Jon Wood

Infobox NASCAR driver


Name = Jon Wood
Birthdate = birth date and age|1981|10|25 | Birthplace = Stuart, Virginia
Cup_Car_Team = #21 - Wood Brothers Racing
First_Cup_Race = 2007 UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 (Las Vegas)
Previous_Year = 2006
Prev_Busch_Pos = 14th | Best_Busch_Pos = 14th - 2006
Busch_Top_Tens = 12
First_Busch_Race = 2002 Kroger 200 (IRP)
Last_Busch_Race = 2007 Carquest Auto Parts 300 (Lowe's)
Total_Busch_Races = 85
Years_In_Busch = 5
Previous_Truck_Year = 2006
Prev_Truck_Pos = 50th
Best_Truck_Pos = 5th - 2003
Truck_Wins = 2
Truck_Top_Tens = 50
Truck_Poles = 2
Truck_Car_Team = #21 - Wood Brothers Racing
First_Truck_Race = 2001 Advance Auto Parts 250 (Martinsville)
First_Truck_Win = 2003 O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 (Kansas)
Last_Truck_Win = 2003 Advance Auto Parts 200 (Martinsville)
Updated_On = June 1, 2008

Jon Wood (born October 25, 1981), in Stuart Virginia, is a NASCAR driver for Wood Brothers Racing. He is the grandson of Glen Wood, one of the famous Wood Brothers who founded what has become Nextel Cup's longest continuously active team.

Early career

Wood was given his first go kart as a child by Dale Jarrett [ [http://www.catchfence.com/press/012507c.html] ] driver for the Wood Brothers at the time. After racing go-karts, he moved up to stock cars, racing in the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series and the NASCAR Winston West Series. Wood made his major-league NASCAR debut in 2001 at Martinsville Speedway, driving the #15 Ford F-150 for Billy Ballew Motorsports. He started and finished 31st after suffering rear end failures. The release of Chuck Hossfeld allowed Wood to drive Roush Racing's #50 Eldon Ford for the rest of the year. He claimed a pair of top five finishes (Kansas and Fontana) in his limited appearances. In 2002, Jon ran the entire schedule, earning ten top-10s with sponsorship from the United States Navy. That year, he made his first Busch Series start at
IRP, subbing for Jeff Burton in the #9 Gain Ford Taurus. He started and finished 6th that day.

In 2003, Wood notched two poles, 10 top fives and 20 top ten finishes, including two wins on his way to a fifth-place standing in points. He ran most of the season with sponsored by Bob Graham. He ran his second Busch race that season at the Ford 300 in the #15 for ppc Racing. He finished 22nd. Unfortunately, the 2004 Craftsman Truck Series season was a struggle for Wood, who was forced to run unsponsored for virtually the entire season. As a result, Roush Racing focused more.Fact|date=June 2008 on teammate Carl Edwards, and he had a pair of top fives and a fifteenth-place point result.

2005-Present

Wood moved to NASCAR's Busch Series full-time in 2005, driving for ST Motorsports (which later merged with the Wood Brothers to form Wood Brothers/JTG in 2006.) Wood had two top-fives and finished fifteenth in points, finishing fourth in the Rookie of the Year standings. In August 2005, Wood was released from his development contract with Roush Racing, and became a member of the Wood Brothers driver development program. Wood had one top-five finish in 2006 and moved up one spot in the standings.Tony Kostelnak helped that team with Jon and teached him how to react faster.

Originally, plans called for Wood to move up to Nextel Cup full-time in 2007; however, because of sponsor issues and the need for more experience, Wood will run only a partial schedule during the 2007 Nextel Cup season. Wood was to continue to drive full-time in the #47 Clorox-sponsored Ford Fusion in the Busch Series, but was pulled from the ride following medical issues. He is currently racing part-time in the Craftsman Truck Series, sharing the ride with his cousin Keven Wood. He will drive the #21 Sprint Cup car for nine races with United States Air Force as his sponsor sharing the car with Marcos Ambrose and Bill Elliott. [ [http://www.charlotte.com/sports_breaking/story/289517.html] ] [ [http://www.jayski.com/teams/21.htm Jayski #21 Team News] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.woodbrothersracing.com WoodBrothersRacing.com Official website]
* [http://www.woodbrothersjtg.com WoodBrothersJTG.com Official website]