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Wood Brothers through the years
By Zack Albert, NASCAR.com | Friday, December 4, 2020
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Leonard, left, and Glen Wood, had racing in their blood in 1950, when big brother Glen decided to give the sport a try at Morris Speedway near their Stuart, Virginia, hometown. What followed has been a generous slice of NASCAR history for Wood Brothers Racing, the venerable family team still in operation at stock-car racing's highest level.
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The Wood Brothers first started producing race-prepared cars in this space in Stuart, Virginia, in the 1950s. The primitive shop offers a striking contrast to the spacious, gleaming headquarters of modern-day race teams.
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Some of Glen Wood's earliest starts came in NASCAR's oldest division -- Modified. Here, Wood (16) moves up on Pee Wee Jones during a Modified event in the late 1950s. Note Wood's driving position in the back seat, a product of the team drastically moving the engine rearward to aid its rear grip. The car showcased the Wood Brothers early ingenuity and was a multiple-race winner at Virginia and North Carolina short tracks.
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Glen Wood (21) starts from the front row in the old NASCAR Convertible Division during a 1957 race at Martinsville Speedway. Wood Brothers entries were a fixture during NASCAR's pioneering years, which included the ragtop series from 1956-59.
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The Woods weren't too shabby in hardtops, either, making their first start in what is now the NASCAR Cup Series in 1953 at Martinsville Speedway. The team's first pole position came five years later in 1958, with a breakthrough victory arriving in 1960 at Bowman Gray Stadium. Here, Glen Wood (21) races alongside fellow NASCAR Hall of Famer Rex White in 1960 at Martinsville.
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The team's successes took off in the 1960s, thanks to the Woods' mechanical wizardry and its mutually beneficial partnership with Ford Motor Company. From left: driver Curtis Turner, Leonard Wood, Earl Parker of the Champion Spark Plug Company and Glen Wood have a peek under the hood in 1961.
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Marvin Panch, one of the earliest drivers in the Wood Brothers' decorated roster, scored 17 premier series victories -- eight of which were behind the wheel of the Woods' famed No. 21. 'Pancho,' as he was fondly known, put this deep red Ford Galaxie on the pole for the Firecracker 400 at Daytona in 1965.
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Tiny Lund competed in just seven races for the Wood Brothers, but their lone victory together brought the team its first Daytona 500 crown in 1963. When Panch crashed testing an experimental Ford-powered Maserati at Daytona, Lund was among the rescuers to pull him from the fiery wreck. Just 10 days later, Lund drove as a substitute for the injured Panch for his crowning victory in NASCAR's top series.
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The Wood Brothers also enjoyed a fruitful partnership with accomplished road racer Dan Gurney, who scored all five of his NASCAR wins at the twisting Riverside International Raceway layout in California. Four of those victories came with the Woods.
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The team added a talented South Carolinian as their primary driver in the last half of the 1960s. Cale Yarborough -- at left with Glen and Leonard Wood -- registered 13 victories driving the Wood Brothers' No. 21 from 1966-70. Four of those triumphs came at Daytona International Speedway.
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A big portion of the Woods' building success was the development of the modern pit stop. Their choreographed moves shaved precious time during stops for service, revolutionizing a critical aspect of stock-car racing. Ford recruited the Woods Brothers' pit crew for their 1965 Indianapolis 500 effort, and their techniques helped Jim Clark's Ford-powered Lotus to victory. Here, the Woods' team provides quick work for Yarborough's car in winning the annual pit crew competition for the second straight year in 1968.
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Legendary driver A.J. Foyt excelled in virtually any type of vehicle, and his occasional participation in NASCAR was another proving ground for his talent. Foyt made just 12 starts for the Wood Brothers from 1965-72, but won five of them, including the 1972 Daytona 500.
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Donnie Allison also made a short driving stint for the Wood Brothers with 11 starts in 1971. But those efforts were productive -- five pole positions and a victory in Allison's first race at Talladega Superspeedway in his home state of Alabama.
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By the 1970s, the Wood Brothers had become renowned for their mechanical know-how. A crewmember works on one of the team's powerful Ford motors in what was then a state-of-the-art engine room.
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The team's most prolific years were still to come. David Pearson (center, with Leonard Wood at right and Dale Inman left) provided the Wood Brothers with a virtual heyday, scoring 43 victories in eight partial seasons from 1972-79.
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Pearson's white and red-trimmed Mercury entries quickly became among the most feared in NASCAR's top circuit. Those included this Montego model that Glen (left) and Leonard helped to introduce for the 1974 season, when Pearson won seven races and 11 poles in just 19 starts.
