NASCAR WCUP: Wood Brothers Racing keeps plugging away

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

September 13, 2001

Wood Brothers Racing is one of the most successful single-car teams in Winston Cup racing. With approximately 35 full-time and 10 to 15 part-time employees, the team has its work cut out to finish the final 10-week run of the season. Co-owner Len Wood says that the team isn't thinking about how difficult the remainder of the season might be, but is concentrating on keeping its focus on getting the job done.

"That [20 race weekends in a row] really doesn't cross our mind. We just keep plugging away and think there are 10 more to go. We don't look at it like that. When each race is over, you just move on to the next thing.

"Two or three weeks ago we had a barbecue for the crew, and tried to pump everybody up. Getting the driver in here on occasion seems to help. He is coming in this week. Things like that, especially when we've had the kind of luck we've had lately. We tore up about four cars in the last five weeks. We tore up at Watkins Glen, tore the body up on it at Bristol, although we finished okay. We tore up at Darlington and then at Richmond. The Richmond car we getting a new front clip, partial body, picking it up and then the body guys are going to work all night and try to get it knocked out.

"Our Richmond car was brand new and Elliott liked it. We weren't running that bad and then he got spun out and that messed up the steering and he spun it out again. And something broke on the suspension that we didn't find until we got home. So we think it's a good car. It was just bad circumstances. We built that car new for Richmond and the short tracks. So we intend to run it this weekend at Loudon, Martinsville and then at Phoenix.

"Although we won Bristol in the spring and finished 11th in August, Martinsville and Richmond have been tough. We've struggled at those two tracks, but we've run fairly well at Loudon and Phoenix.

"If Elliott feels good about the car that is part of the battle. The team feels good about working with a car that the driver likes. We tested at Memphis before Richmond, and we ran really well in happy hour. If we had caught a better lap in qualifying, and we easily could have, then it would have been different. It wasn't a fluke that we had a fast lap in happy hour. We ran some pretty good times.

"We believe we are going in the right direction and that helps pump up the team. Knowing that gets you through."

Text provided by Marti Rompf

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