NASCAR WCUP: Mom goes to work

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

May 8, 2001

Wood Brothers Racing, one of the oldest and most successful teams in NASCAR is truly a family business. Patriarch Glen Wood was first a driver and then became the owner of a team that has fielded cars for many of the legends in the sport - David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Neil Bonnett, Marvin Panch, A.J. Foyt, Dan Gurney, Curtis Turner, Parnelli Jones and Buddy Baker. It has produced 97 trips to victory lane, most recently when current driver Elliott Sadler won at Bristol in April. The second generation now runs the team, but it is a member of the first generation that has now joined the operation imparting her knowledge of the family's history.

Glen and Bernece Wood were married February 7, 1951. Three children followed and for 49 years Bernece was a housewife, mother and helpmate. Eddie came along in April of 1952; Len was born four years later and in 1961 the Wood family was completed with daughter Kim.

Bernece supported her husband's ambitions as a driver and then as a team owner. And she was a stay-at-home mom. It was a busy life - raising a family and racing pretty much every weekend.

When the children were young, and as the NASCAR circuit expanded, Bernece couldn't always go with her husband and the team to the track. But she was there when Glen got home to share the weekend's triumphs and disappointments. She guided the children's growing up and participated in church and school activities.

As her children grew up she supported them in their chosen careers as members of the famed and formidable Wood Brothers Racing team. Eddie went to college but returned home to the sport and work he loved. Len went to work at the shop as soon as he was old enough and later Kim also joined the family business.

And every day Glen and the kids came home for lunch. Kim recalls, "Mom always had lunch ready for us at noon. Even after Eddie and Carol got married, Eddie still came to Mom and Daddy's house for lunch. And then after Len and Nancy got married it was the same thing. We just always had lunch together. That's just the way it was. Mom had lunch on the table every day for all of us and we went to their house to eat. And lunch was ready at noon. If you got there five minutes early, the cornbread was not done. If you got there five minutes late, your drink was watered down!"

Bernece spent some time at the shop, but mostly she took care of the house in Stuart and the garden and the shopping and performed the day-to-day activities that gave the family its base and bond.

Then last year she went to work.

She started going into the shop a few hours a week to help answer the phones and just to see the friends and fans who dropped by the shop and museum. By this time Eddie, Len and Kim, who are full partners with their father in Wood Brothers Racing, were running the business. Glen was all but retired.

Eddie was the team manager with Len's help. Both Eddie and Len have become chassis experts and Len was the engine specialist, while Kim ran the office. Eddie's daughter, Jordan helped in the summer months to answer the phones. But Jordan, a typical teenager, wanted to spend some time during her time off from school with her friends so Bernece decided to help out.

When Jordan returned to school last fall, Bernece stayed.

As the weeks went on, Bernece spent more and more time there. She found that she really enjoyed being greeting the people and answering the phone.

So after 49 years of being a housewife, Bernece Wood entered the workforce.

"She had never worked outside our home," Kim said. "When we realized how many hours she was spending at the shop, the boys and I decided she should get a paycheck." So when the next pay period ended, Bernece Wood was added to the Wood Brothers Racing payroll. It was the first time in her life she had received a paycheck. Bernece was 69 years old.

According to Kim, Bernece was almost puzzled by the event, asking if she could actually go to the bank and cash the check and put the money in her purse. It was the first time Bernece Wood had ever gotten a paycheck with her name on it.

Now when friends, fans and business associates arrive at Wood Brothers Racing, more than likely the first person they meet is the matriarch of the family.

"I love meeting the people and talking about our history," Bernece says. She walks through the museum with visitors and guides shop tours, sharing her memories of the Wood Brothers' success over the years, past and present.

And those family lunches? Everybody still leaves the shop at noon and goes home for the noon meal. Glen is the new cook.

Text provided by Marti Rompf

Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos and art, visit The Racing Photo Museum and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.