Making the trek to the outskirts of Music City, Tennessee, all three NASCAR national touring series will take the stage at Nashville Superspeedway for a trio of races under the lights.

Chevrolet Newsroom

The tripleheader weekend will mark the sport’s fifth trip to the 1.33-mile Tennessee tri-oval since finding an annual spot on each series’ schedule during the 2021 season. For the Bowtie brigade, Sunday’s Cracker Barrel 400 will be a shot at redemption after falling just one spot short of staying undefeated in NASCAR’s top division at the track last season.

Chevrolet at Nashville Superspeedway

Since NASCAR’s return to Nashville Superspeedway in 2021, Chevrolet has been the only manufacturer that’s paid a visit to victory lane at the track in all three divisions.

When the NASCAR Cup Series hit the track for its first-ever appearance in 2021, it was Chevrolet that made the inaugural trip to victory lane with a dominating performance by Kyle Larson and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team – a win that was accompanied by a podium sweep for the Bowtie brand with Ross Chastain (2nd) and William Byron (3rd). The victory kickstarted a Team Chevy three-peat at the Tennessee track, with Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott taking the victory in 2022 and Trackhouse Racing’s Chastain following suit in 2023. Larson and Chastain’s victories are accompanied by series-leading statistics that automatically put them at the forefront of top contenders heading into the weekend. In four Cup Series races held at Nashville Superspeedway, Larson is the only driver to finish within the top-10 in each of his starts. While a late-race incident took him out of contention last season, Chastain powered his Trackhouse Racing-prepared Chevrolet to top-five results in the series’ first three events at the track, including a runner-up finish in the inaugural race and his win in 2023.
 

Hitting the Halfway Mark

At the drop of the checkered flag at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the NASCAR Cup Series has officially raced its way into the second-half of its regular season schedule. With Chastain’s crown jewel triumph, Chevrolet has collected a series-high five wins this season, with the 32-year-old Alva, Florida, native joining his fellow Team Chevy teammates, William Byron and Kyle Larson, with an early ticket into the 2025 playoffs. Dating back to just the third race of the season at Circuit of The Americas, Byron took over the series’ points lead and has been a fixture among the top-two positions ever since – ultimately regaining the lead from his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Larson, following a strong points day and a runner-up finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Chevrolet also holds a commanding lead in a variety of statistical categories including stage wins (14), top-10s (60), laps led (1,976) and pole wins (7).

On the Rebound

With eight different winners thus far this season, eight opportunities remain to secure a playoff position by virtue of a win. Among those looking for their first trip to victory lane of the season includes a handful of Team Chevy drivers that are hitting a stride as we enter the second-half of the regular season.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finds himself in the 13th position in the points standings after falling just short of a top-10 finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Consistency has been key for the No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet team, which has positioned the single-car organization in a provisional playoff position heading into the second-half of the regular season. In 13 points-paying races this season, Stenhouse Jr. has completed all but three laps, as well as tallied four top-12 results, including two in the top-six. The Mississippi native is well on his way to a career-best season-long average finish, heading to Nashville Superspeedway with a 16.8 average.
 

After a tough set of results, AJ Allmendinger rebounded with his best finish of the season at Charlotte Motor Speedway – taking the checkered flag in the fourth position in the sport’s longest race. The finish was accompanied by a 49-point day – the third-highest among the field. There’s no better place to carry that momentum than yet another intermediate oval – a track configuration that has delivered the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet team three of their four top-10 finishes of the season.
 

Intermediate Icons

Fresh off the Coca-Cola 600 victory, Chevrolet continues to prove to be a force to be reckoned with on the circuit’s intermediate ovals this season. In seven races on non-drafting intermediate ovals, the Bowtie brand has made three trips to victory lane including Chastain’s Charlotte Motor Speedway win and a pair of victories by Kyle Larson at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Kansas Speedway. Qualifying has been a strong suit for the Chevrolet camp, with five of the manufacturer’s series-leading seven pole wins coming on the configuration – each earned by a different driver. In five of the six intermediate oval races thus far this season, Chevrolet has recorded at least four top-10 results in each, including a season-high seven top-10 finishes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
 

Dialing-In Double-Digits

William Byron’s dream of winning at his home track became reality when he took the checkered flag in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The 27-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina, native became the seventh different Chevrolet driver to find victory lane in the Xfinity Series this season – delivering the Bowtie brand its 11th win in just 13 races. Among those triumphs includes five full-time competitors that have also earned an early playoff berth, including both Richard Childress Racing entries, Austin Hill and Jesse Love, as well as three JR Motorsports drivers with reigning champion Justin Allgaier, ‘Rookie of the Year’ contender Connor Zilisch, and Sammy Smith.

