Leonard Wood (born September 22, 1934) is a former
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
crew chief, engine builder and co-founder of
Wood Brothers Racing
Wood Brothers Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was formed in 1950 by eponymous brothers Glen and Leonard Wood. From 2006 to 2008, the team was merged with Tad a ...
.
Considered the innovator of the modern
pit stop
In motorsports, a pit stop is a pause for refuelling, new tyres, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, as a penalty, or any combination of the above. These stops occur in an area called the pits, most commonly accessed via a pit la ...
, Wood's team is recognized as the first to record a 25-second four-tire pit stop in NASCAR history.
During his tenure as crew chief, the Wood team won 96
races with 117
poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...
clinched.
Early life
Wood was born on September 22, 1934, on a family farm near
Stuart, Virginia
Stuart is a town in Patrick County, Virginia, where it is the county seat. The population was 1,408 at the 2010 census. The town of Stuart was named after Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, of nearby Ararat, Virginia.
History
Incorporation (1753†...
as one of six children (five sons and one daughter), and began building vehicles when he built a wagon with logs for wheels, which is intended to roll downhill. When he was 13, Wood placed a
washing machine
A washing machine (laundry machine, clothes washer, washer, or simply wash) is a home appliance used to wash laundry. The term is mostly applied to machines that use water as opposed to dry cleaning (which uses alternative cleaning fluids and ...
engine on a go-kart frame and used various pulleys and chains from salvaged vehicles at his father's shop to propel the vehicle, which was able to reach a top speed of . The go-kart is currently on display in Stuart's Wood Brothers Museum.
In high school, Wood learned to build an engine from watching his father, Walter, disassemble the engine from
the team's car and successfully rebuild it.
NASCAR
In 1950, Wood and two of his brothers,
Glen
A glen is a valley, typically one that is long and bounded by gently sloped concave sides, unlike a ravine, which is deep and bounded by steep slopes. Whittow defines it as a "Scottish term for a deep valley in the Highlands" that is "narrower ...
and Delano, purchased a
1940 Ford, which was later modified and used in
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
,
and the team made its first start in a
Lincoln
Lincoln most commonly refers to:
* Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States
* Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England
* Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S.
* Lincol ...
at
Martinsville Speedway
Martinsville Speedway is a NASCAR-owned stock car racing short track in Ridgeway, Virginia, just south of Martinsville. At in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved oval tracks in s ...
on May 17, 1953. Wood was the team's engine builder, and the team's
pit crew
In motorsports, a pit stop is a pause for refuelling, new tyres, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, as a penalty, or any combination of the above. These stops occur in an area called the pits, most commonly accessed via a pit lan ...
, originally composed of family and friends, became the first team in NASCAR history to record a 25-second four-tire pit stop.
Wood stated that in 1960 at
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Charlotte Motor Speedway (previously known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009) is a motorsport complex located in Concord, North Carolina, outside Charlotte. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including th ...
, he noticed that
Fireball Roberts
Edward Glenn "Fireball" Roberts Jr. (January 20, 1929July 2, 1964) was an American stock car racer.
Background
Roberts was born in Tavares, Florida, and raised in Apopka, Florida, where he was interested in both auto racing and baseball. He was ...
', had the lead at the time, pit crew took 45 seconds to change two tires and fuel; Roberts' team was using a four-prong
lug wrench
A lug wrench also colloquially known as a tire iron, is the name for a type of socket wrench used to loosen and tighten lug nuts on automobile wheels. In the United Kingdom and Australia it is commonly known as a wheel brace.
Lug wrenches may ...
, so Wood's team decided to use
power wrench A power wrench is type of wrench that is powered by other means than human force. A typical power source is compressed air. There are two main types of power wrenches: ''impact wrenches'' and ''air ratchet wrenches'' or ''pneumatic ratchet wrenche ...
es, which cut down the time to 25 seconds. Wood later modernized the
floor jack
A floor is the bottom surface of a room or vehicle. Floors vary from simple dirt in a cave to many layered surfaces made with modern technology. Floors may be stone, wood, bamboo, metal or any other material that can support the expected load ...
; originally, jacks weighed between 70 and 80 pounds, and required at least ten pumps for tire clearance. Wood disassembled the jacks and installed larger pistons, leading to only two to three pumps to clear.
In 1965, Wood's team was hired by
Jim Clark
James Clark Jr. OBE (4 March 1936 – 7 April 1968) was a British Formula One racing driver from Scotland, who won two World Championships, in 1963 and 1965. A versatile driver, he competed in sports cars, touring cars and in the Indianapol ...
to pit for him in the
1965 Indianapolis 500
The 49th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Monday, May 31, 1965.
The five-year-old "British Invasion" finally broke through as Jim Clark and Colin Chapman triumphed in dominatin ...
, which went on to win. The team used a modified fuel can to make the gas flow faster.
In 2006, Wood was inducted into the
Virginia Sports Hall of Fame The Virginia Sports Hall of Fame honors athletes, coaches, administrators, journalists and other contributors to athletics. Many of the more than 350 inductees since 1972 were born in Virginia or enjoyed success in college, professional, amateur or ...
. On May 23, 2012, Wood was named as one of the members of the 2013
NASCAR Hall of Fame
The NASCAR Hall of Fame, located in Charlotte, North Carolina, honors drivers who have shown expert skill at NASCAR driving, all-time great crew chiefs and owners, broadcasters and other major contributors to competition within the sanctioning ...
inductees, and was inducted on February 8, 2013. Wood earned 57 percent of the votes, tied with
Herb Thomas
Herbert Watson Thomas (April 6, 1923 – August 9, 2000) was a stock car racer who was one of NASCAR's most successful drivers in the 1950s. Thomas was NASCAR's first multi-time Cup Champion.
Background
Born in the small town of Olivia ...
. At the
2012 Brickyard 400, Wood Brothers Racing honored Wood with a special paint scheme with candy apple red instead of metal-flake red, which the team switched to in 1971, and Wood's head shot on the hood.
Awards
He was inducted into the
Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is hall of fame that honors motorsports competitors and contributors from the United States from all disciplines, with categories for Open Wheel, Stock Cars, Powerboats, Drag Racing, Motorcycles, Sp ...
in 2000, along with his brother Glen.
[Wood Brothers]
at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is hall of fame that honors motorsports competitors and contributors from the United States from all disciplines, with categories for Open Wheel, Stock Cars, Powerboats, Drag Racing, Motorcycles, Sp ...
References
External links
NASCAR bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Leonard
Living people
1934 births
Sportspeople from Virginia
NASCAR crew chiefs
People from Stuart, Virginia
NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees