Charlotte, N.C. — Jon Wood, son of car owner Eddie Wood, undertook a little extra curricular activity last week when he piloted an NASCAR Busch Ford Taurus during a test session. The session went well for Wood and lit a fire of desire that might be hard to extinguish.
"He was fortunate enough to go test with Stacy Compton last week and ST Motorsports in Kansas," confirmed Wood, who is the co-owner of the No. 21 Motorcraft Ford. "That's one of Jon's favorite tracks. He won his first race there. He was really excited about it.
"I haven't talked to him that much since he's been there, but he seemed really happy and it seemed like he ran really well."
Wood, who has two Busch Series starts, one of which netted a top-10 finish, seems to like the feel of the cars as opposed to the trucks, at least according to his father.
"The big thing he told me is that the Busch cars seem to have more area to work with to get speed out of them versus the truck," relayed Wood of his conversation with the youngster. "With the truck you unload it, you drive it off down in there and what you've got is what you've got. With the Busch car it seemed to have a lot more area to work on to pick up speed."
"He hasn't had a very good year so far," Wood admits of his son's struggle in the Craftsman Truck Series this year—an effort that has Jon riding 15th in the points, compared to teammate Carl Edwards’ third place standing. "Last year [Jon] won two races and things really looked like they were on top of everything and then just one thing or another has gone wrong.
"Things just haven't gone really like any of them want but he was excited to get the opportunity to go test this car whether he gets a Busch ride with someone or not."
Asked about any career path discussions he might have with his son, Wood offers, "He would like to go Bush racing and get some seat time in a Busch car.
"He's driven in a couple races in a Busch car but he's never had a full ride in one," the senior Wood continued. "He ran [Indianapolis Raceway Park] a couple years ago and had a good run but he wants to get in a car really bad. I want him in a car, too.
"He started out in cars," reminds Wood. "He ran some Winston West races and he's tested a lot with us, so it's not a matter of him getting used to it. He picked that up pretty quick. We're really excited about it."
Wood told www.teamfordracing.com that he's hoping his son can arrange a ride in the Busch Series, preferably as soon as next year.
"That is the next logical step—and I think he's ready for it."
