Harrison Burton and the No. 21 Menards/Dutch Boy team are headed to the Commonwealth of Virginia, home of the Wood Brothers and the Burton family, hoping to for a strong home-team run in the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway.
The Wood Brothers have been competing at Richmond since 1959, when the late Glenn Wood made the team’s first start there, finishing second in the Richmond 200. Wood also won a Convertible Series race there in 1957.
“Any time the Wood Brothers team races in Virginia we’re excited about the weekend,” crew chief Brian Wilson said, adding that Richmond race, like many others in the early portion of the schedule, will see teams working to adapt to new rules for the 2023 season.
“There’s great opportunity as everyone is still learning about the new low-downforce short-track package.”
Wilson said a big part of racing in the Cup series is evolving with rule changes.
“With a drastic reduction in spoiler size and removing several under-body aero pieces, we know this package will require changes to the car’s set-up,” he said. “We’ve tried to utilize what we learned at Phoenix with this package and apply that during our simulator time through Ford Performance this week.
“Everyone on the Menards/ Dutch Boy Ford is excited to get to Richmond for Saturday’s practice and Sunday’s race.”
Practice for Sunday’s 400-lapper on the three-quarter-mile oval is set for Saturday at 10:05 a.m., to be followed at 10:50 by qualifying.
Sunday’s race is set to get the green flag just after 3:30 p.m. with TV coverage on FOX Sports 1. Stage breaks are planned for Laps 70 and 230.
Wood Brothers Racing
Wood Brothers Racing was formed in 1950 in Stuart, Va., by Hall of Famer Glenn Wood. Wood Brothers Racing is the oldest active team and one of the winningest teams in NASCAR history. Since its founding, the team won 99 races (including at least one race in every decade for the last seven decades) and 120 poles in NASCAR’s top-tier series. Fielding only Ford products for its entire history, the WoodBrothers own the longest association of any motorsports team with a single manufacturer. Glenn’s brother, Leonard, is known for inventing the modern pit stop. The team currently runs the Ford Mustang driven by Harrison Burton in the famous No. 21 racer.
