Wood Brothers Racing Honoring Historic Indy Win at Darlington
Yesterday at 05:51 PM
Leonard Wood has often mentioned that the notoriety and attention given to the Wood Brothers following their work on pit road for Team Lotus in the 1965 Indianapolis 500 far exceeded any other accomplishment, given the amount of time and effort required.
Jim Clark, who drove a Ford-powered Lotus pitted by the Wood Brothers to victory in the sport's premier race, spent just 41.9 seconds on pit road for the entire 500-mile run.
In a interview, Leonard said, "We were recognized and respected, not just from a NASCAR audience, but an audience around the world after we pitted that car. For no more than a day's work, a handful of seconds, we left there knowing we had accomplished something big. Something that would have meaning."
That winning effort will be recognized once again as Josh Berry's No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang Dark Horse will carry a paint scheme based on Clark's winning Lotus in this weekend's Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway. It's fitting that the recognition will come at Darlington.
It was there that Ford racing executive John Cowley first approached team owner Glenn Wood about pairing his crew, which at that point had no open-wheel-racing experience, with Clark and the Ford/Lotus team. Wood accepted, and the rest as they say, is history.
Since he joined the Wood Brothers, Berry has heard first-hand accounts from that winning effort at Indy.
"It was really cool to hear the stories from Leonard about how much it meant to him," Berry told reporters at Martinsville. "You think somebody that's been in NASCAR for 75 years and accomplished all of these amazing things, for him to say that moment was one of the most memorable that he's had in his entire life really puts into perspective how big of a moment it was.
"There was a lot of ingenuity that the Wood Brothers brought to that team to speed up the pit stops, and Len and Eddie, they've got all of that down to the seconds that they saved. They know the story way better than me, but it's really just a cool deal. It was Ford's first win in the Indy 500, so there were a lot of cool moments. We're excited for it."
Based on Berry's performance this year – and his runs at Darlington before he joined the Woods – Berry and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team are hoping they can give the throwback-themed Mustang a run it deserves.
"Darlington is always a tough one," Berry said. "If you have a good car, you look like a hero. If you have a bad car, you don't. It's that kind of thing.
"Last year, I had two really good cars there and ran really well. We didn't get the finish we wanted in the Southern 500 with an accident there at the end, but I feel good about it. We ran third in the spring. If we can translate some of what I learned last year and apply it to the 21 car, hopefully we can have a good day."
Practice for the Goodyear 400 is set for Saturday at 12:35 p.m. Eastern Time to be followed by qualifying at 1:40. Amazon Prime will carry the TV coverage. Sunday's 400.2-mile, 293-lap race is set to get the green flag just after 3 p.m., with TV coverage on FS1. Stage breaks are planned for Laps 90 and 185.
