Nobody thought it would be easy because it almost never is. A new driver joining an unfamiliar team with a new crew chief and mostly new support personnel and a new sponsor … well, it’s almost a recipe for abject failure. And while NASCAR driver Paul Menard, crew chief Greg Erwin and team co-owners Eddie and Len Wood know things could be better, they also know things could absolutely be far worse.
“Running one of these race teams is a complex thing, and so much has to fall in place just right to be successful,” said Eddie Wood on Saturday at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, scene of Sunday night’s Bojangles Southern 500. “We started this year with Paul, a new driver and someone new to Ford Racing. We got Greg, who worked with Team Penske last year. And we have new engineers and new crewmen and new shop people. A lot of the people we had last year went with Ryan Blaney over to drive Penske’s third car (as teammates with Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski).
“Now to be clear, that was a planned move,” Wood continued. “We knew it was coming because we have a technical alliance with Roger (Penske) and that was part of our deal. The long-term plan was for Ryan to be part-time with us, then full-time for a season, then go to Penske. Actually, he stayed with us a year longer (all of 2017) than originally planned. When he went, Roger sent crew chief Jeremy Bullins and engineer Andrea Mueller with him. We had to find a lot of new people.”
Blaney, considered one of the bright young prospects in Monster Energy Cup Series racing, started two races for Team Penske in 2014, did a half-season with Wood Brothers Racing in 2015, then stayed with the Woods for the full 2016 and 2017 seasons. He gave the team its 99th Cup victory at Pocono in June of 2017. All the while, Menard was toiling for seven mediocre seasons (2011-2017) at Richard Childress Racing. He landed there after shorter stints with Dale Earnhardt Inc. (2006-2008), Robert Yates Racing (2009) and Richard Petty Motorsports (2010).
This hasn’t been the smoothest of years for Menard, Erwin and the Woods. They opened with a solid sixth-place in the Daytona 500, but have added only three more top-10s the rest of the season. Things would be somewhat better if NASCAR had a top-15 category since the No. 21 Ford has six finishes between 11th and 15th. Menard won the pole at Chicago — it was No. 119 all-time for the Woods — but didn’t lead a lap and finished 13th.
Len Wood emphasized that it takes time — and two-thirds of a season might not be enough — for drivers, crew chiefs, crewmen and owners to get on the same page.
“For example, when we first got together the word ‘loose’ might have meant something different to Paul than it meant to Greg,” Wood explained. “Drivers and crew chiefs need time to get their language down pat. If they haven’t worked together or haven’t spent much time together, it takes time. There’s always an adjustment period. Sometimes it takes a whole season to really understand each other.”
Mike Smith, a long-time crewman with the team, said communications is as important between driver and crewmen as between driver and crew chief. “It was the same with Ryan,” he said “It took a while for everyone to get on the same page. The same thing is happening here. We’re all beginning to understand each other better.”
Eddie Wood can only wonder about what might have been if this or that had gone differently.
“We’ve run so much better than we’ve finished,” he said. “The cars have always had good speed. As long as you have good speed and people are working well together, you’re going to be okay. We raced really good at Talladega and Daytona Beach, but stuff happened and we didn’t get what we maybe deserved. Week in and week out, we’ve been a lot better than the record shows… but that’s part of racing.”
As for the future (which eventually might include Austin Cindric): “Right now, on Saturday of Labor Day weekend, we’re back next year with the same program. Same driver, same crew chief, same sponsors, same crew, same manufacturer (Ford), same alliance with Team Penske and same owners.”
And maybe better results.
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