Wood Brothers Racing

Wood Brothers Racing was founded in 1950 by brothers Glen, Leonard, Delano, Clay, and Ray Lee Wood, who grew up on their parents’ farm near Woolwine and Stuart in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Southwest Virginia. Inspired by local sawmill operator and race driver Curtis Turner, the brothers purchased their first race car for 50 dollars and fittingly entered it with the number 50. The weekend hobby quickly became a full-time business with a first permanent shop on the outskirts of Stuart. To this day, the team is recognized by Guinness World Records as the oldest continuously active team in NASCAR history.

Leonard Wood wrote his own chapter in team history during the late 1950s and 1960s when he revolutionized the pit stop. Through clearly defined team roles and optimized jacks, pneumatic wrenches, and fuel cans, he reduced pit stop times from over a minute to under 20 seconds. This precision did not go unnoticed: Lotus founder Colin Chapman hired the Wood Brothers crew to service Jim Clark’s Ford at the Indianapolis 500 in 1965, which significantly contributed to his victory.

The team experienced its greatest success in the 1960s and 1970s, despite often competing only in lucrative superspeedway races. David Pearson drove the No. 21 Mercury to 43 Cup Series victories for the team in the 1970s, while legends like Cale Yarborough, A.J. Foyt, Dan Gurney, Fireball Roberts, and Neil Bonnett also took the wheel for Wood Brothers. The team won the Daytona 500 five times: in 1963 with Tiny Lund, accompanied by that year’s Constructor’s Championship, in 1968 with Cale Yarborough, in 1972 with A.J. Foyt, in 1976 with David Pearson in the legendary photo finish against Richard Petty, and in 2011 with the then-20-year-old Trevor Bayne.

After more than 50 years in Virginia, the team relocated its racing operations to Mooresville, North Carolina, after the 2003 season, bringing them closer to the center of NASCAR technology. Today, a close technical alliance with Team Penske exists there. Leadership remains in family hands: Eddie Wood as CEO, Len Wood as COO, and Kim Wood Hall as CFO represent the second generation, while Jon Wood as President brings in the third generation.

Recent success confirms continuity: In August 2024, Harrison Burton celebrated the team’s 100th Cup Series victory at Daytona, and in 2025, Josh Berry achieved the 101st success in the No. 21 Ford Mustang. For 2026, Wood Brothers Racing is again counting on Josh Berry as full-time driver and aims to build on recent successes with support from Team Penske, all in the tradition of the iconic number 21.