NASCAR Hall of Fame team owner Glen Wood dies at age 93

Co-founder of the legendary Wood Brothers Racing Team and NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee, Glen Wood, has died. He was 93.

The team made the announcement of Wood’s passing Friday on social media.

Wood’s first start in what is now the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series came at Martinsville in 1953. He finished 30th in a car owned by his family’s team. In 62 career starts, Wood won four races and finished in the top 10 34 times.

But it was his time as an owner at NASCAR’s top level that secured his status as an icon of the sport. Wood, along with his brothers Leonard and Delano, started Wood Brothers Racing in 1950. Since that time, they’ve won 99 races, most recently with driver Ryan Blaney in 2017.

Wood was voted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2012 and was the oldlest living member. In 2013, Wood was joined by his brother Leonard in the Hall of Fame.

“This is a difficult day for all of us at Ford Motor Company,” Edsel B. Ford II said in a statement. “Glen Wood was the founding patriarch of the oldest continuously operating NASCAR Cup Series team and we consider Wood Brothers Racing a part of our family, the Ford Family. The Wood Brothers race team, by any measure, has been one of the most successful racing operations in the history of NASCAR. Most importantly for our company, Glen and his family have remained loyal to Ford throughout their 69-year history.

“Glen was an innovator who, along with his family, changed the sport itself.  But, more importantly, he was a true Southern gentleman who was quick with a smile and a handshake and he was a man of his word.   I will cherish the memories of our chats in the NASCAR garage, at their race shop in Mooresville or the racing museum in Stuart.  My most memorable moment with Glen was with he and his family in the #21 pit box watching Trevor Bayne win the 2011 Daytona 500 and the celebration that followed in victory lane.”

 

GLEN WOOD

As a driver….

Formed Wood Brothers Racing in 1950, serving as the team’s first driver and competing in nothing but Ford products.

Made 62 career starts and won four times in NASCAR’s top series with all of those coming at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, NC.  He won there three times in 1960 and once in 1963.

Attended every Daytona Speedweeks from 1947-2017 before ending that streak in 2018.

Presented with the Spirit of Ford Award in 1999, which recognizes significant contributions to racing and is the highest recognition in Ford Motorsports.

Named one of NASCAR’s all-time Greatest 50 Drivers in 1998 during NASCAR’s 50th Anniversary celebration.

Inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.

Inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2002.

Inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2012.

As an owner…

Won the Daytona 500 five times:  Tiny Lund (1963), Cale Yarborough (1968), A.J. Foyt (1972), David Pearson (1976), Trevor Bayne (2011).

Won the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series owners’ championship in 1963.

Won 99 all-time points races in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

The Wood Brothers have won at least one Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race in each of the last six decades, and that grows to seven decades when NASCAR-sanctioned modified, sportsmen and convertible competition is included.

Credited with revolutionizing the modern-day pit stop and used that innovation to help Jim Clark win the 1965 Indianapolis 500.

10 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees have driven at least one race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup or Gander Outdoors Truck Series with the Wood Brothers:  Junior Johnson (MENCS), David Pearson (MENCS), Cale Yarborough (MENCS), Glen Wood (MENCS), Dale Jarrett (MENCS), Joe Weatherly (MENCS), Fred Lorenzen (MENCS), Bill Elliott (MENCS), Curtis Turner (MENCS), Mark Martin (GOTS).

18 different drivers have won a Cup points race with the Wood Brothers:  David Pearson (43); Cale Yarborough (13); Neil Bonnett (9); Marvin Panch (8); A.J. Foyt (5); Glen Wood (4); Dan Gurney (4); Speedy Thompson (2); Kyle Petty (2); Tiny Lund (1); Curtis Turner (1); Donnie Allison (1); Buddy Baker (1); Dale Jarrett (1); Morgan Shepherd (1); Elliott Sadler (1); Trevor Bayne (1); Ryan Blaney (1).

Greg Engle