Wood Bros. have shown part-time operation works

The recent speculation that the Wood Brothers may be looking at running a part-time schedule in 2009 brings to mind one thought: If anybody knows exactly how to do it successfully, the family in Stuart, Va., would be at the top of the list.

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Proving that "retro is in" when it comes to NASCAR, the original generation of Woods -- Glen and Leonard -- pioneered the idea of running select races way back in the sport's earliest days. As early as 1959, the Wood Brothers hired stars of the day, like Larry Frank, Johnny Beauchamp, Junior Johnson and Joe Weatherly to pilot the No. 21 Ford on the mile dirt ovals of Charlotte and Atlanta while Glen handled driving duties at the smaller tracks like Martinsville, Winston-Salem, Weaverville and North Wilkesboro.

As Glen found himself more interested in running things from outside the cockpit, the Wood Brothers hit on a strategy that remained in place for the next two decades: Concentrate on running well at the tracks which paid the biggest return on investment. It worked twice in 1960 with Speedy Thompson behind the wheel. So in 1962, the Woods hired Marvin Panch, winner of the previous season's Daytona 500, and put together a schedule that included mainly superspeedways, plus the short hauls to Martinsville and North Wilkesboro.

In addition, the Woods were the first to realize the competitive advantage in having quick, precise pit stops. Up until that point, teams rarely had a full-time crew, instead choosing to find volunteers in the garage area to help change tires and fuel the car. But the Wood Brothers studied ways in which pit stops could be done more quickly, and much of what is done on pit road today can be attributed to the foresight of Glen and Leonard Wood.

Panch failed to win a race that first year, but he finished second twice and third on three other occasions. Then when Panch was seriously burned just a few days before the 1963 Daytona 500, it was last-minute replacement Tiny Lund who surprised everyone by winning the race and the $24,550 first-place winner's check.

After a short recuperation, Panch returned to win at North Wilkesboro later in the year, then added three more wins in 1964. In addition, road racer Dan Gurney scored the first of his four Riverside triumphs for the Woods that season. And the following year, A.J. Foyt added a Firecracker 400 victory at Daytona to the Woods' growing resume.

When Ford factory teams boycotted the season in a dispute over engine rules eight races into the 1966 season, the Wood Brothers found themselves on the sidelines. The ban was lifted in time for the Southern 500 at Darlington, but with Panch jumping to Plymouth with Petty Enterprises, the Woods needed a new driver. They found one in young Cale Yarborough. (Continued)