Over the past month at the Wood Brothers Racing Trucking facility in the Daytona International Speedway garage, Eddie Wood has flipped through the NASCAR history books, oblivious to the orchestra of noise outside.
In many ways, this is both a Wood family album and a NASCAR story. That's because Wood Brothers Racing and NASCAR live parallel lives and create amazing things. Eddie Wood joined many of them, remembered most of them and researched the history before they were born.
Wood Brothers Racing helped establish the NASCAR brand and style, winning the biggest race five times and providing drivers with a roster of some of the biggest names in motorsports.
"There's a little bit from 1963," Wood said, pointing to a photo of Tiny Lund riding to victory in the Daytona 500 that year. Similar colours: red and white, bold number 21 on the side, the number used by Cal Yarborough, AJ Foyt, David Pearson and Trevor Bain for the 500m.
“And Pearson drove for us in 1974,” said Wood, “and it was Neil Bonnet who won the Grand Final for us in 1976 and Dover in 1981.
MORE: NASCAR's Power Stands: Ross Chastain #1
Eddie Wood's most impressive ride in NASCAR history is a photo taken at age 21 of his father Glenn, the team's founder, in Fayetteville, North Carolina at the start of the NASCAR Convertible Division race. Glenn was a woodsman, fast car enthusiast and motor sports pioneer. The team that built the first go-fast engine, Ford parts and components, and (literally) Shadow Mechanical Prowess continues today with the historic #100 team.
The Wood brothers' band began in the backyard of the family's modest home near Stuart, Virginia. The mountain range where Woods lived - Walter and Ada, sons Glenn, Ray Lee, Clay, Delano and Leonard, and daughter Crystal - was known as the Buffalo Range. There, a giant American beech tree grows in the farmer's yard, and the tree's strong lower branch catches the chain that pulls the brothers' first race car.
At that time, the brothers did not have a shop. They drove under the blue Virginia sky. Eventually, Glenn scores the team's first NASCAR win, and it becomes clear that there is more money to be made at the track than at the family sawmill.
Number 21 has had many successful riders, with winners coming as a team over the years: Dan Gurney, Marvin Punch, AJ Foyt, Curtis Turner, Cal Yarborough, David Pearson, Neil Bonnett, Kyle Petty, Dale Jarrett and most famously in recent years Trevor Bain.
In 2010, Bain surprised everyone, including himself, by winning the 2011 Woods Daytona 500; The race was a huge upset for the 20-year-old driver who was relatively obscure just a day before the race. A wild party made 85-year-old Glenn Wood nostalgic.
Racing and team owner Richard Petty best tells the story of years of racing against Woods but strengthening friendship.
"I was relaxing by Woods' box after the tournament," Petty recalls. "The whole crowd went to the winner's circle. Glenn was sitting there. They left him. 'Glenn, do you want to join the winner's circle?'" He said yes.
Petty Wood takes it to NASCAR's hallowed grounds in Victory Lane with two veteran competitors. Petty knew the process. As a driver, he won the Daytona 500 seven times.
"So Glenn came and participated and that's why I went there," Petty said.
This cycle has not been broken so far. Glenn Wood died in 2019 at the age of 93, but his brother, mechanical wizard Leonard, and Glenn's sons, Eddie and Len, maintained a close relationship with the extended Petty family, a bond that has grown stronger over the years. 1985-88). ), Richard's son went to the forest.
"We respect Leonard and everything he's accomplished," Richard Petty said. "We knew we had to go 21. I knew we had to go 43. We were both family businesses and we knew each other. My wife and kids would be in the field, and so would they. We'd eat together. It was friendly but competitive."
Take a tour of the trophy garage today and talk to some of the legendary cars that have survived the weekly races and are revered for their "good" attitude towards the racing community. And despite the lack of success in recent years, many fans still cling to the golden number and aura of the history of the number 21.
Even in years when the team wasn't running a full schedule and focused on high-paying races, Woods raced at his "home" track, Martinsville Speedway. Track President Clay Campbell made it happen.
"We've always tried to work with them," Campbell said. "We were the only ones at short track for a long time. Whatever the Wood brothers wanted for NASCAR and Martinsville, we didn't want to have a Cup race at Martinsville. It would have been better if we didn't have it. So we agreed with them. And they understood the importance of Martinsville's leadership. Stewart's corner, it was a win for both of them."
"They're an integral part of how this sport came to be. Leonard, Glenn, Eddie, Len, the whole family... they've done so much. When you talk about the history of NASCAR, it's not long before you. Talk about the Wood brothers.
Dale Jarrett He drove for the team in 1990 and 1991, wearing the number 21 for Michigan's first of 32 bowl victories in 1991. He remembers meeting the Wood family quickly, including an obligatory home visit from Glenn and his wife Barnes. Food for dinner came from the garden, where Glenn had been waiting for months.
"When you did it, you felt like part of the family," Jarrett told NBC Sports. “They included you in what they did. You have to look around and understand how much art it is. They have seen and lived a lot. It was what they saw that changed the sport, but they quickly adapted to what they saw in others.
"They really became part of his family. To this day, Eddie and Len are among my best friends in the world. I can always count on them."
That was replicated by Ryan Blaney, who, like Jarrett, scored 21 wins in his first career at Pocono Raceway in 2017.
"Those years were an absolute joy," Blaney told NBC Sports. "Working with Eddie and Lane and meeting Leonard. Being around those guys and talking about how the game has changed and changed - it was fun. I always go to their garages and see them and see what's going on." I'm trying to learn."
Blaney's loss to Woods in 2017 was his 21st, having failed to reach Victory Lane in the six years since the win. Drivers Paul Maynard (2018-19), Matt DiBenedetto (2020-21) and Harrison Burton (2022-present) tie Woods' total with 99 victories.
The 100th win will cause huge celebrations in the family, the wider Ford Motorsport community and more importantly up and down the pit lane. Chasing the checkered flag isn't often talked about (unfortunate and you all know it, you do it) and Eddy Woods dismisses any notion that the Wood Brothers are sitting on the 100 win limit or waiting for other stuff to win.
"You're an idiot," he said.
"You can't win the race. It's always been hard to win the race, but it's harder now. To each, to each. I think you've got to put it all together. It's got to be right. It's got to be the right thing. If it's going to happen, it's going to happen eventually."
After four wins in the Xfinity Series, Burton earned his 100th win in his second full season in the Championship. "For me, we're getting the job done week by week," he said. If we control what we can control, we can win the trophy. We just have to prove it. Obviously, there is a lot of pressure to buy it. I want this for my dear brothers. They buy.
When that time comes, it will be another page in the history books and narrow memory banks of those associated with Wood Brothers Racing over the years.
Read more about NASCAR
Kim Raikkonen will drive Project 91 for COTA Drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series at Hendrick Motorsports' Phoenix Raceway in four Xfinity Series races.
The Wood Brothers: The Long Walk to Win 100 appeared first on NBCSports.com
