MARTINSVILLE, Va. — As a youngster growing up in nearby High Point, North Carolina, Ryan Blaney always thought the grandfather clock trophy that goes to the winner of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway was cool.
He wanted one of his own.
On Sunday, he finally got one of the stately looking time clocks as he won Sunday’s Xfinity 500.
But the trophy only tells a small part of the story.
The victory catapulted the 29-year-old driver into Sunday’s Championship race at Phoenix Raceway as one of the Championship 4 drivers that will fight it out for the Cup Series championship.
The 10th Cup Series victory of his career may be Blaney’s biggest because it brings him within one race of a potential championship.
Blaney drove a brilliant race for Team Penske, giving team owner Roger Penske a chance at a potential 44th career national championship in racing, and a potential fourth Cup Series championship.
Since 2018, the son of racer Dave Blaney, has been a member of Team Penske enjoying some of the best equipment and resources in the series.
But he got his Cup Series start in 2014 racing for the legendary Wood Brothers of nearby Stuart, Virginia.
It’s impossible to talk about the history of Martinsville Speedway without talking about the Wood Brothers.
The Virginia short track opened in 1947. The late Glenn Wood made his first Cup Series start at Martinsville in 1953 in the famed No. 21.
Since then, the history of the Wood Brothers and Martinsville Speedway have been intertwined.
It’s a 31-minute drive on US Highway 58 from Martinsville Speedway to the home of the Wood Brothers in Stuart, Virginia. Brothers Glen, Leonard and Delano prepared race cars that made the short trip to Martinsville Speedway ever since.
The next generation of Len and Eddie Wood would continue the Wood Brothers legacy.
By the time Blaney began his Cup Series career in 2014, the Wood Brothers had moved its racing operations to Concord, North Carolina. It had an engineering alliance with Team Penske.
It was a move that helped return the famed team to competitiveness and served as a launching pad to Blaney’s Cup Series career.
He drove the No. 21 Ford in 90 races for the Wood Brothers, scoring his first career Cup Series win at Pocono Raceway on June 11, 2017.
Team Penske moved him up the ladder in 2018, where Blaney has been ever since.
But the kid from High Point, North Carolina never forgot his racing roots and what the Wood Brothers meant to his career.
SPEED SPORT asked Blaney about the Wood Brothers Sunday night at Martinsville as he talked about his big win and having a chance to race for a championship at Phoenix on Sunday.
“I came here a lot as a kid and I loved watching Dad race here,” Blaney said. “I wanted a grandfather clock for a long time, ever since I was a kid. There are those little special things that you remember.
“Driving for the Wood Brothers right down the road from here, this place has been so special to me. Victory lane has eluded me for years and years. I feel like we could have won two or three of them. It never happened. Feel like something always happened.
“Everything fell in place today. We were really fast, able to pull it off. Yeah, a lot of joy and a lot of things to be proud of.”
The Wood Brothers are a rich part of NASCAR history. Blaney is a key part of NASCAR’s future.
They are forever linked together, and it provides Blaney with an enormous source of pride.
“Oh, for sure,” Blaney told SPEED SPORT. “I think that makes this place even more special for me, getting to drive for those guys for a couple of years.
“I saw Leonard Wood today. Leonard was on the grid today. He was psyched to be here. He always gives me the speech, gives me a bro handshake, which is awesome. I always like seeing Leonard. Great to see him today. Great to see he’s still doing really well.
“It makes it even more special to drive for those guys from just down the road. This place means so much to them. Hearing stories about this back in the day, the ’40s, ’50s, when Leonard was testing stuff with Glen. Awesome stories. Stuff we really enjoy hearing, as a driver, especially as a guy who’s driving for them, it’s just really, really cool.
“Definitely means a lot more. It was awesome to see Leonard today. He said he believed we were going to win.
“I guess he was right, which is common for him.”
One more win next Sunday at Phoenix can give Blaney and Team Penske a championship. But it was the Wood Brothers that helped start it all for the young Blaney, and getting a chance to win at Martinsville Speedway helped complete a unique connection.