Wood Set for First Start in Wilkes County
Venue: North Wilkesboro Speedway
Event: Wright Brand 250
Date: Saturday, May 18
Location: North Wilkesboro, NC
Track Description: 0.625-mile oval
Distance: 250 laps, 156.25 miles (1:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, Motor Racing Network)
Staying In Position … Jack Wood heads for Wilkes County, North Carolina to make his first appearance at the storied North Wilkesboro Speedway (NWS) on Saturday afternoon. The driver of the No. 91 Cometic Gasket / Klotz Synthetics Chevrolet Silverado RST is making his second short track start of the season this weekend and is aiming to pad the team’s position in the standings. The No. 91 team currently holds the 10th and final position on the provisional playoff grid for the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) owners’ point standings just past the halfway point of the regular season.
Short Track History … Saturday’s encore to NWS’ revival in 2022 and 2023 marks Wood’s debut at the track that opened in 1947. While this weekend is his first trek to Wilkes County, Wood has competed at the other four short tracks that are currently on the NCTS calendar. His experience includes multiple starts at Bristol Motor Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, and Indianapolis Raceway Park and has a pair of top-20 results to his credit. In the tour’s most recent short track race at Martinsville in April, the MHR teams combined for two top-five finishes which included a victory by Christian Eckes.
Season to Date … After nine of 23 races, Wood and Zane Smith have combined to place the No. 91 Chevrolet inside the provisional playoff grid of the NCTS owners’ point standings with a 31-point cushion on the cut line. The team, led by crew chief Kevin Bellicourt, has a season-high finish of second came with Smith behind the wheel at Kansas Speedway. In total, the No. 91 squad has three top-five’s, four top-10 finishes, and one stage win.
Tune In … FOX Sports 1’s (FS1) coverage from NWS begins on Friday afternoon with NCTS practice at 3:00 p.m. ET. Coverage continues Saturday on FS1 with qualifying at 10:30 a.m. ET followed by NASCAR Raceday at 1:00 p.m. ET and the green flag at 1:30 p.m. ET. Stay connected with the No. 91 Cometic Gasket / Klotz Synthetics team by following @BMR_NASCAR on X, @bmrnascar on Instagram, and Bill McAnally Racing on Facebook.
Jack Wood Quote:
On making his first start at North Wilkesboro:
“It’s really cool to be able to race there with all the history and the revival that the track had over the last couple of years. I think the repave will be an unknown for mostly everyone in the field. Christian (Eckes) and the No. 19 guys were able to do the tire test there, so I think everyone at MHR has a pretty good idea of what to expect this weekend. It’s definitely going to be fast and a much quicker race pace than last year. I’m sure the track will go through a big change during the weekend and in the race itself when it rubbers up. Hopefully we can stay on top of all that and have a clean day with our Cometic Gasket, Klotz Synthetics Chevrolet and get a solid finish on Saturday.”