Kenny Bruce: Duels give way to plenty of smiles and frowns
By Kenny Bruce - Assistant Managing Editor
Friday, February 15, 2008
- TEXT SIZE: Increase Text Size Decrease Text Size Reset Text Size
- No Comments. Leave a Comment
- Digg This
- Add to Del.icio.us
- RSS Feeds
Latest Headlines
COMMENTARY
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – As is often the case here at the “World Center of Racing,” there was plenty to smile about Thursday afternoon.
The Gatorade Duels, those intense qualifying races that pack more action into 150 miles than some points races manage to squeeze in in a day, were complete. Surprises were around every corner.
Dale Jarrett won’t compete in another Daytona 500, but the former series champion will be in this year’s 43-car lineup. Thanks to a helping hand, or in this case a push, from his Michael Waltrip Racing teammates, Jarrett’s ninth-place finish was as good as a pole-winning run. It’s a fitting way for the personable Jarrett to kick off his brief retirement tour.
Kenny Wallace can speak for long periods of time about seemingly nothing. Imagine how keyed up ol’ Herman was when he raced his way into the 500. Likewise for Furniture Row Racing teammate Joe Nemechek. John Andretti? His pass of Nemechek put the guy with the world-famous racing name in Sunday’s field.
That it is the 50th running of the race makes it even more special. But because of that, it makes the heartbreak that much more difficult to handle, too.
And if there were smiles, there were frowns as well.
While Jarrett and Wallace and Nemechek and others were able to finally breathe a sigh of relief, there was an air of disappointment for one of the most storied teams in the sport. Wood Brothers Racing, which has been fielding cars for nearly as long as folks have been racing them, won’t be around come Sunday. There will be no familiar No. 21 rolling off pit road in the Daytona 500 for the first time since the early 1960s. In the 49 years they’ve run the 500, there had been only two occasions when a Wood Brothers entry wasn’t in the field.
Bill Elliott, a former champion and two time winner of the 500, failed to earn a spot in the field after finishing 16th in his qualifier.
And that’s a shame because the Wood family – Leonard and Glen and Len and Eddie and so many others – are NASCAR. They, like a handful of others today, were cutting edge before most folks knew where the edge was located. They were successful at a time when wind tunnels and engineers and money didn’t determine who won the race on Sunday; the guy behind the wheel and the guys building the cars did.
Today, we get all carried away when someone like a Jimmie Johnson or a Jeff Gordon manages double-digit wins in a single season. Granted, with competition being what it is, that’s quite an accomplishment. But have you ever heard of a guy named David Pearson? He managed double-digit wins twice while driving for the Woods. While competing in nearly half as many races.
Some fellow named A.J. Foyt won in a Wood Brothers ride. And Cale Yarborough. Marvin Panch. And Donnie Allison. Neil Bonnett. And Buddy Baker.
Jarrett got his first Cup win while driving for Wood Brothers Racing. As did Kyle Petty. And Elliott Sadler.
The Daytona 500 has been especially memorable for the Wood family. Tiny Lund won seven times in NASCAR’s top series, but it was his 1963 win in the 500 that was most memorable. Lund got the ride after pulling Panch from a burning race car before that year’s 500.
In ’68, they won the 500 with Yarborough behind the wheel. They won at Atlanta, Martinsville, back again at Daytona in the heat of July and Darlington’s legendary Southern 500 that year as well.
Foyt put them back in victory lane four years later with his win in ’72, while highlights of Pearson’s damaged entry slowing making its way across the finish line just ahead of Richard Petty and just moments after the two had tangled coming to the stripe is one of the sport’s most memorable highlights.
Hang around folks in the sport and you’re sure to hear some incredible stories. Unfortunately, all of them don’t come with the endings you’d expect. Eddie Wood, who runs the team with brother Len these days, related such a story on Thursday, explaining how he had spent an off day from the track this week seeking out the old beach road course. He phoned his father, Glen, to ask about the whereabouts of one of the turns on the course, where competitors left the asphalt of the highway for the hard-packed sand of the
beach.
Realizing he was at that exact location as he spoke to his father, Wood said he began to pull out when he glanced over and saw a familiar face. It was Richard Petty.
And that, he says, is “what the Daytona 500 is.”
It’s the Pettys and Yarboroughs and Allisons. The Pearsons and Jarretts and Earnhardts. And the Woods. So much more and so many others. It’s history waiting to be told and history waiting to unfold.
Wood Brothers Racing may not be a part of this year’s 500, but the family will always be a part of Daytona.
And there’s certainly no shame in that.
- Mentioned Drivers:
- Bill Elliott
No Comments
Be the first to comment on "Kenny Bruce: Duels give way to plenty of smiles and frowns". Login or sign up for a free account below to post your comment