch of oxygen came in, and then all the foam went up (in flames).”

With seven races remaining before the season ends, Berry and his crew will hope to pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and have a go again at New Hampshire Motor Speedway next week. Stanley even said, “We just keep building fast cars and bring fast cars to the race track, and that’s all we can do. We’ll try and win some races here coming up in this stretch.” Do you think Wood Brothers Racing can turn its fortunes around and potentially secure another triumph before the season ends? Let us know in the comments!