<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1BZuwV_0vCGPg9B00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1BZuwV_0vCGPg9B00" width="1268" height="1024" ><figcaption>(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>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 winsSpeedy Thompson: 2 winsTiny Lund: 1 winMarvin Panch: 8 winsDan Gurney: 4 winsAJ Foyt: 5 winsCurtis Turner (HOF): 1 winCale Yarborough (HOF): 13 winsDonnie Allison (HOF): 1 winDavid Pearson (HOF): 43 winsNeil Bonnett: 9 winsBuddy Baker (HOF): 1 winKyle Petty: 2 winsDale Jarrett (HOF): 1 winMorgan Shepherd: 1 winElliott Sadler: 1 winTrevor Bayne: 1 winRyan Blaney: 1 winHarrison Burton: 1 winThe 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.The team has backed up its winning ways with 354 top fives, 583 top 10s and 119 poles in 1,748 starts. Its cars have completed a dizzying 463,608 laps. Astonishingly, none of those accomplishments has come with a drivers title. The team rarely competed for one before the modern era, and single-car teams are at a disadvantage in today’s sport. The Woods did win the owners title in 1963 with a variety of drivers behind the wheel.Leonard Wood, the original co-owner of the team along with driver Glen, is widely credited with revolutionizing the pit stop in NASCAR. The Hall of Fame owner and crew chief saw stops not just as a chance to change tires and fuel the racecar, but as a competitive advantage. If the crew could get their cars in and out of the pits faster than their competitors, that translated into track position. Every second saved on pit road was a second gained on the track. Pit strategy is an important part of the game these days, because the Woods first saw the opportunity.Four Hall of Fame drivers raced for the Woods without winning: Junior Johnson, Fred Lorenzen, Joe Weatherly and Bill Elliott.Their enduring success on the track has made Wood Brothers Racing part of NASCAR legend, but they’re also a tangible piece of its past that fans today can still connect with. Burton’s car bears little resemblance to the No. 21 Fords and Mercurys of Wood’s, Yarborough’s and Pearson’s days, but it’s still out there.When NASCAR introduced its Throwback Weekends at Darlington Raceway, many teams brought crew uniforms resembling those worn by teams in the 1960s and ’70s. The Wood Brothers brought the uniforms their crews actually wore then. Sponsors often dictate paint schemes, but the Wood Brothers still often race with the red-and-white racecar with the gold chrome No. 21 that fans instantly recognize in any era.In a changing sport, Wood Brothers Racing has been one constant. And when things fall its way, it can still get it done. Here’s to No. 101.</div></body>

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

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...

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

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