Drive to survive

Wood Brothers' future clouded by Sadler's request

Elliott Sadler's 2001 win at Bristol has been backed by two second-place finishes this year. AP

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Sitting in a hauler at Richmond International Raceway, Eddie Wood was asked about the future of his team. The answer came quickly and seemed to surprise even him.

"I hope we are sitting here a year from now," he said.

More than 50 years after Glen Wood started the Wood Brothers Racing team, the organization that's won 97 races and is among the pioneers of stock car racing is being threatened by the sport's enormous growth.

Elliott Sadler, a promising 27-year-old driver in his fourth season in the Woods' famed No. 21 Ford, wants out his contract, reportedly to take big money elsewhere.

But Eddie Wood and brother Len said they'll keep Sadler in their car for the rest of the season, and they will survive, as they have through past crises.

"We've had so many ends of the world, but then it always works out," Eddie Wood said, recalling when Dale Jarrett and others made plans to leave the team at season's end.

Sadler last week accepted blame for the team's struggles, saying he felt he had let the Woods down and suggesting a change would be best for him and the team.

Eddie Wood said while he'd heard rumors about Sadler being pursued and wasn't totally blindsided, he's not ready to find someone new.

"We don't even know who we need to talk to. We weren't looking for a driver, and if you're not looking for a driver, you don't know what's out there because you don't care. Now, we're paying attention," he said.

In an age when one-car teams are having a tough time surviving, the Wood brothers have experienced something of a revival, despite their troubles. Teaming up with Jack Roush for engines and other assistance has helped, and Sadler's lone victory ended a nine-year drought in 2000.

The Woods also are widely respected in the Winston Cup garage.

"This sport, unfortunately, is being driven by money," said Ricky Rudd, the last of the highly successful single-car teams who finally shut down his operation and joined Robert Yates Racing for the 2000 season.

"If the Wood brothers had some of the sponsorship dollars some of these other teams have, they'd probably win 10 races a year. They can operate a race team a lot cheaper than most people can because they know so much about their cars and they make a lot of their own stuff.

"They're fighting that battle as many car owners are doing."

Kyle Petty knows the battle. He drove the Wood brothers' car from 1985, when Eddie and Len took over operation of the team, through 1988, earning the first two Winston Cup victories of his career in the No. 21.

Petty now runs much of Petty Enterprises' three-car Winston Cup team, which has enjoyed something of a resurgence this season. He said the same kind of turnaround is possible for the Wood Brothers team.

"They've been building back for the last four or five years. It doesn't happen overnight," he said. "And they'll be back where they win a lot of races and at the place where they were once, but it's going to take a little time, and maybe Elliott doesn't see that he has the time."

For the Wood brothers, who consider Sadler a member of the family and have said that they will only release him if they can find suitable situations for all concerned, the building must continue.

It's what they have done from their shop in Stuart for 50 years.

"The challenge," Eddie Wood said, "is just to stay in it."

 

Related information

Stories

CNNSI.com's NASCAR Burning Questions Sadler says he's looking at all options for '03

Multimedia

Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video