Josh Berry wins NASCAR race at Las Vegas, captures first career victory in Cup Series
Josh Berry earned his first NASCAR Cup Series victory during the final laps Sunday at Las Vegas.
The 34-year-old Wood Brothers Racing driver pulled away from Daniel Suárez late in the Pennzoil 400 after running in the Top 10 throughout the race.
It’s the first career Cup Series win for Berry, who took over the seat of the famed No. 21 Wood Brothers’ Ford this year, and this victory in the fifth race of the season — the first for a Ford driver — marks the 101st in the history of the storied racing team.
“I love this track,” Berry said. “Las Vegas has been so good to me, I’ve had so many great moments here. Just struggled in the Next Gen car. Miles (Stanley), this whole No. 21 team, everybody at Wood Brothers Racing, they gave me a great car (Sunday). We just battled and battled and battled, and man, it was our day. I just can’t believe it.
“Such a battle with Daniel there at the end. Beating and banging at a mile-and-a-half is crazy, but whoever was gonna get out in front was probably going to win, and we were able to get out in front of him.”
Suárez finished in second place, Ryan Preece came in third place, William Byron drove to a P4 finish and Ross Chastain took fifth.
Results from the NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas
Position | Driver | Car Number |
1 | Josh Berry | 21 |
2 | Daniel Suárez | 99 |
3 | Ryan Preece | 60 |
4 | William Byron | 24 |
5 | Ross Chastain | 1 |
6 | Austin Cindric | 2 |
7 | Alex Bowman | 48 |
8 | AJ Allmendinger | 16 |
9 | Kyle Larson | 5 |
10 | Chase Elliott | 9 |
11 | Brad Keselowski | 6 |
12 | Christopher Bell | 20 |
13 | Chris Buescher | 17 |
14 | Justin Haley | 7 |
15 | Joey Logano | 22 |
16 | Michael McDowell | 71 |
17 | Chase Briscoe | 19 |
18 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 47 |
19 | Riley Herbst | 35 |
20 | John Hunter Nemechek | 42 |
21 | Ty Dillon | 10 |
22 | Ty Gibbs | 54 |
23 | Zane Smith | 38 |
24 | Tyler Reddick | 45 |
25 | Denny Hamlin | 11 |
26 | Cole Custer | 41 |
27 | Erik Jones | 43 |
28 | Bubba Wallace | 23 |
29 | Todd Gilliland | 34 |
30 | Carson Hocevar | 77 |
31 | Noah Gragson | 4 |
32 | Austin Dillon | 3 |
33 | Kyle Busch | 8 |
34 | Shane Van Gisbergen | 88 |
35 | Ryan Blaney | 12 |
36 | Cody Ware | 51 |
Lap-by-lap updates of the Pennzoil 400
Lap 267: Josh Berry wins!
Lap 263: Josh Berry’s lead is roughly 1.4 seconds over Daniel Suárez with four laps to go. Will the Wood Brothers Racing driver get his first career Cup win?
Lap 255: Josh Berry gets by Daniel Suárez and is pulling away in the lead!
Lap 253: Daniel Suárez and Josh Berry run side-by-side for the lead at the front of the field.
Lap 249: Back to green, and Daniel Suárez gets out in front of Josh Berry for the lead late! Ross Chastain, William Byron and Ryan Preece battle behind him. Kyle Larson is surging through the pack in the Top 10.
Lap 246: Joey Logano and Ty Dillon made contact on pit road.
Lap 243: Won’t necessarily be a fuel mileage race to the finish as a caution comes out for Noah Gragson hitting the wall.
Lap 236: Daniel Suárez got around Tyler Reddick for the lead, Josh Berry passed Suárez, and now Joey Logano has gotten around the No. 21 car for the lead.
Lap 225: Shane Van Gisbergen is done for the day after making contact with the wall in Turn 2.
Lap 217: Tyler Reddick is the leader with 50 laps to go, ahead of Daniel Suárez, Michael McDowell, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano.
Lap 207: Carson Hocevar makes a stop from P19.
Lap 200: Tyler Reddick and Daniel Suárez on the front row, followed by Michael McDowell and Noah Gragson, as we restart with 67 to go!
Lap 197: Many drivers make stops under caution here. Kyle Larson beat Christopher Bell and William Byron in the race off pit road.
