Harrison Burton and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane team are headed this weekend to Martinsville Speedway, a track that is special in many ways to the Wood family and others on the crew as well.
Some of the best seats overlooking the paper-clip-shaped half-mile oval are in the Glenn Wood Tower, named for the founder of the No. 21 team who made his Cup Series debut as a driver at Martinsville in 1953. The team, which has its roots in nearby Stuart, Va., has been a fixture at the speedway in the years since that May 17 race in which Wood drove a 1953 Lincoln to a 30th-place finish and earned $25 for his efforts.
Sunday’s Cook Out 400 will be the Woods’ 126th Cup start at Martinsville and it will be the fifth Cup race there for Burton, whose family is from nearby South Boston, Va.
Martinsville is also special to crew chief Jeremy Bullins, who grew up 40 miles south of the track in Walnut Cove, N.C., and attended many a race at Martinsville in his younger days.
“Martinsville is my favorite track on the circuit,” Bullins said. “I’d race there every week if it was up to me.
“I love how technical you have to be and how close together we will race for 400 laps.”
Bullins is looking to build on last fall’s race at Martinsville, where Burton scored the second of the two top-15 finishes he’s posted there.
“We got a top-15 with Harrison last fall and look forward to building on that and hopefully putting together a great run with our Motorcraft Ford,” Bullins said. “It’s a great weekend for the Wood Brothers family being so close to home, and it will be nice to have so many of them at the track with us this week.”
Practice for the Cook Out 400 is set for Saturday at 4:35 p.m. Eastern Time to be followed by qualifying at 5:20. FOX Sports 2 will provide the TV coverage.
Sunday’s 400-lap race is scheduled to get the green flag just after 3 p.m. with Stage breaks at Laps 80 and 180.
FOX Sports 1 will carry the broadcast.
WBR PR