Looking ahead to Nashville Superspeedway, the Bowtie brigade heads into the weekend with 10 wins in 25 appearances by the Xfinity Series at the Tennessee track – two of which have come since the track’s revival in 2021 (Justin Allgaier – 2022; AJ Allmendinger – 2023). With his victory in 2022, Allgaier holds the honors as the series’ only past winner that will compete in Saturday’s 250-mile race.
 

Honeycutt Hits Career-Best Finish

Niece Motorsports’ Kaden Honeycutt turned in his season-best finish of third at Charlotte Motor Speedway last weekend. The result came after an intense battle with the series’ points leader, Corey Heim, and a pair of Team Chevy Cup Series regulars, Ross Chastain and Kyle Busch. Collecting a strong 50-point day, the 21-year-old Willow Park, Texas, native, made yet another jump up in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ points standings, with the No. 45 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet team heading to Music City seventh in the rankings with seven races left in the regular season.

Chevrolet will enter the weekend with five all-time Truck Series wins at Nashville Superspeedway, including an active streak of two-in-a-row courtesy of victories by Niece Motorsports (Carson Hocevar – 2023) and McAnally-Hilgemann Racing (Christian Eckes – 2024). While all of the full-time competitors are still seeking their first Nashville triumph, there is one entrant that is very familiar with victory lane at the Tennessee track – the series’ winningest driver, Kyle Busch. The 40-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada, native is a two-time winner at Nashville Superspeedway in both the Xfinity and Truck Series.
 

Chevrolet’s season statistics with 13 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:

Wins: 5

Poles: 7

Laps Led: 1,976

Top-Fives: 27

Top-10s: 60

Stage Wins: 14

Chevrolet’s season statistics with 13 NASCAR Xfinity Series races complete:

Wins: 11

Poles: 8

Laps Led: 1,940

Top-Fives: 44

Top-10s: 84

Stage Wins: 21

Chevrolet’s season statistics with 11 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races complete:

Wins: 5

Poles: 2

Laps Led: 685

Top-Fives: 28

Top-10s: 55

Stage Wins: 7

BOWTIE BULLETS:

· Victories by active Chevrolet drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series at Nashville Superspeedway:

Kyle Larson – one win (2021)

Chase Elliott – one win (2022)

Ross Chastain – one win (2023)

· Chevrolet is the only manufacturer to accomplish a tripleheader sweep across all three NASCAR national divisions this season – earned at Homestead-Miami Speedway courtesy of victories by Kyle Larson (Cup and Truck Series) and Justin Allgaier (Xfinity Series).

· Chevrolet has earned at least half of the top-10 finishing results in eight of the 13 points-paying races thus far this season, including a season-high seven top-10 finishes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.

· In 121 points-paying races in the Next Gen era, Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 57 victories – a winning percentage of 47.1%.

· With its 43 NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Championships, 33 NASCAR Cup Series Driver Championships, and 871 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins, Chevrolet continues to hold the title as the winningest brand in NASCAR Cup Series history.
 

TUNE-IN:

NASCAR Cup Series

Cracker Barrel 400

Sunday, June 1, at 7 p.m. ET

(Amazon Prime, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90)

NASCAR Xfinity Series

Tennessee Lottery 250

Saturday, May 31, at 7:30 p.m. ET

(CW, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90)

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

Rackley Roofing 200

Friday, May 30, 8 p.m. ET

(FS1, NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90)
 

QUOTABLE QUOTES:

Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

How much fun is it to go to the Nashville area this weekend?

