The last time Josh Berry participated in a Ford Performance media call, he broke his own news that he would not be returning to Wood Brothers Racing next season.
On Tuesday, he participated in another one and conceded there was no news, frustratingly, in his pursuit of a job next season. Berry, the short track success story turned O’Reilly Series championship contender and then Cup Series winner, is coming off seventh and fourth place finishes the past two weeks.
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It’s a good time to start looking like the best version of himself if nothing else.
“Yeah, it’s been good,” Berry said. “Indy, obviously went really well. I was pretty happy with our car in the race. It’s such a strategy race from the start, but we executed a really good strategy and had the car to back it up. To walk out of there with a seventh-place finish was really good for us, especially the year before when we were fifth on the last lap and ran out of gas. That one stung pretty bad, but it felt good to get a good result there.”
That is the only bit of good news as Berry still isn’t sure what realistic options are available for a Cup Series winner that doesn’t bring a lot of funding to the table.
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“We’ve had conversations,” Berry said. “We’ve had good ones. We’ve had bad ones. We’ve had ones that we thought had potential. We had ones that we sat down and they asked for three million dollars, so it’s been a little bit of a challenge working through all of that. To be honest, I’m kind of to the point now where I can’t do much else other than just try to focus on Sundays and try to have days like we’ve had the last couple of weeks.
“Honestly, I feel like if we turn this deal around and run like we have the last three races and find ourselves in the top five and top 10 and nothing materializes, I kind of feel it shows more about the system than it does about me. We’ll just work through that as it comes.”
Berry’s option was not picked up because Wood Brothers Racing opted to hire defending O’Reilly Series champion Jesse Love instead. Berry has uncharacteristically crashes a lot of cars this season, but is adamant that his resume does not reflect that, but the past year is instead the byproduct of circumstances.
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“I can think back to so many races where we’ve been up front and in the top 10 or top 15 and whether it’s getting caught up in an accident or pit road or whatever, it’s such a results-based sport,” Berry said. “If you don’t have the results, things change quickly. Like I said, I’ve been on both sides of it in the last five or six years.”
Nevertheless, for Berry’s career to continue, he needs to be hired because he is not bringing a lot of sponsorship money and that also frustrates him since he is a Cup Series winner.
“If you can run in the top five, top 10 in Cup races, I surely think the results should carry some weight,” Berry said. “I don’t want to get into too many details about my opinions on everything necessarily, but it’s a tough battle. The system is difficult. The business model is difficult for the Truck and O’Reilly Series and the Cup Series to a point, but it’s just difficult.
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“This is not anything new. I spent years racing late models and fighting for opportunities. This has all been well documented and not it’s kind of come back around the other way, unfortunately, just because of how this year has gone.
“It’s a challenge. I think that the funding is an important piece. I mean, a majority of the teams it’s hard to even get a conversation unless you already know you have at least something in place there to bring to the table. That’s just the nature of how it is.”
If nothing materializes, could he at least make a living back in the CARS Tour or short track racing?
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“I’d be lying if I haven’t had those thoughts,” Berry said. “Obviously, I have two young kids at home that are a very important part of this process and what we do as a family and what’s important on that side of things. I think anything is on the table.
“I feel, first and foremost, it’s about trying to find something to do in these top three series. If that doesn’t materialize, I don’t really have the answer for sure. If that doesn’t materialize, it really comes down to what’s the best for our family and going forward for our future for years to come. I don’t know that I have that answer yet, but when we get there, we’ll figure it out.”
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