Lap 195: Restart — and a big wreck! Ryan Blaney, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Erik Jones, Bubba Wallace, Noah Gragson and Austin Dillon are all involved.
Lap 190: Carson Hocevar hit Ty Gibbs on pit road, bringing out another caution as Ross Chastain is leading the race here in the final stage.
Lap 187: Caution for Cody Ware.
Lap 173: Green for the final stage! Kyle Larson gets around Michael McDowell for the lead.
Lap 167: Your points-getters after Kyle Larson passed William Byron late for the Stage 2 win:
Larson, Byron, Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace, Carson Hocevar, Ryan Blaney, Daniel Suárez, Josh Berry, Tyler Reddick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Stage 2
Lap 165: Kyle Larson earns his second stage win of the season!
Lap 164: Kyle Larson passes William Byron.
Lap 160: William Byron gets to the lead.
Lap 154: Three-wide battle for second place among William Byron, Kyle Larson and Erik Jones. Ross Chastain leads.
Lap 153: Back to green!
Lap 145: Todd Gilliland gets into the wall and makes contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., bringing out another caution!
Lap 141: Kyle Larson still leads with 25 laps to go in Stage 2.
Your Top 10: Larson, William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace, Daniel Suárez, Josh Berry, Carson Hocevar, AJ Allmendinger, Chris Buescher and Joey Logano.
Lap 124: Kyle Larson pulls away from William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace and Daniel Suárez in the race lead.
Lap 120: Back to green following our fourth caution of the day. Kyle Larson and William Byron lead.
Lap 114: Now Kyle Busch loses a wheel! One of the No. 8’s rear tires rolls off, and Busch heads to the garage.
Lap 110: What a call from No. 20 crew chief Adam Stevens as Christopher Bell stops for service in Chase Briscoe’s pit stall.
Lap 108: Shane Van Gisbergen spins out! Third caution of the day as Kyle Larson still leads, and Christopher Bell had passed Bubba Wallace for second place.
Lap 100: Kyle Larson passes Bubba Wallace for the lead.
Lap 91: Alex Bowman, who ran in the Top Five toward the end of the opening stage, heads down pit road by himself early in Stage 2.
Lap 89: Green for Stage 2! Bubba Wallace jumps out in front of Kyle Larson and Austin Cindric to take the lead.
Lap 85: Chase Elliott was penalized for speeding on pit road, which will make Bubba Wallace the new leader.
Lap 82: Earning points following Austin Cindric’s opening stage win at Las Vegas: Cindric, Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson, AJ Allmendinger, Joey Logano, Josh Berry, Carson Hocevar and Christopher Bell.
Stage 1
Lap 80: Austin Cindric wins Stage 1!
Lap 76: Christopher Bell runs in P11 as the opening stage winds down. Austin Cindric still leads the field.
Lap 60: Austin Cindric has led for the past 21 laps.
Your Top 10: Cindric, Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott, Bubba Wallace, Josh Berry, Joey Logano, AJ Allmendinger, Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick and Carson Hocevar.
Lap 50: Christopher Bell is in P10 after starting the race from the rear.
Lap 41: Back to green! Austin Cindric and Alex Bowman battle for the lead following the caution on pit road. Chase Elliott, Bubba Wallace and Joey Logano also run in the Top Five.
Lap 32: And a caution comes out as Chase Briscoe loses a wheel! One of the No. 19 car’s tires rolled off on the track, resulting in a two-lap penalty.
Lap 30: Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain and Todd Gilliland are among several drivers who come down pit road under green.
Lap 22: Joey Logano, Austin Cindric, William Byron, Alex Bowman and Michael McDowell are out in front of the field. Ryan Blaney has made it into P19, cracking the Top 20 after starting at the rear, and Christopher Bell is now in 26th place.
Lap 10: Joey Logano’s lead over Michael McDowell is roughly a split second as the field becomes more single-file.
Your Top 10: Logano, McDowell, Austin Cindric, William Byron, Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, Erik Jones, Zane Smith, Kyle Larson and Josh Berry.
Lap 3: After racing side-by-side after the green flag, Joey Logano gets by Michael McDowell to take the lead. The reigning Cup Series champion won the fall race at Las Vegas, which helped spark his third title run.
Green flag, 3:44 p.m.: We’re off from Las Vegas! Michael McDowell and Joey Logano lead the field.