“I love country music and live music, so that’s a fun time. I always stay after the race and go to Tootsies down on Broadway and that’s always a good time. Tootsies has been a longtime supporter of Trackhouse so it fun to go down there and spend time. I get to Nashville a couple of times each year, usually for sponsor things, so I’m very familiar with the area and it’s a lot fun.”

Why have you had so much success at Nashville?

“The track is very unique. It feels like it’s a mile-and-a-half but it’s not so it takes me some time to get acclimated. But I’ve had fast cars there to be honest. If my cars aren’t good, I can’t go fast. We’ll look to build off of things we’ve learned more recently about these cars and try to keep moving the needle. I’m running the Xfinity race so that’s exciting and a challenge. I’m running a JRM car with Acceptance Insurance on Saturday night and that will allow me to get some more reps in at the track.”

Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

What are your thoughts on Nashville Superspeedway?

” Nashville is a very awesome town. The racetrack is concrete, which makes it unique from some of the other tracks we race at. It’s become a good race on our schedule. I’ve won a truck race there, so looking forward to trying to win another guitar. The track surface is one of those surfaces that really chews up a little bit of tire, so you definitely have to do a very good job at putting heat in the car.”

The No. 3 team seems to be figuring things out lately. What has changed over the past several weeks? And what do you still need to improve on?

“We’re starting to click as a team. We do a good job adjusting on our Chevy during the race, but if we can hit the setup earlier in the weekend, we can have better track position, which will help a lot during the race. We had a top 10 streak going and I really thought we were going to have another top 10 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but we unexpectedly ran out of fuel at the end of the race. Our finish doesn’t reflect how well we ran. Nashville is another track that has been good to us in the past, and I think with the way this team is performing right now, we should be able to continue our positive momentum.”

What has Kyle Busch been like as a teammate? Specifically, this year as RCR continues to restructure things and move forward. What has he brought to the organization?

“I feel like Kyle Busch gives you what you expect, which is that he’s a hard worker. He’s fiery. He wants the best for the cars. He wants to get to victory lane constantly and will push everyone to figure out how to make that happen, even himself, on the track. But as far as being in the meetings with him after practice and on Mondays in our team debriefs, he’s very helpful. He asks good questions at the right time about what your car is doing, and he provides information that you can make your car better off of. From that standpoint, you couldn’t ask for a more helpful teammate when it comes to his knowledge of the game and what he is providing from an informational standpoint.”

Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

How do you feel about Garner Trucking coming back to Nashville for Sunday’s race underneath the lights?

“Everyone at Spire Motorsports appreciates the support from Sherri and the entire team at Garner Trucking. Our trucks stand tall going up and down the road and when they pull into the race track for the weekend. We’re looking forward to representing Garner for the next two weekends. I feel like our cars keep getting better and Nashville and Michigan should be good tracks for us, so I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how we stack up.”

Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

How do you think the racing has evolved at Nashville Superspeedway since we started going in 2021?

“I think the racing in Nashville has been really good. I remember years ago, a long time back in the Xfinity days, it was a one-groove racetrack around the bottom of the racetrack. It wasn’t really conducive to a whole lot of side-by-side racing and whatnot. But the last few years it’s really been good there. The track really widens out. There’s guys that are running all the way up at the top groove. So it’s been a good show. So hopefully the fans enjoy it. I hope it’s not too hot next week. Perfect weather here this weekend in Charlotte. So I look forward to Nashville.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet

“Nashville Superspeedway is always a race I look forward to. The atmosphere is incredible, and the fans bring a lot of energy. We’ve been focused on getting the No. 47 NOS Energy Drink Chevrolet dialed in, and the team’s been working hard to get us where we need to be. I’m confident we can put together a strong run this weekend and give everyone something to cheer about.”

Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

Talk about earning your first top-10 of the season last week in the Coca-Cola 600.

“We have been really good at 1.5-mile tracks, I’m glad to get that top 10. We have been in position to get those finishes, but haven’t been able to get to the end. It was a long night after missing my pit box and starting Stage Two at the back. It was tough to get back to the front, but we slowly and methodically worked our way forward with some big help from out pit crew. I’m proud of our guys, our ability to execute a sold night, and getting to the end of a long race with a good finish. We have some more to work on, but I am proud of the effort from our Spire Motorsports team. We have some momentum to ride into Nashville this week.”

What are your thoughts as we head into Nashville this weekend?

“Nashville is fun. I’ve been able to race there a bunch over the years with both the ARCA Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series. When I started in Cup, that was the track where we went and tested at a bunch. It’s a fun race track and it’s a challenge to get around. The race is like a hybrid of a short track and a big track, but in these cars, it’s pretty cool because you’re downshifting, up shifting, there are a lot of opportunities. I think that it’s one of my better tracks, even though we don’t have the Cup results to show for it. Speed wise, it’s been a fun track for us. We just haven’t had the finishes, whether we got tied up in wrecks or we had a transmission explode there last year. I haven’t had great luck but felt like we’ve had good speed.”

Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

What is your outlook for Sunday’s race at Nashville?

“I think we’ll have a good car and hopefully another shot at a win, without the bad luck this time. We’ve reached a point where it doesn’t matter what type of track we go to, we are consistently up front and running some of the fastest lap times. Eventually everything balances out and we’ll start having the finishes to match those runs. Nashville is a really fast track and I think it plays into my driving style, having to keep up with the track changes and making moves when the opening is there. I feel like we’re going to have another really good race.”

Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

After a solid performance at Charlotte, how do you feel your aggression is growing on ovals?

“I think we are showing improvement now. It has been difficult results wise, but I do feel like we are getting somewhere, getting better and better. To me, I know I have a lot to learn but I don’t feel like I’m forcing it or driving outside my limits. Every week I’m being methodical about it. I feel good about the way it’s going.”

There are three road course races over the next two months. Are you looking forward to this part of the season?

“I’m looking forward to some right handers, that’s for sure (laughs). Got some good tracks coming up, tracks I know, but obviously Mexico City is a fresh one for everyone. But these ovals have been a big learning process the last couple of months, so it will be nice to have a break and turn right.”

Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

What are your thoughts on Trackhouse Racing’s 300th start this weekend in Nashville?

“That’s amazing. It all started as Justin’s (Marks, owner) dream and we’ve grown from a single car team to what we are now. The men and women who work at Trackhouse should be very proud. We are a very young team competing against the Gibbs, Penske, Hendrick and Childress teams of the world who have been successful for so long.”

What are your thoughts on Nashville this weekend?

“We want to celebrate Sunday night at Tootsie’s like Ross did in 2023. Maybe we will drive our Tootsie’s Chevrolet from victory lane and park it right on Broadway. Nashville is a special place for us. It’s Tootsie’s hometown, Justin’s hometown, and a really fun town. There would be no better place to win.”

Connor Zilisch, No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet

“I’m really excited to go to Nashville for the first time. It’s such a cool city and I’ve raced at the Fairgrounds before, but this will be my first time racing at the NASCAR track in Nashville. I have some laps on the simulator and it’s definitely a technical racetrack and is one of the few concrete tracks that we go to. I’m looking forward to figuring it out quickly and keeping the momentum up from Charlotte. We had a really good day running inside the top three in both stages and finished second. The Blues Hog team is starting to fire on all cylinders and I’m looking forward to putting races together and getting more good finishes through the summer.”

GM PR

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Nashville Superspeedway for the Cracker Barrel 400 (7 p.m. ET, Prime Video, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Prime Video will also air Cup Series qualifying at 5:40 p.m. ET on Saturday.

QUALIFYING ORDER: Cup Series | Xfinity Series | Craftsman Truck Series

The qualifying order below is determined via metric that combines the previous race finish by owner (70%) and current owner points position (30%).

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RELATED: How to watch on Prime Video

Saturday’s qualifying session will be one lap and one round.

MORE: Weekend Schedule

# denotes series rookie
(i) denotes ineligible for driver points

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. — A month after hosting a NASCAR Trucks and Xfinity race for the first time in over a decade, Rockingham Speedway is up for sale, according to Channel 9’s partners at the Charlotte Observer.

The speedway is listed by CBRE Group, which is a commercial real estate services and investment firm. Racetrack owner Dan Lovenheim confirmed to the Observer he is selling the track.

The track held a Truck Series race, an Xfinity Series race, and an ARCA race on Easter weekend.

The NASCAR Cup Series left the track in 2004, and while Rockingham held several races in other series, Rockingham stayed vacant throughout the 2010s after its final race in 2013.

“We’ve basically taken it in first gear as far as we can go, building it out, getting it ready for bigger and better hands,” Lovenheim told The Charlotte Observer. “And the time is right to pass the baton to someone who can take it farther than we can.”

A new buyer will be selected by the 1st of July and there is now an open offer period.

(WATCH BELOW: Former Mallard Creek star takes break from NFL for first youth football camp in Charlotte)

Former Mallard Creek star takes break from NFL for first youth football camp in Charlotte

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The three-person National Motorsports Appeals Panel amended part of the penalty to Chris Buescher’s RFK Racing team after the appeal was heard on Wednesday.

Buescher and the team were initially docked 60 driver and owner points after the car was taken the NASCAR R&D Center for a teardown inspection after the Kansas race on May 11 (main image), where it was determined that the team had exceeded the allowed bonded area for the front bumper cover. The rule book states that the front fascia may be strengthened on the inner surface, but only up to two inches in all directions.

The panel amended the penalty to a loss of 30 points, but the rest of the penalty for a front bumper cover infraction remains in place. The No. 17 team was also docked five playoff points, as was Buescher, and fined $75,000. Buescher’s crew chief, Scott Graves, was suspended for two races. He has already served his suspension (North Wilkesboro and Charlotte) and will be back with the team at Nashville Superspeedway.

“The panel concluded that NASCAR met its burden of proof regarding the reinforcement of the front bumper cover but did not meet it regarding the trimming of the exhaust panel cover,” a statement from the panel said. “The rule book regarding the exhaust panel trimming lacking specificity on the amount trimmed or not trimmed. Accordingly, the Panel reduced the owner and driver points penalty from 60 to 30 points.”

The panel was Tom DeLoach, Cary Tharrington, and Kevin Whitaker.

The amended points penalty moves Buescher from 23rd to 16th in the championship standings. He is six points below a spot on the playoff grid.

“We appreciate the opportunity to present our case to the National Motorsports Appeal Panel today and are pleased that the Panel overturned one of the two assessed penalties,” RFK Racing said. “Our goal is to always comply fully with the letter of the NASCAR Rulebook, and our focus is now looking forward to competing for a win in Nashville this weekend.”

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600 averaged 2.72 million viewers in Prime Video’s first NASCAR race.

The race, which was won by Ross Chastain, was the third-highest-watched NASCAR race this season not carried by Fox. FS1 averaged 2.89 million viewers for the March 16 race at Las Vegas and 2.84 million for Phoenix on March 9.

Fox Sports had the first 12 races of the season, with eight being carried on FS1. Last year’s Coca-Cola 600 on Fox averaged 3.2 million viewers.

According to Nielsen, the audience for Sunday night’s race peaked at 2.92 million viewers near the midway point.

Prime Video’s audience had an average age of 55.8 years, which is more than six years younger than the average median age of viewers watching NASCAR Cup Series races on linear TV (61.9).

The 67-minute postrace show averaged 1.04 million viewers and peaked at 1.26 million.

This was the first of five races that Prime Video will carry this season.

___

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NASCAR’s roots may extend back to the days of bootleggers speeding away from law enforcement, but that effort from the pioneers of stock car racing unearthed a growing spirit of competition that sent ripple effects throughout the automobile industry, and thus, motorsports.

Healthy competition has long been an integral component of several aspects of advancements in society, from the economy, to brand promotion, to taste and luxury, and even who the fastest kid on the school playground is.

The unraveling stages of competitiveness spilled over into the automotive industry as manufacturing innovation began to blossom across the market. And as soon as gearheads began fancying what alterations they could make to squeeze in a little more horsepower in their “toys,” those auto companies took advantage through upstart series like NASCAR in the 1950s, seeking to outdo one another concerning car design.

That led to some of the most iconic rivalries in the American market, involving brands such as Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge, Plymouth, Oldsmobile and just about any American car maker you could name. While only some of those companies still exist today, the rivalry between Ford and Chevrolet has blazed on throughout the decades.

As Cunning As a ‘Silver Fox’, As Good as Gold: David Pearson & the Wood Brothers

In the 1950s, drivers such as Curtis Turner, Joe Weatherly and Buck Baker were stars for Ford Motor Company, which has had a presence in the sport since its founding. Turner and Weatherly both approached the Dearborn, Mich.-based company to advocate for Ford to support Wood Brothers Racing in its racing operations.

Ford listened, and the two sides joined forces in the mid-’50s, leading to one of the most tight-knit partnerships in motorsports history, one that still stands today as the longest-running team-manufacturer relationship in the sport as the team celebrates its 75th anniversary in NASCAR.

“We’ve always been loyal [to Ford],” WBR co-founder Leonard Wood told Frontstretch. “That’s all we’ve ever run, is Ford products. Ford was out of racing there for a little while, and we got offers to go to another brand, but I never did want to, and we never did. I’ve always preferred the Ford brand. I’m not opposed to [other manufacturers], people can drive whatever they want. I have friends from all kinds of different model cars that people drive, but I prefer the Ford brand myself.”

That brief absence Wood alluded to references Ford’s dispute with NASCAR in 1966, leading to a boycott that spring and summer. The dispute circulated around Ford’s 427 SOHC engine, a response to Chrysler’s Hemi Cammer 427 that kept them afloat. NASCAR initially banned Ford’s engine, then allowed it with a weight requirement, leading to Ford’s brief departure.

How did the team navigate those uncharted waters? Through its exceptional quality that the group never ran short of: innovation.

“We built that little, red modified back there,” Wood said, pointing to a modified No. 21 that is on display at the team’s museum in Stuart, Va. “I took a ’66 Ford frame, laid it in the floor, narrowed it and shortened it to fit a ’37 Ford body on top of it. First of all, it had coil springs in the front and leaf springs in the back. The coil springs all the way around, but then I ended up putting leaf springs in the back and a straight axle in the front.”

The ingenious creation didn’t starve for speed either, as Wood recalls Donnie Allison holding off newly-inducted NASCAR Hall-of-Famer Ray Hendrick in a modified race, continuing its winning tradition.

The Wood Brothers’ loyalty to Ford, as well as that sustained partnership, circles back to the core of what has allowed the team to reach the pinnacle of success while maintaining a admirable level of respect throughout the garage: relationships.

“If I picked one single person and relationship that had nothing but positive implications, it would be the friendship that my dad [Eddie Wood] and Edsel Ford [II] have,” WBR co-owner and president Jon Wood said. “That one came about in total happenstance. They have a lot in common, they have a lot not in common. They came from two completely different backgrounds and worlds, but when they’re together, you’d never know it.”

“I think because of that, Edsel had a lot of positive influence in the direction of our team. Not only did he help us, but he helped with guidance as well and helping my dad make positive decisions that affected us more-so down the road than in the immediate. That one friendship probably, in the current era we’re in today, would be why we’re here today.”

Ford II, the great-grandson of the company’s founder, Henry Ford, has always considered the Wood Brothers family, and both sides have been interdependent on one another through thick and thin.

“They’ve been there in good times. They’ve been there in bad times,” Ford II said in an article by Autoweek. “They’re a part of the fabric of our company, especially when it comes to NASCAR. Since they are a part of the fabric of our company, I can’t imagine them not being there. They’re always around when we need them.”

Both sides can point to those periods where the other’s support was critical — “life-saving,” even. In addition to the 1966 drama, Ford briefly pulled out of NASCAR in 1971 due to a new corporate strategy to slash costs. By pulling factory support, they hoped to encourage more independent teams to run off Ford parts at a lower cost while being funded by sponsors. However, most companies didn’t have the leverage to foot what would be at least a $150,000 bill.

The consequences included the demise of two-time championship-winning powerhouse Holman-Moody Racing, a three-year hiatus for Junior Johnson (who returned in 1974 with Chevrolet) and the departure of WBR’s star driver, Cale Yarborough, who left for USAC. The Wood Brothers only entered 15 races that season. Yet the team remained loyal to the Blue Oval during that crisis.

Bringing the Heat: The Wood Brothers’ Legacy Rolls On

In its early years, the Wood Brothers were called upon by Ford to test parts and set-ups, as well as find ways to save time in the pits, leading to the invention of the modern-day pit stop. The team’s pit choreography paved the way for them to be invited by Ford to pit Jim Clark‘s 1965 Indianapolis 500 car, a race Clark went on to win.

As the sport transitioned into the 21st century, it was Ford’s time to return the favor. After nearly two decades of sponsoring WBR, Citgo left the team following the 2000 season. To make matters worse, the team was enduring an eight-year winless drought and hadn’t finished in the top 10 in points since 1994.

That’s when Ford stepped up to the plate.

“We were in another one of those crisis points,” Jon Wood said. “We had lost our Citgo sponsorship and were left without anything, and I wasn’t old enough to know what was going on at that point in time, but we ended up with the Motorcraft deal in 2001.”

Motorcraft is a parts, accessory and fluid company that was launched by Ford in 1972. The brand signed on to support WBR and Elliott Sadler, leading to a turning point for the team.

“Elliott Sadler goes out there and wins Bristol [Motor Speedway], and that was our first win with them in our first season, and it’s just been good ever since,” Jon Wood said. “A lot of people come and go within that company, but most everyone that we’ve worked with has come to appreciate us not only as people, but someone to work with, in a professional sense, and we’re still chugging along.”

The partnership is one of the longest-running sponsor/team pairings among active organizations, and Motorcraft has become synonymous with the red-and-white scheme, accompanied by the gold No. 21, that has been solidified as one of the most iconic schemes in racing. The sponsor has ridden along for five of the team’s 101 wins, including the 2011 Daytona 500 upset with Trevor Bayne.

“The Wood Brothers aren’t just another race team to us; they’re family,” said Chris Wallace, the U.S. product category sales director of the Ford Customer Service Division. “Their history with Ford goes back more than 70 years, and they’ve been a huge part of our brand story in NASCAR. Since Motorcraft became their primary sponsor in 2001, we’ve built a relationship that’s about more than just logos on a car. It’s about shared passion, tradition, and a commitment to performance.”

Both the Wood Brothers and Ford/Motorcraft’s shared passion and vision for motorsports has fueled a partnership that is tighter than the strongest glue. And for the brand, that loyalty is what stands out above all qualities.

“It really comes down to trust, loyalty, and a shared love of racing,” Wallace said. “A lot has changed in NASCAR over the years. There are new rules, new technology, and new ways of doing things, but through it all, our relationship with the Wood Brothers has stayed rock solid. That’s pretty rare in this sport.

“What makes it work is that we’re in it for the right reasons. The Wood Brothers represent everything we love about racing—history, innovation, and the drive to win. We’ve given them the support they need, and they’ve continued to show up and compete at the highest level. It’s been a true partnership.”

75 Years of Wood Brothers Racing: Pioneers of a Winning Tradition

Manufacturer loyalty among NASCAR’s fan base has been reserved to a shadow of what it was at the height of manufacturer wars. Much of that can be attributed to technology advancements in the auto industry, the auto economy, and the fact that the cars are only stock in name anymore.

Yet, the respect and bond between Ford and the Wood Brothers gives glimpses of that old-school rivalry and loyalty that once defined much of what transpired in the sport.

Just like the history of the team itself, it is a partnership that is as beautiful of a tale as old as time.

Entering his fifth year with Frontstretch, Luken Glover is the author of The Underdog House, shedding light on the motivation and performance of NASCAR’s dark horse teams as they strive to fight to the top. Additionally, Glover reports for the site at various events, and he contributes in the video editing department.

A 2023 graduate of the University of the Cumberlands, Glover is a middle school math and PE teacher, as well as a basketball coach. He is passionate about serving in his church, playing/coaching a wide variety of sports, and researching motorsports history.