WOOD BROTHERS/JTG TEAM COMES UP

JUST SHY AT TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY

Wood Brothers/JTG Racing came up just short of making the field for Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 event at Talladega Superspeedway during the Saturday morning qualifying session. The news came as a bit of a shock to the team, as the car had practiced well in comparison with the other cars needing to qualify on time to make the 43-car field. The team, had it been in the top-35 in points, would have made the field with the 29th fastest overall time of 50.63 seconds and 189.114 miles per hour.

The No. 21 Little Debbie Ford turned the second fastest times of the nine teams needing to make the race on speed during both of the Friday practice sessions. Consequently, the team members felt that if they only backed up the times they ran, they would be in safe territory. And they should have been. However, six of the teams behind the 21 car found some kind of a secret only a day later that left the Wood Brothers/JTG team packing for the first time since the 2000 season, also in the first Talladega event of that year.

The team was plenty discouraged to be leaving the track a day early, but the crew members and leaders did their best to carry their heads high as they packed up their equipment. Racing is a business with its ups and downs and the Wood Brothers have seen more than their fair share of both.

The only difference is that, through the years, it never gets any easier.

WHAT THE TEAM HAS TO SAY
Ken Schrader, driver of the No. 21 Little Debbie Ford:
“That was a bit of a surprise and I think we’re all kind of scratching our heads right now, trying to second guess ourselves. We showed up in the practice sessions and did the best calculations we could to see where we were going to end up today, but we were off, obviously.

I hate it for our team, the guys and our sponsors. At the same time, there isn’t a need to panic, we just need to circle the wagons and forget about this week and get ready for Richmond. We’ll have to qualify on time, but that’s what we’ve been doing for the past four weeks. We’re used to it.”

Ernie Cope, Crew Chief of the No. 21 Little Debbie Ford:
“I don’t know what to say. This one is hard to swallow. I don’t think any of us saw this coming based on how we practiced, but it happened. All we can do at this point is get back to the shop, get focused and get ready to take the season on a week-to-week basis.”

FAST & NOT SO FUN FACTS:
-The Wood Brothers/JTG Racing team failed to qualify for the Aaron’s 499 event at Talladega Superspeedway. It is the first event the team has missed since Talladega in the year 2000.

NEXT RACE INFORMATION:
What – Crown Royal Presents the Jim Stewart 400 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race
When – Saturday May 5th, 2007; 7:30 p.m. EDT
Where – Richmond International Raceway; 400 laps; 300 miles
Network – FOX Television Network; MRN Radio Network