Martinsville Subway 500 & Kroger 200

[Darnell99Fan]

~Race2Win

Subway 500 - Bill Elliott Notes
WOOD BROTHERS/JTG TEAM RETURNS TO “HOME TRACK” OF MARTINSVILLE

The Wood Brothers/JTG race team will be returning to their adopted “home track” of Martinsville Speedway this Sunday for the Subway 500 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup event. Bill Elliott is set to return to the seat of the No. 21 Little Debbie Ford at the half-mile track. Martinsville, Virginia is only about a 30-minute drive from the legendary Wood Brothers home base of Stuart, Virginia.

The team will be bringing chassis number C-7 for this weekend’s events at Martinsville. This is a COT race for the Nextel Cup Series and the Wood Brothers/JTG team has previously used this chassis twice this year—at both road course events in Sonoma, California and Watkins Glen, New York. The team finished in 19th and 14th places respectively in those events.

Bill Elliott’s record at Martinsville Speedway is both long and distinguished. He has 42 total starts at the half-mile track, including three top-five finishes and 13 top-10 efforts along the way. He’s also led 241 laps of competition. He has 11 top-10 starting positions for events there, including an outside pole position coming during Elliott’s 1988 Championship season.

The Wood Brothers/JTG team will have a guaranteed starting position in the field this weekend in light of Bill Elliott’s past champions provisional. In 15 starts for the No. 21 team in 2007, Elliott has only previously used one of his available six. The team will be looking to do all it can to pick up some points on their nearest competitors, as they have fallen back out of the top-35 in owner points. They are now 109 points outside looking in as they head into this weekend’s event.

WHAT THE TEAM HAS TO SAY:
Bill Elliott, Driver of the No. 21 Little Debbie Ford:
“We’ll have to see just how well we can set up this car this weekend. I know that the guys took our primary to test this week and shook it down, so hopefully we’ll have a bit of a head start on practice come Friday. I hope I can get the guys a good finish—after Charlotte, we inherited a bit of a point deficit that we have to take care of. I’ll do my best to stay out of trouble and we’ll see how it all shakes out.”

Gene Nead, Crew Chief of the No. 21 Little Debbie Ford:
“I think we have the car a long way towards being ready. It’s not every week that we have the time to go shake down the car, but we got some great baseline runs on Monday that we can use to our advantage. I thought everybody worked very well together last week at Charlotte—we just don’t have a result to show for it. I hope for everyone’s sake that we can come together and change that this weekend at Martinsville. There’s a lot of history here and the Wood Brothers have always considered this their home track.”

FAST & FUN FACTS:

Bill Elliott will drive the No. 21 Little Debbie Ford in the Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday.
In 42 starts at Martinsville, Elliott has three top-fives and 13 top-10 finishes. He’s led 241 laps and owns one outside pole position, coming in the 1988 season.
On Thursday night, Glen and Leonard Wood will be inducted into the brand new Virginia Motorsports Hall of Fame.

NEXT RACE INFORMATION:
What – Subway 500 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Event
When – Sunday, October 21st, 2007; 1:30 p.m. EDT
Where – Martinsville Speedway; 500 laps; 263 miles
Network – ABC Television Network; MRN Radio Network

[Darnell99Fan]

Pictures of Joey Clanton's and Jon Wood's trucks at Martinsville...

[Darnell99Fan]

10-17-2007

WOOD: 99th Career Truck Series Start at Hometown Martinsville~TruckSeries.com Report 


The only thing that separates the Martinsville Speedway and Jon Wood's hometown of Stuart, Va., is 28 miles of South Virginia highways. For Wood, it's like being home.

The driver of the No. 21 Bush's Baked Beans Ford F-150 always has considered the half-mile racetrack on of his favorites. It requires a delicate balance between a fast car and a steady nerve, and often that's still not enough. The paperclip-like layout is tough on fenders, tougher on brakes and toughest on a driver's patience. Wood knows finishing in one piece generally guarantees a team a Top-10 finish.

Wood brings impressive momentum into Saturday's Kroger 200. He's got five Top-10 finishes since returning to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for Wood Brothers/JTG Racing. A victory at his "hometown" track, however, would be a career highlight.

