Wood Brothers Racing: 71 years, 100 NASCAR wins ... and counting
DAYTONA BEACH – David Pearson won the Firecracker 400 in 1978 at the Daytona International Speedway. It’s easy to remember because it was my first NASCAR assignment.
Although the race was moved from July 4 to August, it still is the traditional summer stop for the Cup Series at Daytona. Pearson drove for the Wood Brothers that day, so I always celebrate that victory as my anniversary in the sport.
I’m now starting my 47th year. The Wood Brothers have been doing it for 71 years – and doing it well.
Much like that steamy afternoon, last Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 was won by the iconic red and white No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford. This time, it was 23-year-old Harrison Burton behind the wheel.
It was the 100th win by the family operation, and it gave the family at least one victory in eight different generations.
“I think that’s what I’m most proud of,” said third-generation co-owner Len Wood.
Glen Wood founded the team and drove on the Daytona Beach sand course in 1953. His sons, Len and Eddie, and his daughter, Kim, took the reigns more than 35 years ago.
Since then, the team has appeared in 1,748 races with 57 different drivers. Of them, 21 took the family to Victory Lane. Burton, Trevor Bayne, Kyle Petty, Glen Wood, Tiny Lund, Dale Jarrett, Elliott Sadler and Ryan Blaney all got their first Cup Series wins with the Wood Brothers.
The family also won the Daytona 500 five times, including in 1972 with Indy Car legend A.J. Foyt.
The Woods were so cutting-edge in 1965 that Ford Motor Company asked the four brothers, Glen, Leonard, Delano and Ray Lee, and other crew members to pit Jim Clark’s Lotus in the Indianapolis 500. Ford gave the Woods complete reign on the stops, and they created a better way to use gravity to save several seconds while fueling cars.
Leonard said they wanted fuel to run “downhill” instead of “arcing” in the long hoses. Other teams spent 45 seconds to a minute pouring gas, while the Woods spent a total of 15 seconds dumping 58 gallons during the race.
Clark led 190 of 200 laps and won by nearly two minutes.
Saturday’s victory wasn’t as comfortable – but every bit as important.
Kyle Busch, who desperately needed a win to advance to the playoffs, led the white flag laps with Christopher Bell pushing from behind. Burton was on the outside with Parker Retzlaff on his rear bumper. As they went down the backstretch, the inside lane lost some of its energy, allowing Burton to charge the front. Once he got past Busch, he moved down a lane and swerved left and right to keep Busch behind until he crossed the finish line.
Busch, who usually has no problem roughing up a driver to win, thought better. He didn’t want to turn a driver at 200 mph. More importantly, he had respect for the Wood Brothers’ legacy.
“Winning at Daytona, there’s nothing better than winning at Daytona,” Eddie Wood said. “We start our season out here with the biggest race of the year. Daytona is my favorite track. Winning here is bigger to me than winning somewhere else. It’s just special.”
Burton already knows he won’t return to the No. 21 next year. Josh Berry has already been hired to replace him. Victory Lane gave him a brief respite to put that aside on Saturday.
“You never know when you have a chance to drive again,” Burton said. “You never know when you have a chance. This could all fall apart tomorrow. This is such a privilege to do every weekend.”
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