LAS VEGAS — Josh Berry passed Daniel Suarez in his Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford with 14 laps to go and never looked back. His margin of victory over Suarez was 1.358 seconds.
It was Berry’s first Cup series win and the 101st win for Wood Brothers Racing. Ryan Preece finished third followed by William Byron and Ross Chastain.
“It’s just really special,“ said race winner Josh Berry. “I’m so thankful for this opportunity for The Wood Brothers and Ford and Team Penske. Honestly, I don’t even know what to say. We had a great battle with Daniel to get the lead. I’m just trying to soak this in really. Sometimes you feel like you rush through victory lane, I’m just trying to take my time. I don’t really care how long it takes.”
It was a thrilling race with lots of spin outs and incidents. In fact, there were a total of 9 cautions for 53 laps. On lap 34, Chase Briscoe lost his tire. Then on lap 108, Shane Van Gisbergen spun out on the backstretch. Later on lap 113, Kyle Busch lost his right wheel and made light contact with the wall. Then, on lap 147, Todd Gilliland and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. collided in turn four. Later on lap 188, Cody Ware spun out and crashed between turns three and four.
The big crash of the day came on lap 195. That’s when Ryan Blaney was in a four-wide battle with Noah Gragson and Bubba Wallace. Erik Jones and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. also spun out just behind them. Austin Dillon’s race car was also damaged.
Then, on lap 242, Kyle Busch made contact with the wall coming out of turn two. Finally on lap 244, Noah Gragson’s right front tire failed and caused him to hit the turn one wall. The other two cautions were at the end of the first and second stages of the race.
“Things just felt right,“ said Eddie Wood, CEO of Wood Brothers Racing. “I think Josh fits us, Miles fits us. I used to make fun of people years ago when they would talk about chemistry like a football team. But then it kind of bled over into racing. When things click, they click.“
There were 32 lead changes among 13 different drivers in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400. Kyle Larson led the most laps with 61. Austin Cindric led 47 laps, Joey Logano led 40 and Tyler Reddick led 34. Other lap leaders included Bubba Wallace with 20, Josh Berry with 18, Ross Chasten with 14, Daniel Suarez with 12, William Byron with 10, Michael McDowell with 5, Kyle Busch with 3, Alex Bowman with 2 and Erik Jones led one lap.
Las Vegas natives Kyle Busch and Noah Gragson finished in 33rd and 31st, respectively. Last year’s winner, Kyle Larson, finished the race in 9th position.
“It’s been a good race track for me, especially in the Xfinity Series,” Berry added. “Cup’s been a challenge. The cars are different. Honestly, I’m just thankful to be in the situation I’m in and driving fast race cars, right. Our car from the start, I really felt good about. I kind of trusted my instinct a bit in practice about how I thought the race would play out. We fought hard all day.”
There were many celebrities at the Spring race. Actor Morgan Freeman was the grand marshal who said the most famous words in auto racing. Actor John Schneider from the “Dukes of Hazzard” was an honorary race official. Country music star Cali Tucker performed the U.S. national anthem. WWE Champ Chelsea Green was the celebrity pace car driver. Finally, NHRA Champ ANTRON BROWN was an honorary race official.
The 2025 Pennzoil 400 lasted three hours, 13 minutes and 13 seconds. The average speed during the race was 124.368 mph.
Following the Pennzoil 400, William Bryon leads in points standings by 29 over Christopher Bell.
Racing fans I spoke to said they had a great time at the Pennzoil 400 and are looking forward to returning.
“It’s incredible to be here for his first win,“ said Jaxson Dexter from Bourne, Mass. “I definitely think there will be more in the future. I think the Wood Brothers will be much better off with him as a driver. I’m very proud of him and this was a great race today.“
“It was pretty fun to watch and see him get his first career win,” said Nolan, McKenna and Trevor from Long Beach, Calif. “There was a couple of crashes which was kinda cool. I have a few signatures on my hat was well.”
“It’s best the sport ever,” said Addison Dockstader from southern Utah. “It’s really fun because you can interact with the drivers and other sports you don’t have that access. Especially here in Vegas, there’s a lot of access to the drivers you get to go up close and stuff.”
Next up: The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the Straight Talk Wireless 400 next Sunday. The race will air live on FS1 and SiriusXM radio.
Stay with AmericaJR for more coverage from the 2025 Pennzoil 400…