The owners of Wood Brothers Racing and ST Motorsports today announced the formation of a new partnershipWood Brothers/TJG Racingin a press conference today at Michigan International Speedway. The new enterprise will bring together two of the most tenured teams in the NASCAR Nextel Cup and Busch Series garage, combining the racing heritage of the Wood Brothers and the marketing savvy of ST Motorsports. Glen Wood, his children Eddie, Len and Kim, along with Tad and Jodi Geschickter, will join forces to establish a racing enterprise that competes in NASCARs Nextel Cup, Busch, and Craftsman Truck Series. The structure will provide all employees, including drivers, the opportunity to develop his or her career path with a single, Ford factory-backed company. The Wood Brothers have been running exclusively Ford Motor Company products in NASCAR racing for 55 years, and are the automakers all-time winningest team. ST Motorsports has been in existence for 11 years, the last two as a Ford-supported Busch Series program.
In 2006, Wood Brothers Racing will continue to campaign the #21 Ford Fusion in NASCARs Nextel Cup Series. ST Motorsports will continue to field the #47 and #59 Busch Series Fusion entries. The partnership intends to build an additional Nextel Cup team and two Craftsman Truck Series teams. Wood Brothers/JTG Racing will include a centralized fabrication shop and an engineering department, with the assistance of Ford Racing Technology engineers. Wood and Geschickter took their business plan to Ford Racing. When they learned that executives there were equally enthused about the idea, the partnership was formed. The group will begin work immediately by establishing a base of operation, and by developing its employee, driver, and sponsor base. Partial season sponsorship in 2006 for the #21 Wood Brothers entry from Motorcraft is in place as well as full season sponsorship for the #47 and #59 Busch Series entries from Clorox Bleach and Kingsford Charcoal.(Ford Racing site)
NOTES – sponsor? doesn’t mention if Ricky Rudd, driver of the #21 Ford will return as the driver. Jon Wood currently drives the #47 Clorax Ford for ST Motorsports in the Busch Series, supposedly Wood will move up to Cup in 2006, either full-time or a limited schedule depending on sposnorship, one sponsor being runored is Armour All.(8-19-2005)
UPDATE: Wood said Michael “Fatback” McSwain, current crew chief for Wood Brothers #21 car driven by Ricky Rudd, will oversee the construction and setup of the cars. He added that the partnership has already locked up partial 2006 season sponsorship for Rudd’s car as well as full sponsorship for two other cars to run in the Busch Series.(ESPN.com/AP)(8-20-2005)
UPDATE 2: according to Eddie Wood the Wood Brothers team is seeking sponsorship for two teams next season. If they can’t find two they’ll have to decide between Ricky Rudd and Jon Wood for the #21 Ford [Motorcraft is scaling back their support]. No decision has been made yet but Wood says they’re not worried about it right now.(ESPN’s SportsCenter/Mike Massaro)(8-21-2005)
