By Dick Mittman
allstate400atthebrickyard.com
Saturday, August 2, 2003
The Wood Brothers and Petty Enterprises are the two main survivors from the time when NASCAR was in its infancy. But in this day of the sport's wild popularity across the United States, these two teams have taken a distant back seat in the competition.
In Saturday's Brickyard 400 qualifying, veteran drivers Ricky Rudd, driving the No. 21 Rent-A-Center/Motorcraft/USAF Ford for the Wood Brothers, and Kyle Petty, in the No. 45 Georgia Pacific Dodge, turned laps slower than 180 mph and needed a provisional to get into the Brickyard 400 on Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Even worse for the Petty team, Brazilian Christian Fittipaldi didn't make the starting field at all while the driver he replaced, John Andretti, qualified 11th fastest in the Kraft 100th Anniversary Chevrolet as a first-time driver for Dale Earnhardt Inc.
But at least the Wood Brothers - who now are sons Eddie and Len - got some good news Friday when Ford announced it was renewing its contract with their team along with Roush Racing and Robert Yates Racing for five more years.
The Wood Brothers team has the longest continuous participation in NASCAR and is co-owned by Eddie and Len Wood, sister Kim Wood Hall and founder Glen Wood. Eddie and Len Wood have run the team since the mid-1980s.
"It's been tough to keep going," admitted Eddie Wood, whose shop is based in his hometown of Stuart, Va., described as almost small enough to fit inside the Speedway grounds.
"It's been tough on the Pettys and tough on us. But you have to change and not ask questions. You can stay away from what used to be. You can't look back; you've got to look forward.
"This being in Indianapolis is a definite forward thing. Just like they were talking just now about how important this race is. It's very important. It's very important to me. My dad (Glen) was here with Jimmy Clark."
In those days, the Wood Brothers were considered the swiftest pit crew in the business. They came to Indianapolis and helped Scottish racing great Clark win the Indianapolis 500 in 1965. The Wood Brothers introduced such things as jacks and high-speed air guns to pit stops.
Rudd, a fellow Virginian from Chesapeake, joined the team this year and just two races ago made his record 700th consecutive NASCAR start. But after finishing 10th in the standings with Robert Yates Racing last year, he has struggled with his new ride. He is 23rd in the standings.
"You think of the sport, you think of the Pettys, the Wood Brothers," said Rudd, winner of the 1997 Brickyard 400. "They're great people.
"The on-track performance has not been what I expected, and I'm sure the Wood Brothers expected. We're going to change that. We've actually fixed our race car quite a bit. We haven't got it where it needs to be yet. Our qualifying program still needs a lot of work on."
Rudd was excited when told about the Ford extension. Closing in on 47, he knows his active racing time is limited, but he said the situation is ripe to help the Wood Brothers regain some of their lost glory.
"If I in any way can help restore some of the original status that team had, to get it back to where it was in its heyday," Rudd said, "it's an extra sense of accomplishment for me if I can do my two cents to help lend to that.
"It's been a little bigger test than I think we both expected, but it's coming along. I see some daylight."
Eddie Wood said the nice thing about having a veteran like Rudd driving is that it's one less variable to question when searching for the problems plaguing the team.
While the Woods continue to search for solutions, they're happy to return to Indianapolis. Eddie Wood remembers how excited he was when he came to Indy for the first time for a testing session.
Eddie said he and Len immediately walked out to the famed "yard of bricks" and each took the other's picture, and then someone else snapped a photo of both them with a disposable camera.
"That was a big deal for us," he said.
Competing with a Ford is, too. Eddie said the Wood Brothers have been fielding Fords in NASCAR for 53 years. When he grew up there was nothing else but Fords within the family.
Now the No. 1 priority is to regain the status the team and their cars held in the past.
"That's our goal, to get back to where we used to be," he said.
"I know what it's like to be on top. I know what it's like to be on the very, very bottom, I know what it's like to be in the middle. And right now we're climbing. I'm working really hard with sponsors and Ford Motor Company to get better. And that's what we're going to do."
Wood Brothers Racing always has been a family-owned business. Eddie grew up, married his high school sweetheart and moved up from tire changer to co-owner. His mother still answers the phone when a call is made to the shop.
"We live it every day, every day," he said about the sport. "We don't have hobbies, we don't have extra businesses, just race. That's the only thing we know how to do, the only thing we care about doing.
"I have a 21-year old son (Jon) in the truck series driving for Jack Roush right now. That's part of us, too. Len's son Kevin is racing Legend cars. He's 19.
"So it's all we do. It's all we'll ever be about."
Tickets: Reserved-seat Race Day tickets for the Brickyard 400 remain available. Tickets and parking can be purchased on the World Wide Web via www.imstix.com or by calling the IMS Ticket Office at (800) 822-INDY or (317) 492-6700.
| Allstate 400 at the Brickyard Talkback | Post Comment |
|
|
|