How The Wood Brothers Revolutionized Pit Stops in NASCAR
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- Опубликовано: 27 сен 2024
- NASCAR was only two years old the first time the Wood Brothers took to the track in 1950. 71 years later, Dale Earnhardt Jr. gets the chance to sit down with a true pioneer of the sport, the great Leonard Wood of the famed Wood Brothers Racing Team.
Leonard and his brothers are widely known for their innovation in the sport. Whether it was pulling an engine off a Ford assembly line and modifying it for stock car racing, or trick spindles, the Wood Brothers' minds always led to advancement. They even got the invite by Henry Ford to pit a car in the Indianapolis 500. So how did a bunch of Virginia stock car boys do? Well, they won the race and revolutionized the pit stop along the way.
Listen to the full conversation on dirtymomedia.com or any major podcasting platform.
Leonard Wood is one of the finest men to ever take a breath of fresh air
An American Treasure and still sharp as a tack!!! This was awesome!
Virginia Gentleman..
this is where the term is derived from...
a Man like Leonard Wood...
Once again --Respect for this History of Nascar
Racing wouldn't be the sport it is , without guys like that .
Man I wish it would go back to the old days of racing !
I had money buy 1 old nascar car. It be a Woods brothers. 21 was always a danger win the race.
@@wv171 I always cheered for David , 21 Puralator Mercury .
We’re worse off because it changed from those days
My Dad made connecting rods for race engines! When Dad and Junior Johnson began designing a stronger lighter rod, they got with Leonard Wood to get his opinion! Smart man! Guys at Ford considered Leonard to be an expert mechanic! I had the honor of meeting him a few times through the years at races! Great memories!
I can't remember what I did last week and Mr wood can remember 1960, fantastic
Living legend from a little town in the mountains of virginia.
My grandfather has been gone for a decade, my father even longer, Mr Wood is like both of them rolled into one.
What a great man.
I smiled the whole way through that video! What a hero and great person!
Love the interviews with the greats from the early days. Grew up a fan of the Wood Bros and David Pearson. Guys from this era didn't have a lot of formal training but could figure out a problem by just looking at it.
My dad was the same way. I was 12 in 1971. My dad and I built a soap box racer and I finished 3rd in our local race. Was going to reuse my car the next yr but dad said we were going to saw 6" off the back and add it to the nose. I'd grown some in that yr but not that much. I asked why we were going to do that. He said cutting the length off the back and adding it to the front would essentially push the wheels back 6". This would mean they'd stay on the starting ramp that much longer and would build up more speed. Made sense to me so I asked, 'where's the saw'? I won that yr and my sister finished 2nd. Dad was so proud.
One of the most enjoyable interviews Jr has done. Leonard Wood is wicked smart..... All you need to do is listen to him.....
I could listen to these stories every night before bed.. another great legend Dale Jr. and Mike..
A lot of times I do listen to them before going to bed!
My favorite team of all time. I love the white /maroon top with gold numbers. A simple beautiful design. Much better looking than today’s swirls and splash paint schemes
Its amazing The Wood Brothers humbleness...they were/are the real GOOD OLE BOYS
Leonard Wood is an absolute legend of racing.
I could listen to Mr. Woods stories all day long!!!!
Just as important to Ford and to racing and racing history as Carol Shelby!! Awesome man and team!!
The men that made the sport. Such good stories from a legend. Love this Dale.
Followed them since late 60s.they alone kept me following racing in the 90s and 2000s . Now I enjoy nascar to the fullest again because they are relevant at least to me. I follow where they are at and all else is secondary.
Love to hear Leonard speaking on how they got it done back in the early days. Good stuff. =)
So glad Dale talking to the old timers and getting history from the source before its just that.
Who would have thought after all those years of fighting tooth & nail, in so many big races, that Richard Petty & Leonard Wood would become the best of friends! Enjoy these Great Men now while ya can, they simply can not be replaced 🙏
Thx for having mr wood on that was awesome if you were a Ford fan or even if not the wood brothers were saints of the pits.
Been waiting for years to say this: It’s great that the Army named a base after Leonard…. 😊
I do wonder what his thoughts are on "stage racing" and the boring high downforce low horsepower? Great to hear his stories on innovating! Very cool.
