Statements from Edsel B. Ford II, member of the Board of Directors, Ford Motor Company, and Mark Rushbrook, global director, Ford Performance Motorsports on the passing of Glen Wood.
Edsel B. Ford II
Member of the Board of Directors
Ford Motor Company
“This is a difficult day for all of us at Ford Motor Company. 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.”
Mark Rushbrook
Global Director
Ford Performance Motorsports
“It’s a sad day for all of us involved in the Ford racing program. Glen Wood isn’t just a pioneer in the sport of NASCAR because of his team’s winning legacy. His vision and determination to help take Wood Brothers Racing from a small, family effort out of Virginia to one of the most storied teams in the sport’s history is an American success story. They did it with grit and innovation and hard work, and they changed the sport for the better along the way. And the fact they have never wavered from their loyalty to Ford Motor Company throughout their 69-year history means the world to all of us at Ford.”
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).
