Struggling Wood Brothers/JTG looks for boost from Aussie
By Pete Pistone, CBSSports.com
The Wood brothers have been a part of the NASCAR world since nearly the beginning. Founded in 1953, the team has fielded cars in NASCAR's top division piloted by a list of drivers that reads like a "Who's Who" of the sport.
Names like David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Dale Jarrett, Neil Bonnett and Ricky Rudd have driven the team's famous No. 21 to its 96 trips to Victory Lane.
But lately it has been a tough road for the family-owned operation as it tries to compete as a one-car team against the multicar giants of the sport. The 2007 season was a struggle, and a variety of drivers took their turn behind the wheel.
Season rewind
Veteran Ken Schrader started the year as the team's regular driver, but a dismal start dropped it out of the top 35 in the point standings, losing its guaranteed starting spot.
Schrader was replaced in early May by another old hand, Bill Elliott, the 1988 series champion, who brought his past champion's provisional and a guaranteed six starts.
Elliott didn't fare much better than Schrader, failing to score a top 10 finish.
At the end of the season, the combined finishes for the No. 21 entry wound up 36th in the final owners points standings, meaning the team will have to qualify its way into at least the first six races next season unless Elliott returns with his champion's provisional.
2008 outlook
Australian Marcos Ambrose, who drove the team's Busch Series entry last season and is slated to run the entire Nationwide slate in 2008, will step up to make 12 Sprint Cup starts next year in the No. 21. (Note: The Busch Series will be the Nationwide Series next year, while the Nextel Cup is changing its title to the Sprint Cup.)
But whether Elliott or Schrader returns in the remaining 24 races is still undecided.
"I've certainly enjoyed my role as a fill-in driver for the Wood Brothers," Elliott said. "You just can't find them any nicer than Eddie or Len Wood, and that's made this whole process worthwhile despite our struggles."
Also uncertain is the future of Jon Wood, the family protégé and son of team co-owner Eddie, who is still recovering from medical problems that plagued him last year.
The younger Wood ran both the team's Busch and Craftsman truck entries in '07 and made a handful of Cup starts in the team's part-time No. 47 entry. But it still remains to be seen just where the third generation driver lands in 2008.
The team will also need a new crew chief; veteran Michael "Fatback" McSwain resigned late last season.
Unless the team can work out a partnership with an existing small budget operation and reap the benefits of being part of a multicar operation, the Wood brothers/JTG Racing David vs. Goliath story will continue in 2008.
By Pete Pistone, CBSSports.com
The Wood brothers have been a part of the NASCAR world since nearly the beginning. Founded in 1953, the team has fielded cars in NASCAR's top division piloted by a list of drivers that reads like a "Who's Who" of the sport.
Names like David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Dale Jarrett, Neil Bonnett and Ricky Rudd have driven the team's famous No. 21 to its 96 trips to Victory Lane.
But lately it has been a tough road for the family-owned operation as it tries to compete as a one-car team against the multicar giants of the sport. The 2007 season was a struggle, and a variety of drivers took their turn behind the wheel.
Season rewind
Veteran Ken Schrader started the year as the team's regular driver, but a dismal start dropped it out of the top 35 in the point standings, losing its guaranteed starting spot.
Schrader was replaced in early May by another old hand, Bill Elliott, the 1988 series champion, who brought his past champion's provisional and a guaranteed six starts.
Elliott didn't fare much better than Schrader, failing to score a top 10 finish.
At the end of the season, the combined finishes for the No. 21 entry wound up 36th in the final owners points standings, meaning the team will have to qualify its way into at least the first six races next season unless Elliott returns with his champion's provisional.
2008 outlook
Australian Marcos Ambrose, who drove the team's Busch Series entry last season and is slated to run the entire Nationwide slate in 2008, will step up to make 12 Sprint Cup starts next year in the No. 21. (Note: The Busch Series will be the Nationwide Series next year, while the Nextel Cup is changing its title to the Sprint Cup.)
But whether Elliott or Schrader returns in the remaining 24 races is still undecided.
"I've certainly enjoyed my role as a fill-in driver for the Wood Brothers," Elliott said. "You just can't find them any nicer than Eddie or Len Wood, and that's made this whole process worthwhile despite our struggles."
Also uncertain is the future of Jon Wood, the family protégé and son of team co-owner Eddie, who is still recovering from medical problems that plagued him last year.
The younger Wood ran both the team's Busch and Craftsman truck entries in '07 and made a handful of Cup starts in the team's part-time No. 47 entry. But it still remains to be seen just where the third generation driver lands in 2008.
The team will also need a new crew chief; veteran Michael "Fatback" McSwain resigned late last season.
Unless the team can work out a partnership with an existing small budget operation and reap the benefits of being part of a multicar operation, the Wood brothers/JTG Racing David vs. Goliath story will continue in 2008.