CONCORD, N.C. — The eldest son of Wood Brothers Racing founder Glen Wood, Eddie Wood has been around NASCAR racing his entire life.
When the team CEO talks about how today’s NASCAR racing is different from the past, people listen. Wood had plenty to say on Wednesday when the 74-year-old family operation announced Josh Berry as its driver beginning next season.
Wood talked about the challenges of the NextGen race car, team chemistry and the competitive nature of the NASCAR Cup Series.
He acknowledged that after many years as a skeptic he now believes in team chemistry.
“A race team is not unlike a football team or a baseball team, probably more like a football team,” said Wood, who has worked with a slew of Hall of Fame drivers including Cale Yarborough and David Pearson. “You can have the greatest people in the world and it not work. You can’t really figure out why.
“I used to make fun of people when they would say, ‘Well, the chemistry is not working. You need this and that,’” Wood said. “I believe that now, especially with this race car. This race car is so different from what we grew up with and worked and raced all our life. It’s just so different. We used to go to Talladega and Daytona four times during the winter just to get ready for the 500.
“You would be there four days each to gain one-tenth, and you felt like you had done something if you did that. Then you’d go home and cut the body off and do all that. Now, it’s like you race speedways every week,” Wood continued. “Road courses, short tracks, everything matters. Everything on the cars matter. Where you are. Your track position, pit crews, the tiniest thing matters and there’s no leeway.
“You used to have a little bit of a cushion. If you got a little bit behind you could make it up in the pits or sometimes change two tires versus four. There was always a way, but now you’ve got to do it all right all day long and when things aren’t working and, like I said, we’ve struggled. We can’t figure it out, either. It’s really hard.”
While Wood hopes hiring Berry will see the team’s performance improve, he knows what it’s like when a team gels together.
“People get with other people and it clicks and you don’t know why, but if you’re one of the fortunate ones when you get together with a group and it clicks, you don’t ask why, you don’t care,” he said. “It’s just a really hard sport right now.”