LEONARD
WOOD – Crew Chief/Engine Builder (b. 9/22/34)
Hometown: Stuart, Va.
Competed: 1950-Present
Starts: 1,381
Wins: 98
Poles: 118
The
Wood Brothers team is renowned as the innovator of the modern pit stop. Leonard
Wood, brother of Glen and Delano Wood, was front and center in its development
as chief mechanic – that’s what they called crew chiefs in the early days – and
part-owner for the Stuart, Va.-based team.
Wood
was what you might call a tinkerer. He built a washing machine engine-powered
go-kart from parts and pieces he found when he was 13. It still runs and can be
seen in the Woods’ museum.
When
NASCAR began adding superspeedways – and pit stops – Wood figured out ways to
get the race car serviced in the least amount of time.
One
major achievement in the team’s pit stop arsenal was the light-weight jack that
replaced floor jacks weighing more than 100 pounds found in the repair shops of
the day. With Wood’s choreography the team excelled like no other. Wood
continued to go over the wall to change tires well into his 50s.
In
1965, Ford and Colin Chapman hired the Woods to service Jim Clark’s car in the
Indianapolis 500. Another Wood innovation, an internal device allowing fuel to
flow more quickly from a gravity-based fuel tank, dramatically reduced pit
times and was key in Clark’s victory.
Wood’s
accomplishments were not confined to pit road. He ran the team’s engine shop
that provided horsepower and longevity on a par with rivals Holman-Moody and
Petty Enterprises. That was instrumental to the success NASCAR Hall of Fame
inductee David Pearson enjoyed as Pearson won 43 races between 1972 and 1978.
Racing legends Neil Bonnett, Cale Yarborough, A.J. Foyt and Dan Gurney are
among drivers winning in Wood Brothers-prepared and crewed cars.
This is the last in
a series of GodfatherMotorsports.com biographies profiling the 25 nominees for
the 2012 class of the NASCAR Hall Of Fame.
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