Jon Wood

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Jon Wood
Born: October 25, 1981 (1981-10-25) (age 26)
Birthplace: Stuart, Virginia
Achievements:
Awards:
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Statistics
Car #, Team #21 - Wood Brothers Racing
First Race: 2007 UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400 (Las Vegas)
Wins Top Tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Nationwide Series Statistics
85 races run over 5 years.
2006 NNS Position: 14th
Best NNS Position: 14th - 2006
First Race: 2002 Kroger 200 (IRP)
Last Race: 2007 Carquest Auto Parts 300 (Lowe's)
Wins Top Tens Poles
0 12 0
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Statistics
Car #, Team #21 - Wood Brothers Racing
2006 NCTS Position: 50th
Best NCTS Position: 5th - 2003
First Race: 2001 Advance Auto Parts 250 (Martinsville)
First Win: 2003 O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 (Kansas)
Last Win: 2003 Advance Auto Parts 200 (Martinsville)
Wins Top Tens Poles
2 50 2
Statistics current as of June 1, 2008.

Jon Wood (born October 25, 1981), in Stuart Virginia, is a NASCAR driver for Wood Brothers Racing. He is the grandson of Glen Wood, one of the famous Wood Brothers who founded what has become Nextel Cup's longest continuously active team.

Contents

[edit] Early career

Wood was given his first go kart as a child by Dale Jarrett[1] driver for the Wood Brothers at the time. After racing go-karts, he moved up to stock cars, racing in the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series and the NASCAR Winston West Series. Wood made his major-league NASCAR debut in 2001 at Martinsville Speedway, driving the #15 Ford F-150 for Billy Ballew Motorsports. He started and finished 31st after suffering rear end failures. The release of Chuck Hossfeld allowed Wood to drive Roush Racing's #50 Eldon Ford for the rest of the year. He claimed a pair of top five finishes (Kansas and Fontana) in his limited appearances. In 2002, Jon ran the entire schedule, earning ten top-10s with sponsorship from the United States Navy. That year, he made his first Busch Series start came at IRP, subbing for Jeff Burton in the #9 Gain Ford Taurus. He started and finished 6th that day.

In 2003, Wood notched two poles, 10 top fives and 20 top ten finishes, including two wins on his way to a fifth-place standing in points. He ran most of the season with sponsored by Bob Graham. He ran his second Busch race that season at the Ford 300 in the #15 for ppc Racing. He finished 22nd. Unfortunately, the 2004 Craftsman Truck Series season was a struggle for Wood, who was forced to run unsponsored for virtually the entire season. As a result, Roush Racing focused more.[citation needed] on teammate Carl Edwards, and he had a pair of top fives and a fifteenth-place point result.

[edit] 2005-Present

2007 Busch car after a wreck
2007 Busch car after a wreck

Wood moved to NASCAR's Busch Series full-time in 2005, driving for ST Motorsports (which later merged with the Wood Brothers to form Wood Brothers/JTG in 2006.) Wood had two top-fives and finished fifteenth in points, finishing fourth in the Rookie of the Year standings. In August 2005, Wood was released from his development contract with Roush Racing, and became a member of the Wood Brothers driver development program. Wood had one top-five finish in 2006 and moved up one spot in the standings.

Originally, plans called for Wood to move up to Nextel Cup full-time in 2007; however, because of sponsor issues and the need for more experience, Wood will run only a partial schedule during the 2007 Nextel Cup season. Wood was to continue to drive full-time in the #47 Clorox-sponsored Ford in the Busch Series, but was pulled from the ride following medical issues. He is currently racing part-time in the Craftsman Truck Series, sharing the ride with his cousin Keven Wood. He will drive the #21 Cup carfor nine races with United States Air Force as his sponsor sharing the car with Marcos Ambrose and Bill Elliott.[2][3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ [2]
  3. ^ Jayski #21 Team News

[edit] External links

Wood Brothers Racing
Sprint Cup drivers Bill Elliott (21) | Jon Wood (#21)
Craftsman Truck Series drivers Jon Wood (#21) | Keven Wood (#21)
Development drivers Marcos Ambrose | Jonathan Cash | Jon Wes Townley
Owners Glen Wood | Wood Brothers
Notable former drivers Donnie Allison | Neil Bonnett | A. J. Foyt | Dale Jarrett |
Kyle Petty | Morgan Shepherd | Michael Waltrip | Cale Yarborough
Partnerships & Alliances JTG Racing | Roush Fenway Racing