Wood will be making his 99th career start in the truck series. He will become the 13th driver in series history with at least 100 starts next week at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. His Wood Brothers/JTG Racing teammate, Stacy Compton, joined last list two months ago.

Jon Wood, Driver of the No. 21 Bush's Baked Beans Ford F-150:  "It seems like I've been going to the Martinsville Speedway for as long as I've been alive," he said. "Drivers from Virginia have a different kind of pride, and winning in Virginia means more to us than winning anywhere else. I've always loved Martinsville because it's been around for so long - a lot longer than me. My family has raced there for more than 50 years. I can't tell you what it would mean to our family to win there.

"Don't be fooled by the fact it's a half-mile track. The place is fast and it's really tough on trucks. You're going to get knocked around. You might as well accept that. You're going to knock other people around. They better accept that. You have to know where the line is between beating and banging and being reckless. This is good old-fashioned short-track racing at its best. As long as it doesn't turn into a demolition derby, it should be a great show."

John Monsam, Crew Chief of the No. 21 Bush's Baked Beans Ford F-150:  "There's no big secret to being successful at Martinsville," he said. "Your first priority is to finish the race. After that, you look to finish with all the fenders and brakes in one piece. If you do that, you take your chances."

- Jon Wood has 98 career starts in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with two wins, 15 Top-Fives and 48 Top-10s.
- Wood also has 85 career starts in the Busch Series with 12 Top 10s.
- Wood is the grandson of legendary driver Glen Wood and the son of Wood Brothers/JTG Racing co-owner of Eddie Wood.
- Wood's combined earnings in NASCAR, including Nextel Cup, Busch and Craftsman Truck series starts, is $4,049,765.
- Qualifying for the Kroger 200 is Saturday morning at 11 on SPEED and online at TruckSeries.com.






10-17-2007

CLANTON: Team Figures It Can Only Improve on Past Performance at Martinsville
~TruckSeries.com Report 


Joey Clanton knows the No. 09 Zaxby’s Ford needs to be at full speed the moment it arrives at the Martinsville Speedway for the Kroger 200.  With just 200 laps in Saturday’s main event, there’s not enough time to wait for things to unfold. To be successful, his Ford F-150 needs to start fast and stay that way to the finish.

Clanton will be making his 13th start for Wood Brothers/JTG Racing. He’s not worried about any bad luck associated with the number. In fact, he said it’s a good sign since he finished 31st after crashing earlier this year at Martinsville.

Clanton is sharing the driving duties in the No. 09 Zaxby’s Ford with Stacy Compton. Clanton will return to the driver’s seat next week at the Atlanta Motor Speedway; Compton’s next start will be Nov. 9 at the Phoenix International Raceway.

Joey Clanton, driver of the No. 09 Zaxby’s Ford F-150: “I’m really looking forward to this race, especially after what happened there earlier this year,” he said. “It’s our 13th race together. The No. 13 doesn’t bother me. It’s unlucky to be superstitious. Compared to hitting the wall in qualifying, crashing in the race and finishing 31st, we only have one way to go on Saturday – up.

“It’s real important to be good right out of the box. You don’t have time to sort through traffic and wait for things to unfold. You need to get up front as fast as you can – any way you can – and then you have to stay there. Track position in very important. Keeping it is even more important. You want to qualify as good as you can, but make sure you’re not locked into a qualifying setup because it’s an impound race. You want to be fast, but you want to make sure there’s a lot of adjustability in the truck.”

Gary Cogswell, Crew Chief of the No. 09 Zaxby’s Ford F-150: “We’re going there with three setups we want to try in practice,” he said. “We’ll go with the one that’s going to need the smallest adjustment in the race. With only 200 laps, there will be one pit stop. The tires are so hard, they won’t be an issue. You’re going to get one chance to make your truck right during the race. The guy who makes the best adjustment will be the one who wins.”

- Joey Clanton will be making his 16th career start in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. His sixth-place finish at the season-opening race at Daytona Beach, Fla., was a career-best. He also has 18 career starts in the NASCAR Busch Series with a career-best fifth place finish in 2003.
- Clanton also has 18 career victories in the American Speed Association series.
- Clanton owns two Zaxby’s franchises. One is in Fairburn, Ga., the other in Atlanta.