NASCAR Barometer: Josh Berry Scores First Series Victory

A quick car and some good Las Vegas luck placed Josh Berry and his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford in position to race for the win in the final miles of Sunday's Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. When the final green flag waved, Berry battled Daniel Suarez for the lead, finally taking over the top spot and pulling away for the final 16 laps to score his first series win, earning a coveted playoff spot to go with it. In total, Berry led just 18 laps, but it was his avoidance of trouble that enabled the victory. Sunday's race was plagued by mistakes on pit road, and the penalties and trouble on track caused by those mistakes made for a frantic afternoon, eliminating several top contenders from the battle for the win. Berry and the Wood Brothers team made all the right calls, which put them in position to win, though. By doing so, Berry moves to 14th in the standings and is assured of a playoff appearance, barring any unforeseen circumstances. 

Next on the calendar is another 1.5-mile oval that promotes exciting racing like we just saw at Las Vegas. Homestead-Miami Speedway moves from the fall to the spring this year for the first time since it was the site of the second race of the season in 2021. William Byron won that race, and the Hendrick Motorsports driver heads back to the Sunshine State leading the points after picking up his fourth top-10 finish of the season in Las Vegas. Teammate Alex Bowman is the only other driver to claim as many top-10s at this point, but it was the Toyotas of Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick that won the last two visits to Homestead. After three races of Bell and Toyota's superiority, Berry has Ford on the board, and the chase for playoff spots is still a wide open one.

UPGRADE

Josh Berry - After winning twice at Las Vegas in the Xfinity Series, Berry took the lead Sunday afternoon once and for all, with 16 laps to go, from Daniel Suarez and pulled away to land his first Cup Series victory. It was the first win for the Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 machine since Harrison Burton drive the car to victory at Daytona last fall, and it was the 101st victory of the team's long history. After a fourth-place finish just the week prior at Phoenix, Berry and the team are off to one of the best starts to a season they could have hoped for. Sunday's win matches the team's top-10 tally from last season, and they now have the luxury of a long summer to prepare for the playoffs. Berry's addition to the team, coupled with the ongoing partnership with Team Penske, is bearing fruit and, given the No. 21's quick start to the season, even more success may be on the horizon in 2025 as the grouping gains experience working together

Daniel Suarez - Suarez scored his best finish of the year so far Sunday at Las Vegas. His runner-up result came from the 23rd starting spot and included 12 laps led. A quick car enabled the No. 99 to climb through the field early and earned Suarez a top-10 spot by the completion of the second stage. From there, with some good fortune due to a late caution, Suarez got to the front of the field and into a battle with Josh Berry for the race win. Ultimately, Suarez said his car just had too much contact with the track to be able to stay out front, and he relinquished the lead less than 20 laps to the finish. The finish was still his best of the year since crossing the line 13th in the Daytona 500, and the 1.5-mile oval speed could be good news for the coming trip to Homestead, too. Suarez finished 16th or better in the last four races at that track, and another top-10 would help him move closer to the playoff positions in the standings.

Austin Cindric - After several disappointing race outcomes, Austin Cindric put the whole puzzle together at Las Vegas. The Team Penske driver started the season with a promising eighth-place finish in the Daytona 500 but struggled at subsequent tracks. The pieces came together on Sunday, though. Cindric qualified third and found his way into a lasting lead in the second half of the first stage, winning the segment to become the ninth different stage winner of the season. However, an extra stop in the second stage for what might have been a loose wheel moved Cindric back in the running order. He and the team battled forward in the final stage to recover with a sixth-place finish, though. The result was his second top-10 of the season and halted his three-race slide of finishes outside of the top 15. His Las Vegas success should be a good omen for Homestead, too. Cindric's best finish at that track was a 12th-place finish in 2023.

Kyle Larson - Larson's climb up the standings continued Sunday with a stage win and a ninth-place finish. The No. 5 machine was a quick one from the start, and Larson led the most laps of the race at 61. The race might have been Larson's to win were it not for an unexpected caution, too. A seven-car wreck just shy of the 200-lap mark, and in the middle of an ongoing pit cycle, flipped the running order and dropped Larson from the front to outside of the top 15. In the end, Larson was only able to claw his way back to the ninth position before running out of laps. The untimely caution was a setback, but confidence continues to build in the No. 5 garage and it appears as though Larson and team are beginning to find their stride. Homestead could be the spot they make their 2025 breakthrough, too. Larson won there in 2022 and hadn't started outside of the top five in the last three track visits.

