The rumours began weeks ago that Xfinity Series JR Motorsports driver Josh Berry would be driving for Smoke and Stewart-Haas Racing next season.
On Wednesday afternoon, the rumours became the truth with a big announcement that Berry would be replacing retiring driver Kevin Harvick in the number four car next year.
Earlier this season, Berry was tapped to sit in for Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott when he was out with a broken leg and again for Alex Bowman after he suffered a fractured vertebrae in a dirt race.
Berry will be paired up with crew chief Rodney Childers and will join fellow SHR drivers Chase Briscoe, Ryan Preece, and Aric Almirola. Berry will be a part of the rookie class in the Cup Series next season.
JR Motorsports owner and current Josh Berry boss Dale Earnhardt Jr spoke on Berry saying, “what a team will get when they sign Josh Berry to a Cup deal is a driver with great race craft and a turn-key winner. Whereas it’s incredible and a great opportunity to sign a young driver that will develop into a champion, I believe you get to skip those years of development with a guy like Josh, and you get right into working on the championship part and winning races because he’s there mentally, professionally and in talent.”
SHR co-owner Tony “Smoke” Stewart also spoke on Josh Berry saying, “we’re incredibly proud to have Josh Berry begin the next chapter of his racing career in our number four Ford Mustang. Kevin Harvick has obviously set a very high bar, but Josh brings maturity, experience and, above all, a winning record to Stewart-Haas Racing is the right driver, at the right time, for the number four team and our organization.”
Chief competition officer Greg Zipadelli added, “Josh Berry has proven himself in the Xfinity Series and this year showed how quickly he can adapt to the cars and the level of competition in the NASCAR Cup Series. He’ll be a rookie in our race car next year, but he drives like a veteran. He puts in the work to ensure that he’s always ready for the opportunities that come his way, and we’re very happy that his next opportunity is with Stewart-Haas Racing.”
Now 32, Dale Earnhardt Jr found Berry when he was just 19 and hired him; first to work in the parts department and later as a driver.
Josh Berry spoke on his new opportunity saying, “I’m really proud of how I’ve gotten to this point and earned this opportunity. I don’t like to use the word luck. It’s also been about preparation meeting opportunity. I wouldn’t change anything about how I got here. It made me who I am. Throughout my teenage years, it was a fight just to keep racing, to get to the next race.”
He added, “the timing of Dale and I getting together, that was crucial. If that doesn’t happen, I don’t know that I would’ve ever raced a stock car, or how much more I would’ve raced at all, just because racing overextended us financially. Those years of racing and winning, and the people I was around and worked with, prepared me for the opportunities that I’ve gotten, and they’ve prepared me to capitalize on this opportunity with Stewart-Haas Racing. Even without knowing where it would ultimately take me, I’d do it all over again.”
Berry spoke on replacing Kevin Harvick saying, “I can’t imagine a better opportunity for me – to get in a car that’s been as successful and iconic as the number four car . Kevin is a future NASCAR Hall of Famer, and it’s going to be a challenge trying to come after someone so successful. But I know I’m going to have an amazing group of people around me, led by Rodney Childers, to where we can hit the ground running.”
Feature photo credit: Josh Berry at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2023