It's not personal; it's business

Wood Bros., Sadler remain friends despite season-long saga

Sunday afternoon at Darlington, as everybody resigned themselves to a rain delay (the Southern 500 media gift was an umbrella), the Air Force stayed on schedule.

Just after 1 p.m., two jets pierced the cloud cover. They streaked over the Raceway, low and loud. The noise drowned out the jet dryers. Eddie Wood glanced skyward as both planes pierced the clouds again and said, "That was big."

He didn't mean size or spectacle. Or the fact that the Air Force sponsors the Wood Brothers. Most pre-race flyovers are wow-that's-cool, but a few of them shock, like when they're timing engines in the garage and someone revs one near you without warning.

Trust me.

As I unplugged my ears, I realized Eddie could say the same thing about the Wood Brothers. It's been three weeks since the team officially pulled the Ricky Rudd coup, and that was so big that Eddie, brother Len and their elders are just now recognizing its scope.

"When all the stars and the moon and all the junk lined up, it just lined up," Eddie said. "You'd have had to been there to believe it."

Viewed from a broader, industry-based perspective, exchanging promise for star power may prove to be a milestone for the Woods. Rudd's experience, fan base and performance level command instant notice from marketers, suppliers, sponsors and fans. That's important to a team long respected as an entity and individuals, but not seen as a championship threat. Already, all that outside reaction has surprised Eddie Wood.

"That comes with it," he said. "That's a fringe benefit of having a driver of that caliber."

So is this newfound attention an indictment of Elliott Sadler? Hardly.

Sadler's 27. Rudd's 45. The latter's been around every block in the racing business, including a few he'd probably like to forget, and the former has barely gotten his feet wet. From a pragmatic standpoint, Rudd comes with no assembly required.

"The experience level he's got, the knowledge of setups and race cars and mind-set is such that it'll help you do what you need to do," Eddie said. "And it takes some of the guesswork out of it.

"We're getting there with Elliott. Another year -- that's coming, that's there. And it's going to take a while to jell, but it did, and it has.

"But when you get a guy like Ricky, that's already there."

Eddie Wood is five years older than his future driver. He was there when Rudd ran his first race in the early 1980s. He's been around, and sometimes in the next-door hauler and motor coach, ever since. The Woods know Rudd. And Rudd knows crew chief Pat Tryson, who once worked as his car chief when Rudd owned his own team.

"So that takes the getting-to-know-you part out," Eddie said. "The element of will they get along, that takes that out. They've already been together."

Without reciting Rudd's career history for the umpteenth time since May, remember what's happened since he shed the financial and time-drain headaches of ownership: He finished fifth in the championship standings in 2000 and fourth last year. He ranks eighth heading into this weekend's race at Richmond.

Although they're a family-owned, single-car team, the Woods have some oompf -- an association with Roush Racing that includes engines, engineering help, etc. (Eddie said they considered forming a second team for this season, but backed off). Once he leaves Robert Yates Racing, Rudd's not headed for the outhouse.

And the Woods crave consistency. It's OK to be competitive, win a race a year. Knock off some top fives and top 10s. But that doesn't stir the media or empty sponsor pocketbooks.

During nearly three years with the Woods, Sadler has see-sawed his results. He's flashed ability, but also taxed the fab shop. He won his first Winston Cup race with fellow Virginians. Eddie Wood has no complaints about how the soap opera ended -- everybody got what they wanted, plus Sadler acquitted himself in the character department.

"Elliott is super, super easy to get along with," Eddie said. "He's not a high-maintenance-type person. If you ask him a question, he'll answer it. He won't jerk you around about stuff. That's why he told us about the thing so early. I mean, he couldn't stand it."

According to Eddie, Sadler broke the news of wanting out of his Wood Brothers contract in late April, when the Cup series was in Fontana, Calif. The following Tuesday, the team tested at South Boston (Va.) Speedway for the spring race at Richmond, and while meeting in the hauler lounge, Eddie said he and Sadler made a pact: You be straight with me, I'll be straight with you, and we'll be friends in the end.

"We still go to dinner," Eddie said. "It's just normal. We talk about what he's going to do next year. There was a time period in there where you were guarded about what you were saying and he was, too -- I mean, you have to be.

"Now that it's all out there, everybody knows what everybody's doing. I knew what number he was going to run before a lot of people did. He came and told me."

The two also warned each other about their press conferences, Sadler announcing that he was succeeding Rudd at RYR and the Woods announcing Rudd's hiring. Eddie Wood won't be surprised to see Sadler at the team's annual Christmas party.

"It'll never be bad here," Eddie said. "The kid's 27 years old. He could be back in 10 years. He could be back in five. Who knows?"

Denise N. Maloof covers NASCAR for CNNSI.com.

 

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