3:33 p.m.: Morgan Freeman gives command to fire the engines! “Gentlemen, start your engines,” the Academy Award winner says to get us started at Las Vegas. Racin’ soon!
3:20 p.m.: Happy Race Day!
Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, Riley Herbst John Hunter Nemechek and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. have been dropped to the rear for unapproved adjustments ahead of the Pennzoil 400.
Spire Motorsports wins first pole in Cup Series
Michael McDowell has a fast car on a 1.5-mile NASCAR race track.
The Spire Motorsports driver, who is 15th in the Cup Series standings entering Sunday’s race at Las Vegas, won the pole position to lead the field to green for the Pennzoil 400.
Christopher Bell will start from the 13th position Sunday as he looks to win for the fourth straight week. The Joe Gibbs Racing star also leads the Cup Series with nine poles since the start of the 2023 season.
This is the seventh pole position during that span for McDowell — tying him with Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson for second most in the series.
It marks the first Cup Series pole for Spire, which fields three Cup teams this season. McDowell had previously won six poles with Front Row Motorsports, all coming last year.
“You have to hit everything perfectly,” McDowell said. “One little mistake and that’s it. I’m proud of the effort that goes into making these cars fast. I think that one of the funny things that my crew chief, Travis Peterson, said — we got a pole at Gateway. We got obviously a lot of poles at the superspeedways. And then we got a pole in a mile and a half.
“The only place I haven’t gotten a pole is a road course, and that’s supposed to be my thing, you know? We’ve been close. Hopefully this will be the year, right, that we can go get a pole at a road course as well and try to close out all types of tracks.”
Odds and prediction for the Pennzoil 400
Kyle Larson is the favorite for Sunday’s race at +320 odds on DraftKings Sportsbook, followed by William Byron (+650), Joey Logano (+750), Christopher Bell (+800), Tyler Reddick (+850) and Kyle Busch (+850).
Charlotte Observer NASCAR reporter Shane Connuck is still picking Bell to win for the fourth straight week. No car has been navigating these early-season tracks better, and with Toyota due for a victory at Las Vegas, it’s Bell’s turn. Larson was strong last week as well and has won two of the past three races at the 1.5-mile track; and Hendrick Motorsports is positioned well with three of its cars starting in the Top 10. But with the No. 20 car running as well as it has, a start from the back of the field won’t deter its path to Victory Lane.
How to watch the NASCAR Cup race at Las Vegas
Race: Pennzoil 400
Place: Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Clark County, Nevada, about 15 miles from the Las Vegas Strip)
Track Length: 1.5-mile asphalt oval
Date: Sunday, March 16
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Purse: $11,055,250
TV: FS1, 2 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 400 miles (267 laps)
Stages: Stage 1 ends on Lap 80; Stage 2 ends on Lap 165; and the Final Stage ends on Lap 267.
Starting lineup for the Pennzoil 400
Position | Driver | Car Number |
1 | Michael McDowell | 71 |
2 | Joey Logano | 22 |
3 | Austin Cindric | 2 |
4 | Kyle Busch | 8 |
5 | Erik Jones | 43 |
6 | Alex Bowman | 48 |
7 | Josh Berry | 21 |
8 | William Byron | 24 |
9 | Zane Smith | 38 |
10 | Kyle Larson | 5 |
11 | Chris Buescher | 17 |
12 | Ryan Preece | 60 |
13 | Christopher Bell | 20 |
14 | Tyler Reddick | 45 |
15 | Denny Hamlin | 11 |
16 | Chase Elliott | 9 |
17 | Ty Dillon | 10 |
18 | AJ Allmendinger | 16 |
19 | Ross Chastain | 1 |
20 | Bubba Wallace | 23 |
21 | Noah Gragson | 4 |
22 | Austin Dillon | 3 |
23 | Daniel Suárez | 99 |
24 | Chase Briscoe | 19 |
25 | Carson Hocevar | 77 |
26 | Cole Custer | 41 |
27 | Brad Keselowski | 6 |
28 | Shane Van Gisbergen | 99 |
29 | Ty Gibbs | 54 |
30 | John Hunter Nemechek | 42 |
31 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 47 |
32 | Todd Gilliland | 34 |
33 | Justin Haley | 7 |
34 | Riley Herbst | 35 |
35 | Cody Ware | 51 |
36 | Ryan Blaney | 12 |
This story was originally published March 16, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
