(From left) Driver Ryan Blaney, Ford Board Member Edsel B. Ford II, Director of Ford Performance Dave Pericak, Len Wood and Eddie Wood after announcing that Wood Brothers Racing would run a full-time schedule in 2016. [Russell LaBounty Photo]
Homestead, Fla. – The legendary Wood Brothers race team announced today that it will campaign full-time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2016. Their last full-season effort took place eight years ago. Ryan Blaney continues as their driver and the team’s anchor sponsors will be Motorcraft/Quick Lane and Ford Performance. Team owners Eddie and Len Wood were joined in the announcement press conference by young Blaney and Dave Pericak, Global Performance, Ford Performance and Edsel B. Foard II, member of the Ford Board of Directors.
“We would like to announce that we are going to run all 36 races next year,” Eddie Wood said. “These are the guys that made it happen, Ford Motor Company. It is just a lot of people that have been working on this for a long time and we are really proud of our association and heritage with Ford Motor Company. We have been racing Ford Motor Company products for 65 years, and we are really looking forward to next year. We have a young driver, Ryan Blaney, and a young crew chief with Jeremy Bullins, and they were both rookies this year and have kind of gotten that out of the way so we think we are ready to run full time next year.”
Added Len Wood, “In 2008 we stood here with Edsel Ford and Brian Wolfe, who was the Ford Director at the time, and talked about how our performance was not where we wanted it to be and the suggestion was made to go to a limited schedule and get our performance back and then try to get back full time. We have done that as hard as we could the whole time. I think this past year our performance has been where it needed to be and I think we are ready to make the next step with Ryan Blaney and Jeremy as our crew chief.”
Stated Pericak, “This is just an exciting day. To get them back on the track full time is the way it should be. They have been our most loyal team for 65 years and they deserve the right to come out every weekend and prove what they can do. I think more than even deserved, they have earned it. They have been very strong this year and as a result of that we are committed to getting them on the track full time. Through our efforts with Motorcraft and Quick Lane we will continue to leverage that and hope to be with them when they get their 100th Cup victory and we aren’t too far away from that. It is a very, very exciting day.”
Ford expressed his delight with the new deal, “We have been talking about a full season for as long as I can remember and I want to thank Ford Motor Company and Raj Nair, the Group Vice President of Worldwide Product Development for Ford Motor Company, for standing up and taking this on. It is something the Wood Brothers deserve.”
At 22 years of age, Blaney has 17 Sprint Cup career starts and has been identified as an emerging star. “This is a dream come true,” the third-generation driver said. “Growing up in the garage with my dad racing and seeing what he used to do when I was a kid and now being able to be a part of a full season in the Cup series and be with a couple great organizations like the Wood Brothers and Ford will be amazing. I am looking forward to next year. I can’t thank Motorcraft and the Quick Lane boys enough for what they do for this car on the race track, and I am just really excited about it.”
According to the owners, the technical alliance with Team Penske continues and other details, including staff requirements and logistics, are in the development stages.
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