Wood Brothers Racing will pay tribute to the man who started it all with its throwback paint scheme for this year’s Southern 500 (Sept. 1 on NBCSN).
Paul Menard’s No. 21 Ford will honor the late team founder Glenn Wood, who passed away in January at 93. Wood, who went by Glen after the second N in his name was dropped over time, would have been 94 today.
The car will boast a black-and-red scheme inspired by the 1957 Ford Sunliner that Wood raced himself. In 1957 Wood made his only appearance as a driver at Darlington Raceway. The car finished 13th due to an engine failure after Wood was relieved by Fonty Flock.
Wood also raced the car at Daytona in 1958 in the Convertible circuit’s final appearance on the beach road course. Wood finished sixth in that race. In 1957, Wood won four Convertible races and two poles and finished in the top five in 23 of the 46 races that year.
More: Southern 500 throwback paint schemes
The car, which Wood also raced in the Cup Series after he added a top to it, was originally used for endurance testing on the Ford proving grounds in the desert.
“They were going to scrap it once the endurance testing was over, but my Dad found out about it and called John Cowley, who ran Ford’s NASCAR effort back then,” Eddie Wood, Glenn’s son, said in a press release. “He gave the car to my Dad and they made a race car out of it.”
“They kept the red-and-black paint scheme that was on the car during the endurance tests.”
Also, we picked today as the day because it would’ve been Glenn’s 94th birthday. pic.twitter.com/1mHeSpewnl
— Wood Brothers Racing (@woodbrothers21) July 18, 2019
Here it is. Our @MQL_Racing Mustang for the @TooToughToTame throwback weekend. (Psst.. watch the video to see what it is) #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/RhJseHAlxP
— Wood Brothers Racing (@woodbrothers21) July 18, 2019