Jon Wood to attempt double duty at Talladega Superspeedway
By Lee Montgomery - Associate Editor
Thursday, October 02, 2008
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Jon Wood, who has raced in all three NASCAR national series at Talladega Superspeedway, will attempt to run both the Sprint Cup and Craftsman Truck series events this weekend for Wood Brothers Racing.
Wood is entered in the No. 21 Ford for the Amp Energy 500 Cup race, though he’ll have to make the race via qualifying since the Wood Brothers are outside the top 35 in owners points and don’t have a guaranteed starting spot.
Wood is also driving the team’s No. 21 Ford in the Mountain Dew 250 truck race.
Wood has one start at Talladega in both the Cup and truck series, with three starts in what is now known as the Nationwide Series. He started 31st and finished second in his first race at Talladega, in 2005 in what was then known as the Busch Series.
He was 10th in his lone truck start at Talladega in 2007 and 36th in his Cup start earlier this year.
“In the Sprint Cup race, it was twice as hard as the Nationwide Series race,” Wood said. “I don’t believe it was the competition level where that is mostly the case at other race tracks. NASCAR has inadvertently designed the cars and trucks where the people with the least amount of driving experience have the most ability to keep up [in the truck series].
“Then you have the middle-of-the-road guys in the Nationwide Series, and those cars are twice as difficult as the trucks to keep up but twice as easy as the Sprint Cup cars. Then you get in the Sprint Cup car.”
Wood said he lost the draft in the Cup race in April by the fifth lap.
“However, prior to the green flag in the Sprint Cup race, I had zero drafting in a Sprint Cup car,” Wood said. “It was like the first hour of practice when we took the green flag. I didn’t know what to expect, and that’s why I lost the draft."
Now, he has some experience and looks forward to keeping up with the draft this time around.
“Yes, and I’m optimistic with the improvements that have been demonstrated in the past several weeks with the team,” Wood said. “A lot has to carry over. Even though it’s a superspeedway race, some of it has to translate over. Hopefully, we will be fast enough to get in without having to have that feeling of defeat on lap five.”
If Wood qualifies for the Cup race, he’ll have to race on a qualifying setup, for the Talladega weekend is an impound event. And that will be a handicap, he said.
“It makes it tougher on the ‘go-or-go-home’ guys for the simple fact that they’re in qualifying trim from the time that practice starts until the time the race starts,” Wood said. “It just makes it that much harder to be able to perform well during the race. That’s a bit of a setback for our situation, but I have confidence in the guys and that we can overcome it.”
- Mentioned Drivers:
- Jon Wood
Comments
4 responses to "Jon Wood to attempt double duty at Talladega Superspeedway"
branna verrett said:
Oct 2, 2008 at 12:53 PMJon I have missed you on the track. I know that your Uncles will give you a great ride...
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» Confirm Abuse Reportbranna verrett said:
Oct 2, 2008 at 12:53 PMJon I have missed you on the track. I know that your Uncles will give you a great ride...
Report as AbuseReport Abuse
This feature is intended to allow you to report comments that are abusive in terms of foul/vulgar language, harassment, racial/religious prejudice and any words/phrases of a related nature. This feature should not be used to report users who simply make a comment about your favorite driver, with which you do not agree. Commenting is a forum in which we can all express our opinions. Reporting abuse of others should be done with this in mind.
» Confirm Abuse Reportbranna verrett said:
Oct 2, 2008 at 12:53 PMJon I have missed you on the track. I know that your Uncles will give you a great ride...
Report as AbuseReport Abuse
This feature is intended to allow you to report comments that are abusive in terms of foul/vulgar language, harassment, racial/religious prejudice and any words/phrases of a related nature. This feature should not be used to report users who simply make a comment about your favorite driver, with which you do not agree. Commenting is a forum in which we can all express our opinions. Reporting abuse of others should be done with this in mind.
» Confirm Abuse Reportbranna verrett said:
Oct 2, 2008 at 12:53 PMJon I have missed you on the track. I know that your Uncles will give you a great ride...
Report as AbuseReport Abuse
This feature is intended to allow you to report comments that are abusive in terms of foul/vulgar language, harassment, racial/religious prejudice and any words/phrases of a related nature. This feature should not be used to report users who simply make a comment about your favorite driver, with which you do not agree. Commenting is a forum in which we can all express our opinions. Reporting abuse of others should be done with this in mind.
» Confirm Abuse Report