Wood Brothers set to return at Atlanta

The 21 is on the entry list this weekened at Atlanta. 49 cars total, so 6 have to go home. Hope Bill and the Woods can make it.

I have my fingers crossed.

Bill would be all clear to use the PCP if Tony does not need it, right?

I believe so, yes.

Quote :

Wood Brothers Racing, Bill Elliott and the #21 Motorcraft Ford Fusion will be back at the track this weekend in Atlanta. Atlanta is known for being the fastest track on the Sprint Cup circuit with average lap speeds over 190 miles per hour. It is a 1.54 mile quad-oval with 24 degrees of banking in the corners and welcomes NASCAR Sprint Cup teams and fans two times per year.

This weekend’s race marks the 100th Atlanta race. The Wood Brothers will be making their 95th Atlanta appearance. The #21 Ford has enjoyed much success at the track having won 12 times, and earning thirty three top 5’s, forty five top 10s and 9 poles. The team won their first Atlanta spring race in 1965 with Marvin Panch behind the wheel. Other notable drivers include Cale Yarborough who had 3 Atlanta wins for the Wood Brothers and David Pearson who added another 3 Atlanta wins for the team.

While residents of the southeast dig out from the most recent snow storm, it may remind some of the year the spring Atlanta race was postponed because of snow – the same year the Wood Brothers won their the most recent Atlanta race – 1993.

The Wood Brothers arrived in Atlanta in the spring of 1993 with Morgan Shepherd set to drive. Unfortunately, the weather was uncooperative. As team co-owner Kim Wood Hall recalls, “We went to bed and woke up the next morning to snow blowing under our hotel room door. We couldn’t believe it.” Because of the weather, the race was postponed until the following week.

Shepherd began the race in 7th position and drove near the front all day. Late in the race it appeared the team’s hopes for victory was compromised as the car experienced a flat, right front tire that forced the #21 to pit during green flag racing. Because of the early pit, the Wood Brothers calculated that they would be 5 laps short of the finish. The team was left with a choice: pit one more time and forego any reasonable chance of victory or stay out and try to conserve fuel to make it to the end. The team chose the later and stayed out.

Because 1992 Cup Champion Alan Kulwicki was forced to retire to the garage earlier in the race, the Ford Racing teammate sought out the Wood Brothers and spent the remainder of his day in the Wood’s pit. As the race drew closer to the finish, Alan kept after the team stating Morgan had to do more to conserve fuel.

As the laps ticked down, it became a two “horse” race with Shepherd battling Rusty Wallace for the win. Rusty thought he had the race won but Shepherd managed his fuel and brought the #21 Wood Brothers Citgo sponsored Ford Thunderbird across the start finish line first giving the Wood Brothers their 12th Atlanta win.

Wood Brothers are plotting a return


Former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Bill Elliott drives for the Wood Brothers. (Photo courtesy of NASCAR)
Wednesday, March 4, 2009

By RONALD YOUNG - Special to The Frankin News-Post

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- With the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returning to the East Coast, the wait for the Wood Brothers Racing team is over.


The legendary team, piloted by Bill Elliott, returns to the track at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway this weekend.

It is the latest saga in the efforts of the family-owned team founded in Stuart back in 1953 to return to the prominence it once enjoyed in the late 1960s and 1970s with drivers such as Curtis Turner, Fireball Roberts, Junior Johnson, Cale Yarborough and David Pearson.

This season, the team, owned by the children of patriarch Glen Wood, has decided to return to a partial schedule for the first time since 1985 in hopes of getting back in the limelight.

Wood Brothers Racing has collected 97 NASCAR wins over the years---including 43 victories by Pearson while running select races between 1973 and 1979.

"We've struggled the last couple of years," co-owner Len Wood said in explaining the move. "Last year, we missed qualifying for eight of the first 20 races, but we didn't miss any of the last 16, so we were on the right track.

"With the way it is, we felt that rather than trying to do something halfway we'd just do 12 (races)--do what we could do and do them right each week we show up, try to be on top of our game."

Co-owner Eddie Wood said the team's performance last year was an embarrassment and vowed to right the ship.

"There's been a lot of conversation about start-and --park," Wood said recently of teamswhich show up only start the race and then call it a day after a few laps to collect a paycheck.

