"We didn't have the money" - Wood Brothers' president reflects on team's survival struggles, path to part-time racing

Wood Brothers Racing President Jon Wood recently spoke about the financial challenges the team faced while competing in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team recently marked their 100th Cup Series victory at Daytona during the Coke Zero Sugar 400.

While the Wood Brothers have a storied history in NASCAR, racing for over seven decades, they faced a difficult period. In the 1970s, the team was dominant, thanks to their powerful engines and quick pit stops. However, with the increasing competition in the sport in the early 2000s, the Wood Brothers began to fall behind. Lack of sponsorships also contributed to financial challenges.

Wood Brothers Racing is the oldest known name in the history of the sport. Despite their recent disappointing performances, Jon Wood, the grandson of one of the founding fathers, Glen Wood, has remained optimistic. He recently spoke about the challenges the team faced, acknowledging that he didn't fully realize their situation in the early years.

"Yeah, and I didn't know about it at the time. Like, I had no idea it was as bad as it was," Wood said on the Door Bumper Clear podcast (at 0:15). "They met with every single owner in the garage trying to figure out a way to make, not an alliance, but like, hey, can you help bail us out here and we'll like be absorbed somehow. Like they had those talks and we were close to it."

Wood Brothers faced a tough period when they had to run a season part-time due to financial constraints. However, Jon Wood believes that this was the best decision for the team, as it helped them stay in business and maintain their status as the oldest team on the Cup Series grid.

"And I think going back to part time is what saved our business because had they tried to keep going, like a lot of teams do, we would have been done. Like we didn't have the money. We took what we had and said, okay, here's enough to run 36 super half-ass or we can do 12 the right way. And that's what they did," he said.

Harrison Burton is the current driver of the legendary #21 car (the team is known for having raced with the number on their main car since the 1950s). He brought the team their long-awaited 100th Cup Series victory at Daytona during the summer race. However, he is set to be replaced by current SHR driver Josh Berry in 2025.

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Jon Wood on Harrison Burton not racing with Wood Brothers in 2025: "It hurts that we’re in this position"

While Harrison Burton brought Wood Brothers their first win in several seasons, his performance with the car has been inconsistent. He has raced with the team since the 2022 season but has often struggled. His most notable finish before the Daytona win was at Indianapolis in 2022, where he placed third.

Earlier this season, the team announced they would replace him with Josh Berry in 2025. Berry currently races for Stewart-Haas Racing but the team will cease their operations at the end of the current season.

When talking about the team's decision to replace Burton, Jon Wood expressed his appreciation for the young driver.

"The thing about Harrison; there's not a nicer guy," Wood said of Burton (at 0:20). "I don't see him as a driver. I see drivers a lot of times as guys that won't return your calls, text messages, you can't ask 'em to do anything, you tell them 'happy birthday', they don't tell you 'Happy Birthday'. You do for them, they don't do for you, but it's the opposite with him."

"So it hurts that we're in this position where we had to replace him," Wood continued. "But drivers signed up for it. You get all the credit, you get all the glory but you get all the blame. I think he understands that. We're not bad people for doing this."

Burton will be looking to do well in the playoffs and end his journey with WBR on a high.