Jesse Love’s climb to the NASCAR Cup Series now has a confirmed destination: the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford.
Wood Brothers Racing announced on Wednesday that Love will take over its famous No. 21 entry from the start of the 2027 season, with the 2027 Daytona 500 set to mark the beginning of his full-time Cup career. The move gives one of NASCAR’s most historic teams a young champion to build around after Josh Berry’s impending exit was confirmed last week.
Love gets the No. 21 chance
Love arrives with a résumé that explains why the call came quickly. The Menlo Park, California native won the ARCA Menards Series West title at 16, added the 2023 ARCA Menards Series championship, then became 2024 rookie of the year in what is now the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series before winning that championship in 2025.
He has also made seven Cup starts with Richard Childress Racing, but the Wood Brothers seat is his first full-time shot in the top division. The team confirmed the move in its official announcement, with Love saying the No. 21’s history made the opportunity “truly an honor”.
The decision also reinforces the importance of the Wood Brothers’ alliance with Team Penske and Ford. ReadMotorsport recently covered how that Penske relationship was already shaping personnel movement around the wider Ford stable, including Penske’s pit-crew shuffle with Wood Brothers Racing.
For Berry, the news locks in the end of his stint in the car after the 2026 campaign. For Love, it turns the rest of this season and next year’s preparation into something bigger than prospect talk. The No. 21 has carried some of NASCAR’s most recognisable names, and the next one will arrive with a championship pedigree and little time to hide.
It is another sharp driver-market move in a Cup garage already looking beyond the current season. With San Diego adding a fresh challenge to the 2026 calendar, as ReadMotorsport explored in its look at NASCAR’s street-race debut at Naval Base Coronado, and the title picture still shifting after Denny Hamlin’s Michigan win, teams are not waiting for winter to make their long-term calls.
Love’s job now is simple to describe and hard to execute: turn the promise that made him one of NASCAR’s brightest young names into Cup results worthy of the Wood Brothers badge.
