[h=1]Wood Brothers Racing[/h] March 01, 2016, NASCAR.com
Get history of Wood Brothers Racing and full crew of Ryan Blaney
Manufacturer: Ford
Engine builder: Roush Yates
Debut season: 1950
Owner standings
The Beginning
The
Wood Brothers Racing story began 66 years ago when family patriarch Glen Wood decided to try racing. It almost ended the same night it began.
Here is Glen’s memory of that first race and what followed:
“In 1950, at Morris Speedway, near Martinsville, VA, I was running along pretty good about the middle of the heat race, when they had a wreck in front of me. I was trying to go through a little narrow opening and hooked my left rear wheel on the bumper of one of the other cars. It bent the rear end housing, forcing us to quit. We were towing it behind another car, and got up the road about 10 miles. The wheel was wobbling from being bent and finally broke the axle. That, in turn, let the brake drum down on the pavement. As the wheel came out, it jerked the gas neck out of the tank and the gas spilled down and caught fire. Then, it caught the car afire, and it burned right there in the middle of the road. Finally, we got the car unhooked from it, but we didn’t have fire extinguishers. We had some extra gas cans and extra tires and tools that we were carrying in the racecar. And once in a while, a gas can would blow up in there. We were scared to get close to it because of that. So we let it burn until it burned up about everything. That was the first race I’d ever got to start. So we figured it all might be over.”
But, it wasn’t over. Glen and his friends got that car fixed and three weeks later he finished third in the main event at Dan River Speedway.
Our Legacy
The elder Wood went on to race on the beach in Daytona, win four races on the fledgling NASCAR circuit and become one of NASCAR’S 50 Greatest Drivers. Wood gave up his driving duties following the 1964 season. The team had already employed a number of other drivers during the previous eight years, and in 1965 Glen became a full-time owner.
In fact, 20 of NASCAR’S Greatest Drivers have driven for
Wood Brothers Racing. That list includes Curtis Turner, Tiny Lund, Fireball Roberts, Bob Welborn, Dale Jarrett, A.J. Foyt, Glen Wood, Buddy Baker, Marvin Panch, Junior Johnson, Cale Yarborough, Ned Jarrett, Fred Lorenzen, David Pearson, Joe Weatherly, Ralph Earnhardt, Neil Bonnett, Ricky Rudd,
Mark Martin, and
Bill Elliott.
Wood Brothers Racing scored their 98th victory, winning the 2011
Daytona 500 with rookie sensation,
Trevor Bayne. Wood Brothers have now won in seven decades.
Wood Brothers Racing is headquartered in Harrisburg, North Carolina. Visit the team's website
here.
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Wood Brothers Racing on
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Driver: Ryan Blaney
Car Number: #21
Hometown: High Point, NC
Series: NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series
Rookie Year: 2016
Primary Team Members:
Crew chief: Jeremy Bullins
Car Chief: Corey Tucker
Engine Tuner: Darin Russell
Spotter:
Josh Williams
Over the Wall Crew Members:
Front Tire Changer: Ryan Langley
Front Tire Carrier: Jessie Mills
Jack Man: Chris Conklin
Rear Tire Changer: Shannon Myers
Rear Tire Carrier: Josh Chaney
Gas Man: Andrew Lackey
Road Crew Members:
Front Mechanic: Mike Smith
Rear Mechanic: Roger Fenwick
Interior: Kyle Belmont
Shocks: Jeremy Sharpley
Tires: Brian Sliney
Transport Drivers: Jeff Miles and Chad Kohn