Photo Credit: Noel Lanier
Earlier in the off-season, Wood Brothers Racing was officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the longest running team in NASCAR, set to celebrate their 65th year of racing in 2015.
“It is just an honor I guess,” Eddie Wood commented. “I wasn’t around when it began obviously but my dad and his brothers, the first race they ever went to on the way home they burned their car to the ground. There was a group of people there that I think we’re kind of second guessing our dad, kind of saying that would show old Glen that he doesn’t want to do that. I think that made him mad and gave him incentive to go do it again and they won the second or third time out.
“To still be in the sport is really humbling and we owe all our partners, Ford Motor Company especially, we have had Ford products throughout our entire existence and that is really the basis of what has kept us going.”
The Wood Brothers have had success through the years with many greats of the sport, but have more recently focused on helping develop young drivers. They began that with Trevor Bayne, having success in winning the 2011 Daytona 500. With Bayne now set to run the full Cup schedule for Roush Fenway Racing, WBR has turned to Ryan Blaney as the next driver to focus on.
“Ryan Blaney’s name kept popping up as the guy we need,” Len Wood said. “I think with choosing Ryan, he was a Team Penske affiliated driver so it made perfect sense to switch the alliance to Penske. Ford helped us through that whole process.”
Wood added that he feels Blaney is the right fit as “he has been a winner pretty much everywhere he has been”, implying hat Blaney can help WBR reach 100 wins since they’re a couple shy of that number.
The statement doesn’t lie for Blaney, though, as he has won in both the XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series. He won at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in the truck before finishing second in points, while winning at Bristol in XFINITY in running a partial schedule for Team Penske.
“It has been a great experience getting to know everyone at the Wood Brothers,” Blaney stated. “Getting to meet Glen and Leonard and getting to know Eddie and Len has been great. I have been to their museum a couple times in the past two weeks and I learned something new both times I went there. It is a great history lesson. This family legacy is pretty unique. I come from a long family of racing and the same with the Wood Brothers. It is neat.
“It is really special and something we can share of a long family of racers. I think that is going to create a really good bond. That is all we want to do, myself and the Wood Brothers and Jeremy, we just want to win and do well. All we care about is racing. I think that is going to benefit us and now we have this alliance with Team Penske and I think that will put us to the next step of where we need to be to get to the next level and we are happy to bring the Wood Brothers along with us. I am happy to be a part of this great organization and I can’t wait to get going. I think it is going to be a great year for us.”
While they have normally ran only 12 races the past couple of years through their commitment with the Ford motor Company and Motorcraft Quick Lane, the partnership with Team Penske allows them to tentatively increase that number to 18 races in 2015.
“We are really excited about that,” Eddie said. “We have been working really hard to expand our schedule because you just want to race every week. It kills you when you are not there but we are really thankful we have been able to do that.”
The new partnership also brings forth a new crew chief as Jeremy Bullins will take over calling the shots. Bullins has spent the previous two seasons at Team Penske as part of their XFINITY program, leading the No. 22 team to an owner’s championship. The crew chief is calling this a home coming as it was WBR that gave him his first opportunity.
“I am really looking forward to 2015,” he added. “Ryan and I have worked together since 2012 so there is a relationship there and we feel like we can build on that history and get in a position to be successful.”
About the Author
I have always been a Wood Brothers fan!