Bring back 2014 horsepower and low downforce!
Dale, I absolutely love watching this channel. There’s never been anything like the quality of this program. I hope it makes you guys stinkin rich. You deserve it.
What a GREAT interview!
From a historic standpoint, this is your best ever!
We want more of the wood brothers, David Pearson stories !
Invite him BACK !!!
I dont even watch nascar and I cant stop watching these.
NASCAR legend. Deserves a lot of credit.
The interviews with the founders of the sport are the absolute best. Please, please, please have Mr. Wood and everyone else back for multiple interviews.
Wheres my SW Virginia people at? How great is it we have Martinsville in our backyard , Richmond a quick drive away , Bristol, Va down road, Charlotte over state line....were killn it for best driving tracks for nascar in our short tracks we have!!
Here I am! Raised at Pulaski County Speedway. Moved to CLT 2006
Right on. Home town hero right there
Stuart va right here
Thanks for getting all these great people to tell stories for generations to come.
Every time Leonard Wood talks, it's pure gold!
Been looking forward to this. Great stories. Sweet guy.
This was fantastic! Would like to see more vintage NASCAR interviews like this one! Back in the day!
Years ago when I lived in VA, I met a character named "Peanut" Turman who supposedly was a tire changer on the Wood Brothers team. He told me that he's the one that came up with the idea to glue the lug nuts on the wheels to speed up tire changes. They used to have the lug nuts on a piece of twine that they held in their mouth until ready to put them on. I can confirm for sure that he's the one that really did this but it was a good story.
Ive seen pictures w/ the lug nuts on a long screw that was in the mouth of the tire changers
LEGEND.
Always my favorite.Dont care who drives her.But damn, there's a legendary list of drivers.
David Pearson said at his Hall of Fame Induction; " Leornard Wood is the smartest man who ever worked on a race car. When Leornard worked on the car it was ready when we got to the race track". The stories Leornard is telling about Indy and NASCAR Innovations back that statement up.Genius may well speak with a Southern Accent!!!!!
@Gene Martin, a person accent has ZERO do with that persons ability to Think or Accomplish anything. Every single person on this planet has an accent. ""EVERYONE"" And because you and people like you have nothing better to do than highlight a meaningless accent, just keep digging you may find what you're looking for.
@@e4300 Mark being from Alabama I make Leornard sound like David Niven. My point was that Lenorad was and IS a genius not matter how he sounds. I get tickled at people that judge other people by a LOT of things including accents. THEY are the idiots NOT the people with the accents. Lenorad Wood is a genius regardless. My admiration for him is boundless.
That southern Virginia drawl is just glorious. I don't know what NASCAR will do when this amazing mind passes on but it better be one of those Forever things. Mr. Wood references his time in the Army, anyone know what he did in the Army?
well...i asked the question before Junior brought up the question...and OF COURSE he was a Motorpool wizard.
The wood brother are the best they even help me one time when I was building a boss302 engine for racing I work for a Ford dealer ship
Them good ole days of nascar
If i ever raced, i would want The Wood Bros for my pit crew
I can see how Lenard Wood can up with solutions to each problem they encountered. Two words pretty much says it all. Logical Thinking. That is what makes everyone else wonder how come they didn't see it before them. All pretty much within the spirit of the rules. I feel honored to have watched that history unfold.
Anytime Leonard Wood talks, people listen. This guy is a NSACAR treasure.
Thanks for sharing this Dale Jr.
Leonard is the goat
One if finest racing minds ever!
he is sharp to be 86 years old. He is talkin about racing with legends of NASCAR
Great stuff. Reminds me of my Dad. I miss my Dad.
what a great mind for god to give man i remenber the wood bros. running at bowman gray in winstosalem n. c,
The good Lord's blessing the best answer I've ever heard about innovative ideas that's absolutely awesome thank God for men like win 👍👍
A great interview!!
Those were the days when Nascar was Fantastic!!!!
Ole Leonard is styling af! Great shirt!
Wow one smart man.
