Jon Wood’s (No. 21 Wood Brothers/JTG Racing Ford) 2003 Kroger 200 victory wasn’t a career-defining moment.
But winning a few miles from his Stuart, Va., hometown in front of family and friends was sweet for Wood, to say the least.
“In terms of career advancement, the effect was minimal,” said Wood. “But personally, you couldn’t have picked a better race track or a more prestigious one. My grandpa raced there and Martinsville’s got a lot of history.”
The victory was the most recent of the then 21-year-old Wood’s two series wins. Since rejoining the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series on a fulltime basis in July, Wood has rolled up five top-10 finishes – the best a third place, near victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in September.
Returning to Martinsville – and becoming the series’ third double winner at the .526-mile short track – would suit Wood just fine.
“The level of competition in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is just as high as in the other two national series so you don’t go to any track with high expectations of winning,” said Wood.“But I’ve won at Martinsville so I don’t have anything to prove.”
The 2007 season has been a difficult one for Wood, who sat out several months due to illness before joining the series at Kentucky Speedway where he overcame a spin-out to finish sixth. He’s working on a string of three top-10s including a 10th at Talladega Superspeedway on Oct. 6.
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