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Josh Berry says he’s not close to finding a ride for 2027 and admits it’s been a “bit of a challenge” because there’s little movement in NASCAR’s Cup Series, and in the O’Reilly Auto Parts and Craftsman Truck series the teams want a driver to bring money to the organization. “We had one (conversation)… and they asked for $3 million,” says Berry, who’s working with KHI Management, which is owned by Kevin and DeLana Harvick. “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. I don’t feel any closer (to having a ride for next year) than I did two months ago.” In mid-June it was announced that Berry wouldn’t return to Wood Brothers Racing in 2027. A week later it was announced that O’Reilly Series champion Jesse Love was his replacement. “I’m racing for my career,” Berry said. “I’m not uncomfortable in that scenario. I’ve been in this scenario plenty of times. You just work on it one day at a time.” Entering the Richmond race, Berry had two consecutive top 10s, including a top five at Iowa. He admits it’s frustrating because of the problems his team had at the season’s beginning and then again in the middle when they had the misfortune of “getting caught up in stuff we had nothing to do with, and how quickly it buried us in points.” After 23 races, Berry was 30th in the driver standings. “I feel like the narrative against me changed,” Berry said. “Now, we’re coming off races where we’ve ran up front and been fast, and it’s going the other way again. I’m not doing anything different than I did from the beginning of the year. I’m still preparing the same. Things are clicking better, and cars have had speed, and we’ve been executing and those things lead to better results.” Berry admitted that he’s at the point where the only thing he can do is focus on getting a good result in each of the season’s 13 remaining races. “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, it just shows more about the system than it does about me,” Berry said. A North Carolina native, Deb Williams is an award-winning motorsports journalist who is in her fourth decade covering auto racing. In addition to covering the sport for United Press International, she has written motorsports articles for several newspapers, magazines and websites including espnW.com, USA Today, and The Charlotte Observer. Her awards include the American Motorsports Media Award of Excellence, two-time National Motorsports Press Association writer of the year, and two-time recipient of the Russ Catlin award. She also has won an award in the North Carolina Press Association’s sports feature category. During her career, Deb has been managing editor of GT Motorsports magazine and was with Winston Cup Scene and NASCAR Winston Cup Scene for 18 years, serving as the publication’s editor for 10 years. In 2024 she was inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame.