Legendary Wood Bros. scrambles to regain footing

After headaches short-circuited his 2007 season, Jon Wood is poised for a bigger role on his grandfather's team in 2008. Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR

The Wood Brothers have been racing in NASCAR's top division, known next year as Sprint Cup, continuously since 1953, longer than any other team. But they've hit on hard times in recent years, sliding down in the final points from the 20s to the 30s. In 2007, the team's famed No. 21 fell to the dreaded 36th position, out of a guaranteed qualifying spot for next year's Daytona 500.

That's quite a change for a team that has raced in all of the 500s since '63 and have four wins.

This has been a tough year in a very personal way, too. Jon Wood, grandson of founder Glen Wood, is being groomed to step into the No. 21. A veteran of NASCAR's Craftsman Truck and Busch Series, the younger Wood suffered a setback when he began having severe headaches at midseason. He'd made his debut at Las Vegas, but plans for him to drive in nine more Cup races were reduced to one, at Kansas, and he failed to make the race.

Wood's problems were traced to an adverse reaction to a prescription medication. He recovered and returned to the Truck series for 11 starts, garnering a season-best finish of third at Las Vegas, while also making a total of 13 starts in Busch.

Ken Schrader started the Cup season for the team, which became Wood Brothers/JTG Racing in '05 after its merger with Tad and Jodi Geschickter's ST Motorsports Busch operation. But the popular and likeable 52-year-old wasn't able to keep the team in the top 35.

The team then turned to Bill Elliott, another likeable and popular veteran with a Cup championship on his résumé. He drove in 20 races, only using the champion's provisional to get into five, and kept the team in the top 35 until the final weeks of the season.

This winter, thus, has become the most critical in the team's history. It needs to begin rebuilding, an effort that should be helped by having the full support of Ford -- the only manufacturer in the team's history -- and some loyal sponsors.

While the final plans have yet to be finalized, but Wood Brothers/JTG is apparently headed for a multi-driver lineup in '08 in what should be a transition year from a veteran lineup to new blood in the No. 21.

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