Motorsport News

Wood Brothers Racing’s 100 Wins Are a Mark of NASCAR Excellence

Glen Wood Nascar 1967

When Harrison Burton pulled into victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night (Aug. 24) after winning the Coke Zero 400, it was the first time in the young driver’s career.

For car owner Wood Brothers Racing, it was a different story.

For the team, it was win No. 100.

No current team has been in NASCAR’s top series longer. The team saw victory for the first time on April 18, 1960, at Bowman Gray Stadium with team co-owner and Hall of Famer Glen Wood at the wheel.

Driving the No. 16, Wood beat a field of 14 other drivers with a margin of six seconds over runner-up Rex White, the only other driver to finish on the lead lap. Wood also bested his teammate Jimmy Massey in the team’s No. 21 entry, who finished third. Richard Petty and Ned Jarrett rounded out the top five.

Wood led every lap that day.

He was the first of 19 different drivers to win in a Wood Brothers car and the first of seven Hall of Famers to take his team to the winner’s circle. Wood won two more races in 1960, both of them also at Bowman Gray.

The team’s 100 wins is good for eighth all-time among car owners.

Here’s a look at the 19 drivers who have taken the Wood family to the top:

Glen Wood (HOF): 4 wins
Speedy Thompson: 2 wins
Tiny Lund: 1 win
Marvin Panch: 8 wins
Dan Gurney: 4 wins
AJ Foyt: 5 wins
Curtis Turner (HOF): 1 win
Cale Yarborough (HOF): 13 wins
Donnie Allison (HOF): 1 win
David Pearson (HOF): 43 wins
Neil Bonnett: 9 wins
Buddy Baker (HOF): 1 win
Kyle Petty: 2 wins
Dale Jarrett (HOF): 1 win
Morgan Shepherd: 1 win
Elliott Sadler: 1 win
Trevor Bayne: 1 win
Ryan Blaney: 1 win
Harrison Burton: 1 win

The Woods have helped eight of those drivers find their first career NASCAR Cup Series wins. Other than Wood and Burton, Lund, Petty, Jarrett, Sadler, Bayne and Blaney all got their maiden wins with the organization.

Of the 100 wins in the team’s pocket, 34 were won from the pole, with the most recent coming in 1978 at Michigan International Speedway with Pearson at the wheel. The deepest in the field a Wood Brothers car has started and still found a win is 38th, when Sadler went to the front to win at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2001.

The No. 21 has become iconic in NASCAR with the Woods. 90 of the team’s wins came in the No. 21. The others? Glen Wood won three races in the No. 16, Gurney’s four came in the No. 121, Foyt and Turner took the No. 41 to victory lane once each and Petty piloted the No. 7 to a win.

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