Six days from vacancy to signature
Legacy Motor Club announced on Tuesday that Josh Berry will drive its No. 42 Toyota from 2027. The team had confirmed only six days earlier that it was parting ways with John Hunter Nemechek, which gives some idea of how quickly this one was settled.
Legacy becomes the third full-time employer of a career that has moved in short cycles. Berry, 35, spent 2024 at Stewart-Haas Racing in the No. 4 Ford, then joined Wood Brothers Racing in the No. 21. Wood Brothers had already made clear he would not be retained beyond this season.
Jimmie Johnson, Legacy co-owner, framed the signing around experience rather than raw speed. “Josh is a proven competitor who has earned everything through hard work and getting his hands dirty,” Johnson said in the team’s release, praising Berry’s “ability to manage the big picture behind the wheel.”
Try it for $0.99.
A driver arriving in form, not on reputation
The timing helps Berry. He has six consecutive top-10 finishes running, a stretch that includes fourth at Iowa and third at New Hampshire. That is the strongest sustained run of his Cup career, and it lands exactly as teams finalise their 2027 line-ups.
His win column still reads one, the 2025 Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. For a driver who reached the Cup Series late by modern standards, the recent consistency arguably says more than the single trophy.
Berry also has a small amount of history with this exact car. As a part-time driver in 2023 he made two starts for Legacy in the No. 42, finishing 34th at Michigan and 22nd in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona.
A number with a long memory
The 42 carries more history than almost any other number in the garage. Lee Petty, Richard Petty and Kyle Petty all drove it. So did Kyle Larson and Juan Pablo Montoya. Nemechek spent three seasons in it without a win or a playoff appearance, which is the record Berry inherits and the bar Legacy expects him to clear.
Discover the rest of our NASCAR news on MathODDS!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply