bigbadbrother
10-17-2014, 01:02 AM
Jerry Bonkowski
The Wood Brothers are one of the most legendary teams in NASCAR lore.
With 1,419 starts, 98 wins, 337 top-five and 522 top-10 finishes and 116 poles, the team’s 61-year history has been marked with success throughout.
But nowhere is that success more pronounced than on superspeedway tracks – those of two miles or more in length.
The Wood Brothers have won 36 times on superspeedways: 15 at Daytona, 11 at Michigan, twice at Pocono and three times at the now defunct Ontario Motor Speedway.
And then there’s Talladega Superspeedway, where the longtime Virginia-based family racing operation has compiled five wins.
Providing driver Trevor Bayne qualifies on speed, Sunday’s Geico 500 at ‘Dega will mark a significant milestone in Wood Bros. annals: its 400th superspeedway start.
“Getting to 400 superspeedway starts isn’t just another number,” Eddie Wood, one of the team’s current co-owners, said in a team media release. “It’s something we are proud of.
“It shows that our team has performed consistently well on those size tracks. We’ve always had more success on the bigger speedways. They just seem to suit us for some reason.”
Nine drivers have earned superspeedway wins for the Wood Bros. over the years: NASCAR Hall of Famers David Pearson (18) and Cale Yarborough (6), A.J. Foyt (4), the late Neil Bonnett (3), and one each by Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett, Tiny Lund, Donnie Allison, Buddy Baker and Bayne, who earned the team’s most recent superspeedway triumph in the 2011 Daytona 500.
Team founder Glen Wood and long-time crew chief Leonard Wood are both also in the NASCAR Hall of Fame
The Wood Brothers are one of the most legendary teams in NASCAR lore.
With 1,419 starts, 98 wins, 337 top-five and 522 top-10 finishes and 116 poles, the team’s 61-year history has been marked with success throughout.
But nowhere is that success more pronounced than on superspeedway tracks – those of two miles or more in length.
The Wood Brothers have won 36 times on superspeedways: 15 at Daytona, 11 at Michigan, twice at Pocono and three times at the now defunct Ontario Motor Speedway.
And then there’s Talladega Superspeedway, where the longtime Virginia-based family racing operation has compiled five wins.
Providing driver Trevor Bayne qualifies on speed, Sunday’s Geico 500 at ‘Dega will mark a significant milestone in Wood Bros. annals: its 400th superspeedway start.
“Getting to 400 superspeedway starts isn’t just another number,” Eddie Wood, one of the team’s current co-owners, said in a team media release. “It’s something we are proud of.
“It shows that our team has performed consistently well on those size tracks. We’ve always had more success on the bigger speedways. They just seem to suit us for some reason.”
Nine drivers have earned superspeedway wins for the Wood Bros. over the years: NASCAR Hall of Famers David Pearson (18) and Cale Yarborough (6), A.J. Foyt (4), the late Neil Bonnett (3), and one each by Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett, Tiny Lund, Donnie Allison, Buddy Baker and Bayne, who earned the team’s most recent superspeedway triumph in the 2011 Daytona 500.
Team founder Glen Wood and long-time crew chief Leonard Wood are both also in the NASCAR Hall of Fame