Food City 500 Report

MOTHER NATURE HAD OTHER PLANS FOR THE WOOD BROTHERS RACE TEAM AT BRISTOL  

BRISTOL, TN — Wood Brothers Racing and the No. 21 Team spent the week tapping every available resource looking for answers on how to get the car to perform better and make races. They were excited about their findings and were looking forward to qualifying for Sunday's Food City 500.

Earlier in the week, the decision was made to ask Bill Elliott to drive the Goody’s Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway, a race he was not scheduled for, instead of Bristol. This resulted in the team locating another driver for the Bristol race. Wood Brothers asked Jeff Green to pilot the No. 21 Little Debbie® Ford Fusion, and he agreed. Green is a proven NASCAR Nationwide and Sprint Cup series veteran who has a history of top finishes and poles at the infamous short speedway.
 
With Green behind the wheel, the No. 21 finished the only practice before qualifying as the ninth fastest car overall. The team was confident that if Jeff and the car qualified as they had practiced, their car would be in the race on Sunday. It appeared as though the Wood Brothers team was going to have the kind of weekend their efforts merited.
 
Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans. Around noon the Friday before the race, rain clouds arrived at Bristol Motor Speedway and loomed overhead most of the afternoon. NASCAR did its best to get qualifying in, but it just wasn't meant to be. After several delays and efforts to dry the track, NASCAR canceled qualifying at 5:00 p.m. As the rain continued, they set the field for Sunday's event according to last year's owner points, past champions and the top teams remaining according to this year's owner points. This meant that the Wood Brothers Racing team and Jeff Green would not be racing.
 
While missing the race is a grave disappointment, the depth of which is only truly appreciated by those actually missing the race, Wood Brothers Racing left Bristol Motor Speedway knowing they put forth a car that was fast enough to make the race on speed. Contributed by Christina Cicci, Wood Brothers Racing

Food City 500 Results:
1. Jeff Burton
2. Kevin Harvick
3. Clint Bowyer
4. Greg Biffle
5. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
6. Denny Hamlin
7. Kasey Kahne
8. Aric Almirola
9. David Gilliland
10. Matt Kenseth