Tråd: Leonard var kreative fundamentet For træ Brothers succes

David Pearson kørte for brødrene træ i flere år i i 1970 ' erne og en af hans mest spektakulære vinder blev i 1976 Daytona 500, hvor han slog Richard Petty efter en sidste-lap crash.

Da jeg gjorde mit første one-on-one interview med træ brødre, Glen og Leonard, var jeg skræmt til døde.
Det var omkring 42 år siden da jeg var startet ud som en motorsport forfatter til The Roanoke gange og skoven, med driver David Pearson, brændende NASCAR Winston Cup konkurrence.
Den sene Dick Thompson, den fremragende public relations direktør på Martinsville Speedway, rekrutteret mig for at gøre en historie på skoven for sin race program.
Ved første ønskede jeg ikke at gøre det.
"Dick, jeg næsten ikke ved skoven," sagde jeg. "Jeg tror ikke, alle gør. De er ikke præcis frimodig og udgående i området garage."
"Du vil gøre fint," siger Thompson. "Jeg vil konfigurere interviewet på deres butikker i Stuart (VA)."
Et par dage senere Thompson kaldte mig.
"Nå, det var ikke let," sagde han. "De ønskede at vide ting som hvem du var, og hvor lang tid det ville tage. Jeg fortalte 'em ville du være så hurtigt som muligt. Få deroppe."
Du er nødt til at forstå, at blandt medier i dag, skoven blev betragtet som en af de bedste hold i NASCAR.
De havde en lille organisation, men de kunne holde deres egen – og slå – sådan kraftcentre som Holman & Moody, Petty virksomheder og Bud Moore Engineering.
Men det syntes de var Fjern. De var ikke omgængelig. De gik om deres opgaver effektivt og lydløst.
Leonard Wood var en master tire changer under pit stop, men han bidrog også til træ-brødrenes storhed gennem sine talenter som en innovator og motor builder.

Og når det kom til interviews, deres svar var kort og gådefulde. Skoven gav aldrig et lige svar når det kom til forklaringer af hvordan de vandt et løb.
Medierne, spøgefuldt, ofte omtalt et "magisk chassis ændre" som hemmeligheden til deres succes.
I sandhed har de ikke den ringeste idé.
Specielt tilbageholdende var Glen, den ældste bror opført som ejer af team. Hans yngre bror Leonard, chef mekaniker og stand pit besætningsmedlem, var lidt bedre. Mindst smilede han meget.
Det var Leonard, som svarede næsten alle mine spørgsmål under interviewet. Nu ganske vist det meste af hvad jeg spurgte blot sludre fordi jeg vidste, at skoven var ikke ved at lade løs af nogen af deres konkurrence hemmeligheder.
Jeg hørte, "Nej, lad os ikke gå der," mere end én gang.
Men så skete der noget.
Jeg spurgte i skoven, hvor svært det var at holde med NASCARS tilsyneladende endeløse regelændringer – som på tidspunktet, blev gjort for at holde konkurrencen lige og bilfabrikanter glade.
Leonard forlod brat rummet.
Han kom tilbage med en kasse. Han tømte indholdet på gulvet.
Karburator restrictor plader i utallige størrelser og figurer var spredt ud over hele gulvet.
"Se dette?" Leonard spurgte. "Dette er, hvad jeg skal gøre hele tiden at sikre, at vi hurtigt og i overensstemmelse med reglerne. Det er ikke let, og det tager en masse tid."
Derefter smilede han.
"Du kan ikke tage et billede af alt dette," sagde han.
Så ramte derfor var centrum for Woods' succes mig. Leonard havde bare meget dramatisk vist mig hvor hårdt han arbejdede, hvor eksperimentelle han var og hvor dedikeret han var i sin rolle som holdets motor builder.
Ikke underligt skoven var toast af NASCAR. I 1972 havde deres biler været drevet til flere sejre af holder af Curtis Turner, Marvin Panch, A.J. Foyt og Cale Yarborough.
I ' 72, deres første med Pearson, vandt de seks gange.
Der var bare et forvarsel om ting til at komme. Skoven vandt 11 af 18 løb i 1973 og syv mere i 1974.
De gjorde mest af Glen og Leonards ledelse og mekaniske færdigheder.
Det har altid været begrundet, at Glen var strategist. Skoven løb aldrig i et mesterskab. De konkurrerede kun i superspeedway løb, som betalte flest penge.
Glen har valgt en kombination af en højere indkomst og færre udgifter. Jeg tror også, han foretrak at race, hvor holdet var stærkest.
Den eneste undtagelse var deres hjemby spor, halv-mile Martinsville Speedway. Det tilstrækkeligt at sige, øh, var de "kompensation."
I mellemtiden, det var Leonard, som var den teknisk geni. Han gjorde ikke lære af skoler eller manualer. Han var et naturligt talentfulde mekanikeren, der kunne bygge motorer fra da han var 13 år gammel.
Han var som en motor builder djævelske – næsten som en gal videnskabsmand. Vidste ingen præcis hvad han gjorde, og han sikker var ikke ved at fortælle nogen, men hans motorer blev rutinemæssigt den mest magtfulde på hver superspeedway. Tallene viste det sig.
Det ende ikke der. Leonard var også arkitekten bag et træ brødre pit stop – rutinemæssigt hurtigst i NASCAR.
Leonard var en af de bedste dæk skiftere i sporten-ja, hans pligter med holdet var mange – men han var også ansvarlig for modernisering af udstyr i dag.
Han skabte en letvægts jack, en langt lysere end 70-80 pund forladere af de dag. Med brugen af hydraulik, kunne Delano træ, jackman og de mest flamboyante af brødrene træ har en bil ophævet i to pumper. Tog det andet hold så mange som 10.
Leonard er også krediteret med at finde måder at få holdets luft kanoner til at fjerne og udskifte lug møtrikker mere hurtigt og ændre gas dump dåser for at give brændstof til flow hurtigere.
Uden Leonards naturlige færdigheder og kreativitet, ville brødrene træ har aldrig opnået status og berygtet de holder den dag i dag.
Det er den største grund til hvorfor Leonard er en af de nyeste værnepligtige i NASCAR Hall of Fame. Buck Baker, Herb Thomas, Rusty Wallace og bomuld Owens sammen med ham i år.
Pearson var medlem af hall's anden klasse og hans embedstid med skoven helt sikkert havde meget at gøre med dette.
Leonard tiltræder Glen som medlem af hall of fame. Det er kun passende. De etablerede deres storhed sammen.
Gennem årene blev Leonard og jeg venlige bekendte, der kunne konversere let og griner ofte.
Selvfølgelig har jeg aldrig spurgte ham, hvad han gjorde eller hvordan han gjorde det.
Jeg tror, han ville smile. Men han ville ikke svare på. Ikke i dag.

David Pearson drove for the Wood Brothers for several years during the 1970s and one of his most spectacular wins was in the 1976 Daytona 500, where he bested Richard Petty after a last-lap crash.

When I did my first one-on-one interview with the Wood brothers, Glen and Leonard, I was scared to death.
It was about 42 years ago when I was starting out as a motorsports writer for The Roanoke Times and the Woods, with driver David Pearson, were scorching the NASCAR Winston Cup competition.
The late Dick Thompson, the superb public relations director at Martinsville Speedway, recruited me to do a story on the Woods for his race program.
At first, I didn’t want to do it.
“Dick, I hardly know the Woods,” I said. “I don’t think anyone does. They aren’t exactly outspoken and outgoing in the garage area.”
“You’ll do fine,” Thompson said. “I’ll set up the interview at their shops up in Stuart (Va.).”
A couple of days later Thompson called me.
“Well, that wasn’t easy,” he said. “They wanted to know things like who you were and how long it would take. I told ‘em you would be as quick as possible. Get on up there.”
You have to understand that among the media of the day, the Woods were considered one of the best teams in NASCAR.
They had a small organization but they could hold their own – and beat – such powerhouses as Holman & Moody, Petty Enterprises and Bud Moore Engineering.
But it seemed they were distant. They weren’t sociable. They went about their tasks efficiently and silently.
Leonard Wood was a master tire changer during pit stops, but he also contributed to the Wood Brothers’ greatness through his talents as an innovator and engine builder.

And when it came to interviews, their answers were brief and enigmatic. The Woods never gave a straight response when it came to explanations of how they won a race.
The media, jokingly, often referred to a “magic chassis change” as the secret to their success.
In truth they didn’t have the slightest idea.
Especially reticent was Glen, the elder brother listed as the team owner. His younger brother Leonard, the chief mechanic and able pit crew member, was a little better. At least he smiled a lot.
In fact it was Leonard who answered virtually all my questions during the interview. Now, admittedly, most of what I asked was mere prattle because I knew the Woods weren’t about to let loose of any of their competition secrets.
I heard, “No, let’s not go there,” more than once.
But then something happened.
I asked the Woods how hard it was to keep up with NASCAR’s seemingly endless rule changes – which, at the time, were made to keep competition equal and the auto manufacturers happy.
Leonard abruptly left the room.
He came back carrying a box. He emptied the contents on the floor.
Carburetor restrictor plates of myriad sizes and shapes were spread out all over the floor.
“See this?” Leonard asked. “This is what I have to do constantly to make sure we’re fast and within the rules. It’s not easy and it takes up a lot of time.”
Then he smiled.
“You can’t take a photo of all this,” he said.
Then the reason that was the center of the Woods’ success hit me. Leonard had just very dramatically shown me how hard he worked, how experimental he was and how dedicated he was in his role as the team’s engine builder.
No wonder the Woods were the toast of NASCAR. By 1972 their cars had been driven to multiple victories by the likes of Curtis Turner, Marvin Panch, A.J. Foyt and Cale Yarborough.
In ’72, their first with Pearson, they won six times.
That was just a harbinger of things to come. The Woods won 11 of 18 races in 1973 and seven more in 1974.
They were making the most of Glen and Leonard’s leadership and mechanical skills.
It has always been reasoned that Glen was the strategist. The Woods never ran for a championship. They competed only in superspeedway races, which paid the most money.
Glen opted for the combination of a higher income and fewer expenses. I also think he preferred to race where the team was strongest.
The only exception was their hometown track, the half-mile Martinsville Speedway. Suffice it to say, uh, they were “compensated.”
Meanwhile, it was Leonard who was the technical genius. He didn’t learn from schools or manuals. He was a naturally talented mechanic who could build motors from the time he was 13 years old.
As an engine builder he was diabolical – almost like a mad scientist. No one knew exactly what he did, and he sure wasn’t about to tell anyone, but his engines were routinely the most powerful on every superspeedway. The numbers proved it.
It didn’t end there. Leonard was also the architect of a Wood Brothers pit stop – routinely the fastest in NASCAR.
Leonard was one of the best tire changers in the sport – yes, his duties with the team were many – but he was also responsible for modernizing the equipment of the day.
He created a lightweight jack, one far lighter than the 70-80 pounders of they day. With the use of hydraulics, Delano Wood, jackman and the most flamboyant of the Wood Brothers, could have a car lifted in two pumps. It took other teams as many as 10.
Leonard is also credited with finding ways to get the team’s air guns to remove and replace lug nuts more quickly and modifying the gas dump cans to allow fuel to flow faster.
Without Leonard’s natural skills and creativity, the Wood Brothers would have never achieved the status and notoriety they hold to this day.
That’s the biggest reason why Leonard is one of the latest inductees into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Buck Baker, Herb Thomas, Rusty Wallace and Cotton Owens join him this year.
Pearson was a member of the hall’s second class and his tenure with Woods certainly had much to do with that.
Leonard will join Glen as a hall of fame member. It’s only appropriate. They established their greatness together.
Over the years Leonard and I became friendly acquaintances who could converse easily and laugh often.
Of course, I have never asked him what he did or how he did it.
I think he’d smile. But he wouldn’t answer. Not to this day.