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The Wood Brothers celebrate their first victory with Pearson on April 16, 1972 at Darlington Raceway, the home-state track where he still holds the all-time record with 10 wins.
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The Woods' No. 21 was involved in one of the most dramatic finishes in the sport's history, crashing with Richard Petty's No. 43 Dodge in the final lap of the 1976 Daytona 500. Pearson coaxed his damaged car across the finish line first for his only victory in The Great American Race.
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Pearson enjoys the spoils of Daytona International Speedway's Victory Lane in 1976 alongside the battered front end of his No. 21 Mercury.
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The Wood Brothers' well-orchestrated pit stops remained a team trademark in the 1970s and beyond. Leonard Wood clears the air hose back in his days as a front-tire changer in a 1978 event at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
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Neil Bonnett came aboard in 1979 after the Wood Brothers parted ways with Pearson, who is shown in second place behind Bonnett driving for team owner Rod Osterlund at Talladega. Bonnett amassed nine of his 18 career victories with the Wood Brothers from 1979-82.
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NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Buddy Baker joined the Wood Brothers for a two-season tenure from 1983-84. That stretch included what would be the final victory of Baker's career, a convincing triumph in the 1983 Firecracker 400 at Daytona.
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Third-generation driver Kyle Petty brought a fresh face -- and a new car number -- to the Wood Brothers in 1985. He also brought two victories, his first in what is now the NASCAR Cup Series, during his '85-'88 stay.
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The Wood Brothers organization remained a single-car team through the 1980s, but its operation was clearly growing. Several Ford Thunderbirds left the nest of the Stuart, Virginia, shop during the decade.
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After Petty's departure, Neil Bonnett returned for a second shift with the Wood Brothers in 1989-90. His racing career stalled after an April 1990 crash at Darlington Raceway left him with amnesia. He later turned his attention to a broadcasting career.
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Dale Jarrett took Bonnett's place in 1990, giving the next-generation driver his first steady job in top-flight equipment. His brief time with the Wood Brothers produced his first big-league win, with Jarrett outdueling Davey Allison by inches at Michigan International Speedway in 1991.
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Michael Waltrip, flanked by the Wood Brothers in Charlotte Motor Speedway's Victory Lane, prevailed for an upset win in NASCAR's All-Star Race in 1996. Waltrip qualified for the main event by winning a preliminary race, then sidestepped Dale Earnhardt and Terry Labonte in the final segment for the biggest highlight of his three-year stay with the No. 21 team.
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Elliott Sadler also posted a breakthrough win while carrying the Wood Brothers' banner, rallying from the 38th starting spot to win the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway in March 2001. It marked the end of a nearly eight-year drought for the Woods, dating back to Morgan Shepherd's lone win for the team in 1993.
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The historic team was subject to another lengthy dry spell after Sadler's Bristol win, but the void was filled in grand fashion with Trevor Bayne's surprising victory in the 2011 Daytona 500. Bayne was making just his second premier series start when he steered the Wood Brothers' No. 21 Ford to Victory Lane.
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The Wood Brothers' dedication to the sport was recognized in successive years by the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Glen Wood was voted for induction with the Class of 2012, the third group of five to be enshrined. Leonard Wood followed in 2013.
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Ryan Blaney, who drove for the Wood Brothers from 2015-17, is among a relatively new crop of drivers leading the sport's youth movement. Blaney and team co-founder Leonard Wood participated in the Darlington Raceway throwback vibe in 2016, drawing on the team's vast history of retro cool.
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With a lifetime devoted to stock-car racing, Leonard Wood and his family still look forward to race day after all these years.
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Ryan Blaney took the first checkered flag of his career on June 11, 2017, at Pocono Raceway after a fierce battle against veterans Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick.
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Even before Ryan Blaney's historic win (his first, the Wood Brothers' 99th), it was already an important day for the young driver as his best friend, Bubba Wallace, made his NASCAR Cup Series debut in another classic car: the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Ford.
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Paul Menard drove for the team from 2018-19 before announcing his retirement toward the end of the 2019 season.
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Wood Brothers Racing's current driver is Matt DiBenedetto, who guided the No. 21 Ford to the playoffs in 2020. He will be back behind the wheel for the team in 2021.
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With an eye on the future, Austin Cindric will take over the ride for the 2022 Cup Series season. Cindric has made a name himself in the Xfinity Series in the last two years.
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