Josh Berry returns to Late Model roots for 25th Thanksgiving Classic a…

NASCAR Cup Series standout Josh Berry is excited about being back in a Late Model Stock Car as he chases his third Thanksgiving Classic win at Southern National Motorsports Park this weekend, Nov. 28-30.

Berry, who competed in Late Model Stock Cars since the early part of last decade prior to moving up, drives for the Wood Brothers in the NASCAR Cup Series, where he picked up his first career win at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March. With the grueling 38-race NASCAR Cup Series season concluded, Berry teamed up with Tom Usry Racing to compete in the Thanksgiving Classic—a race he won in 2021 and 2022.

“It’s fun,” Berry said. “I’ve obviously had a busy year and it’s the first opportunity I’ve had to race a Late Model Stock this year, obviously. It’s always fun to come back here and race. I’ve won this race a couple times, had some success here, and it’s a fun one to come race. I really enjoy racing with these guys, Kenneth and everybody at Tom Usry Racing. They did a great job last year. We went to Florence and had a ton of fun and wanted to do it again.”

Berry competed full-time in what is now the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series for JR Motorsports, the same team he spent much of his Late Model career racing for, before being tapped to replace the retired Kevin Harvick at Stewart-Haas Racing in 2024. After Stewart-Haas ceased operations, Berry was tapped by the legendary Wood Brothers Racing team to drive their iconic no. 21 car, a car he took to victory lane in the fifth race of the 2025 season.

“It’s such a big deal winning in the Cup Serie,s man,” Berry explained. “It’s such a journey to get there, and to accomplish that was really huge. Honestly, had a lot of good runs throughout the season as well. We’re excited to keep the same group, go back and have a year under our belt and hopefully we can find our way back to victory lane.”

Late Models hit the track for the first time on Friday afternoon, with temperatures in the mid-40s, which is about 20 degrees cooler than it will be on race day. Berry does not expect the temperature swing over the weekend to impact his car too much, stating that it is normal for Southern National in November.

“I don’t know that it will change too much. It’s something we’ve fought, done here with the schedule. There’s a lot of early morning practice and typically, we end up racing in the afternoon and the evening, so I don’t think it will be too much. It will be a little slick on new tires, cold temperatures. Once we get going, I feel like it will be pretty normal. We just need to have a good car. It’s a long race Sunday, so we need to have a good balance and make sure it hangs on the long run.”

Qualifying for the 25th Thanksgiving Classic will take place on Saturday and the 250-lap feature race will commence on Sunday. Tickets are available for the race, and pay-per-view coverage is available on Ultra Broadcasting.