True pioneer of racing! Great video
thank you for this show you are truly a historian of Nascar
Fantastic stories
Gotta love Leonard.
While many hard-core/old school NASCAR fans may know the truth........there are far more fans, who believe "Richard Petty is the winningest driver of all time". But when you consider the TOTAL NUMBER OF RACES vs wins in those races, David Pearson won FAR MORE often than Richard Petty did. If I remember correctly, David Pearson on average, had a win in 1 out of every 5 races he ever entered in NASCAR, and his top 5's and top 10's statistics were even better. This is nothing short of phenomenal. If anyone reading this can recall ( or have immediate access to ) the complete stats for David Pearson, please list them here..........so others will be totally blown away! ( Thanks in advance. )
Pearson had 105 wins in 574 starts. That's a win percentage of 18.29%. Petty had 200 wins in 1184 for a 16.89%.
And in 1973, Pearson started 18 races and won 11 of them. Nobody has even come close to a year like that since. He also won every pole at Charlotte for 5 or 6 years running.
@@EclecticHillbilly THANK YOU!!! I knew we all could count on a good man like you to come through. And I was darn close: a win percentage of 18.29% is VERY close to "winning 1 out of every 5 races". Plus, winning 11 of 18 races entered in a single season is staggering. Again, I really appreciate your efforts & info. Have a Blessed day.
A true legend right there.
What a man
He may be the smartest guy who ever set foot in the garage.
Legend.
Legend
True genius.
BREWSTER04 HERE! Love it , great video!
Their innovations made the sport better.
Lenny wood, a true gentleman
Len Wood is a true icon. In the same league as Smokey Yunick. Look up Wood Brothers on RUclips.
Leonard Wood built a scaled down fully operational gas Ford 427 using nothing more than a 1960s Bridgeport Mill and drill press last year. No CNC machining.
He can build anything.
Actually, I think it was Wells Index mill, but yeah, he needed something to do during covid - so he builds a motor from scratch!! And he's probably 86 - 87 years old. What a piece of work - the motor and the man.
@@routeflasher it was in fact a Wells machine. Operates the same way a classic Bridgeport does.
Helps when you have Pearson driving for you. 🏁
AMAZING Man
Nascar royalty
Awesome
Probably one of the smartest guys in nascar history
So good their pit crew won an Indy 500
Automotive Royalty!
Innovative !
Leonard said he went to Germany w/the Army. I’ve been just abt everywhere else w/the Army but not to Germany. Closest I got was five months Temporary Duty in Belgium
I wonder if Dale had Mr. Wood go over to the garage and and ask him a few questions on how to make the Infinity cars faster.
Idk bout that, I don't think Mr Ford would appreciate Ol' Len help'n Junior make his Chevrolet's go faster! 😉
@@Slinger43 Ok, you won that one. :)
@@riff2072 LOL! 😂 It's all good bud, just have'n abit of fun 😄👍
@@Slinger43 We are having a lot more fun and enjoyment than that guy who was all messed up on steroids, that's for sure.
@@riff2072 Right!! 😂
Is that a giant Freemason ring?
So if I understand Leonards comment correctly, he was in Monza at the Race of Two World’s? Not, the 1961 Italian F1 GP?
Math genius. Lord gave this to me.
The man called the Wood Bros . a green crew. LMAO.
Hey dale is the track bar helping you? DALE= I don't know let me ask it, hey track bar are you helping me? Lmao
At the foot of the master...
Is there any TV programming available for this episode or has the Olympics screwed that up?
He would be a great President.
Is he from Louisiana?
Hendrick is great, but wood brothers is 👑.
poor dale thinks on a 8 scale and poor leonard thinks on 11.. one day this will all be understood for what it is
That is when racing was racing. Can't stand nascar. These days. Let's go back to the old ways and see who is still standing!!!_!!
Yo fr someone tell mr wood to check his watch… it wasn’t working. Hopefully it just needs a wind but fr someone
Day 383 of asking Mike Joy to be on the show
💯
Monet.
Today is no good...........I quit some years ago.
what!? cant even mention Jim Clark's name? what the f&*%k . World drivers champion (f1) and 1st time a rear engine car won the indy 500