"You could do a program like that, but to me, that's the most humiliating thing that could happen other than missing a race. I'd quit before I'd do that. I'm just not going to go there.

"We're going to run our 12 races and do it like you're supposed to do, Wood said. "We're doing a lot of wind tunnel testing, a lot of (chassis) testing, and Ford engineering is big time on board with us. We've got the right crew chief now and the right driver. We had a lot of holes in our package before and now we don't."

That crew chief is former Late Model driver David Hyder who is paired with past championship driver Bill Elliott. The chassis will be provided by Roush Racing and the engines will come from Yates Racing.

The combination showed strength in Daytona by posting the fifth fastest time in qualifying. The race didn't go as well, but Elliott avoided several spins and crashes to post a 23rd-place showing.

One race does not make a season and the challenges remain huge for a single-car team trying to be competitive with teams which have more cars, resources and money.

Yet this team has no desire to take in partners because Len Wood said it will take the family out of the family business.

Instead they have chosen to downsize the operation by hiring crewmen who can perform multiple tasks

"When it comes to making a decision--do we need to buy this--we don't have to go through a board of directors or anything like that," Len Wood said. "It's us. We don't have to answer to anybody,"

Doug Yates, owner of Yates Racing, said he agrees with the Woods' decision to cut back their schedule, but added that they could be at a disadvantage to those on the track every week.

"The challenge," is that we learn something every week when we are at the track. If you don't race every week, are you as sharp as you would be if you were there?" Yates said.

"I think everybody wants the Wood Brothers to make it and we're doing everything we can that's possible. But they're a separate organization with separate people, and the things you learn, you need to keep them within your camp," Yates said.

The goal for the Wood Brothers this season is clear.

"We want to be back full-time in 2010, 2011 or whenever that might be, but not until we build the team back to where it once was." Eddie Wood said.

I'm glad they still have the plans of returning full time in the near future.

I do have faith. I think, if they can find a good driver (like Kelly Bires), and put them in the car with a sponsor, they'll be able to recover.

Bill should be able to help them figure out the cars this year and then I don't think he'll be back in 2010.

Well that's good news, I've always been behind this team, and I think it's good they're getting their chassis from Roush again!

I hope Bill can get at least a top-20. If he can do that, maybe he can provide some information to the Woods on their 1.5 mile track setups.

They made the race! Without using the PC provsional.

So far they're not as good as I'd hoped they be at AMS. But neither is the 96 yet.

Oh yeah, the Ford Racing trailer has a 1:24 diecast of the white Motorcraft (gold numbers) available. If I had $65 to spend on it I would have gotten it.

Quote :

It was an up and down day for Bill Elliott, the Wood Brothers and the #21 Motorcraft Ford Fusion at the Atlanta Motor Speedway’s Kobalt 500. The team was expecting the race to be one with long, green flag runs. Based on Saturday’s practice, they felt the car was setup for that type of a race, running top 20 times during longer practice runs.

The #21 car took the green flag in 35th position. There were two, single car incidents early in the race, but after that the race unfolded as the team anticipated – with a long, green flag run. Cars started making their first round of green flag pit stops on lap 66. The #21 car tried to stay out as long as it could. The effort paid off as a tire got away from another team during a pit stop that brought out the caution flag.. The yellow flag caught a number of cars who had already made green flag pit stops one and two laps down. Fortunately, the 21 car was not negatively affected by the yellow - in fact it helped. While under caution, the 21 was able to make a pit stop, adding fuel, four tires and making a slight left rear adjustment without losing any positions. When the race restarted, only 8 cars were on the lead lap. Bill took the green flag restart in 16th place.

Bill then spent the next part of the race running in the 16th to 22nd position. The team was hoping to reap the benefits of their earlier decision when the #21 became the victim of an accident on lap 204. The #77 car hit the wall in turn one and left a trailing Bill Elliott no where to go. The damage to the cars was enough to send both of them to the garage for the remainder of the race.

Despite the accident, the team put forth a solid effort all weekend steadily improving the car’s performance each day - eventually putting Bill and the #21 Motorcraft Ford Fusion in position to bring home a good result. The team finished the day in 36th position.

The Sprint Cup Series has next weekend off. The Wood Brothers will make their next appearance at the Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, April 7.