For almost 60 years Wood Brothers Racing was one of the premier organizations in the sport. They are the oldest team still in operation in the top series’ today, and have one of the most colorful histories. However, the team that for so many years dominated the sport with names like Pearson, Yarborough and Turner, has failed to qualify for five of the last eleven attempts this season most recently not qualifying for the famed Coca-Cola 600.

Glen and Leonard Wood opened their race team in 1950 out of Stuart, Virginia. Their first NASCAR cup series start came in 1953 with Glen Wood behind the wheel. Throughout the next 55 years, the team, with the help of substantial financial backing from Ford, competed in 1,313 races and earned 97 wins. While they have no championships, some of the greatest drivers the sport has ever seen have come through the organization including David Pearson, Curtis Turner, Marvin Panch and Cale Yarborough to name just a few.

Throughout the last two decades the team was competing for wins on a weekly basis with Kyle Petty, Dale Jarrett, Elliott Sadler and Ricky Rudd in the car. Ricky Rudd retired at the end of the 2005 season and the parade drivers through the seat of the #21 car began. This would eventually include Ken Schrader, Boris Said, Bill Elliott and of course Jon Wood. At the end of the 2005 season the team also announced a partnership with JTG Racing, which included a move to Harrisburg, NC. Earlier this year the two organizations split, after only two seasons.

So what is the problem with Wood Brothers today? Obviously the backing from Ford was pivotal to their success in the early decades, however I would venture to say it is not the main problem plauging the team. Glen retired in the 1980s leaving the operations of the team to his sons Eddie and Len and since the early part of this decade they have used the team as a means to advance the careers of their son’s Kevin and Jon, both of whom have had at best mediocre success. The over-emphasis on family has cost the team prestige, respect and money. The company that it took Glen and Leonard 50 years to build has taken Len and Eddie just a few years to run into the ground. It is sad to see what has happened to this once great team. Barring any major change and given many more seasons like this one, it is bound to fade into annals of stock car history.

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