William Byron - Byron scored his third top-five finish of the year at Las Vegas, continuing his excellent start to the season and extending his lead in the championship standings to 29 points over Christopher Bell. It was a championship type day for Byron who started eighth. He and the team avoided the mistakes on track and pit road that plagued much of the competition, adding points to his total through a second-place finish in the second stage, and capitalizing on that track position in the final laps of the race to finish fourth. Were it not for a hard-fought battle with Ross Chastain in the final miles, Byron might have been able to get clear and begin chasing down the leader. Unfortunately, the pair's battle let others past and left both to wonder what might have been. Fantasy players shouldn't expect this momentum to abate. Byron is a past Homestead winner, and he has four top-10 finishes there from his last five tries.

DOWNGRADE

Ryan Blaney - Blaney's poor run of finishes extended at Las Vegas. The weekend started badly when Blaney crashed in practice due to a tire failure and was unable to qualify. He and the team worked hard to mend the car and were quick once racing got underway, though. Blaney quickly moved through the field and was a fixture in the top 10 by the second stage, scoring points in that segment. It looked like his speed would carry him through to a top finish, but racing four wide around lap 200 proved too much. The close racing triggered a four-car wreck with Blaney suffering both front and rear damage. He took the car straight to the garage and out of the race. The 35th-place result was his third in a row worse than 15th and he slips to eighth in the standings after collecting just seven points. However, with the speed the car had, Blaney should be optimistic for Homestead where he finished second the last two times.

Kyle Busch - Sunday's race was one to forget for Busch. The day started promising enough with a fourth-place qualifying effort, but after leading three laps early, Busch was served a pit-road speeding penalty that put him at the back of the field. He missed out on stage points, and things only got worse in the second segment when a loose wheel caused a rim failure and spin. When the nightmare ended, Busch was 35 laps down in 33rd position. The lack of points from the day also pushed him out of the playoff positions in the standings. All is not lost, though. Prior to the horror weekend, Busch was on a run of three straight top-10 finishes, and Homestead is a track where he has had a lot of success. Busch has two wins on that 1.5-mile oval and led five laps in last year's race. Busch's Richard Childress Racing car has competitive speed, he and the team just need to avoid mistakes.

Chase Briscoe - Briscoe and team were one of several to suffer mistakes on pit road, and the No. 19's issue will come with some ongoing consequences. During the first cycle of pit stops, Briscoe's rear wheel came off on track causing a spin and bringing out the first caution period of the day. The standard two-lap penalty was assessed, and Briscoe will lose two crew members for the next two races, too. All was not lost, though. With the incident occurring early in the race, Briscoe was able to fight back, and he regained the lead lap with the free pass brought about by a multi-car crash on lap 200. Being back among the lead-lap cars enabled Briscoe to claw forward a few more spots to salvage a 17th-place finish. It was Briscoe's third top-20 finish from the first five races and he now ranks 20th in points. Damage limitation is not what this team expects, though. Briscoe and the team need to work to eliminate mistakes and capitalize on speed when they have it.

Noah Gragson - Gragson's past Las Vegas results suggested the potential for a good finish Sunday, but it didn't come to be. The Front Row Motorsports driver starting strongly despite a poor showing in qualifying. Gragson was one of the cars able to move forward in the field in the early miles of the race. After making a few forays into the top 10 throughout the afternoon, a front-tire failure sent him hard into the outside wall late in the race, which dropped him to 31st in the finishing order. The result was Gragson's fourth of the year that was outside of the top 25 and he is just 33rd in the standings due to the slow start. Gragson and team have shown speed and, like others in the paddock, need to work on eliminating mistakes to start climbing the standings. At Homestead, Gragson has an average finish of 22nd from two series starts, but he also won there in Xfinity equipment in 2022.

BIGGEST SURPRISE

Ryan Preece - Preece impressed Sunday afternoon with a third-place finish from the 12th starting spot. It was truly a team effort that got him there, too. Despite starting 12th, Preece quickly fell backward but mounted a charge back near the top 10 by the end of the second stage. From there, a strategic call to stay out under the second-to-last caution gave Preece track position, which he then consolidated with another late caution when he finally pitted. The shrewd move, coupled with flawless execution on pit road, earned Preece his best series finish outside of a superspeedway and his best finish of the season so far. The move to RFK Racing is paying early dividends and Preece now heads to Miami just outside of the playoff spots in the standings. It could get better, too. At Homestead, Preece finished 10th last season despite starting the race 35th.