NASCAR Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

How Appalachian NASCAR Hall Of Famer Leonard Wood Reinvented Racing

Stock car racing’s roots run deep in Appalachia. Our twisty roads and dark hollers were home to moonshiners — and moonshine runners, who became known for their driving skills. And they became some of NASCAR’s first stars when it formed in 1948. But NASCAR’s oldest continuous racing team had nothing to do with moonshine.

This conversation originally aired in the April 21, 2024 episode of Inside Appalachia.

Stock car racing’s roots run deep in Appalachia.

Our twisty roads and dark hollers were home to moonshiners — and moonshine runners, who became known for their driving skills. And they became some of NASCAR’s first stars when it formed in 1948. But NASCAR’s oldest continuous racing team had nothing to do with moonshine.

The Wood Brothers first started running races in 1950. Glenn Wood drove their cars, and he was enshrined in the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2012. His brother Leonard followed in 2013. Leonard worked on the cars, and was part of what was known as “the most skilled pit crew in the world.”

Glenn Wood passed away in 2019. The team is run by his kids and grandkids. Leonard is now 89. And he still works daily at the Wood Brothers Racing Museum in their hometown of Stuart, Virginia.

Inside Appalachia Host Mason Adams dropped by to speak with him.

NASCAR Hall of Famer Leonard Wood at the team’s museum in Stuart, Virginia.

*Photo Credit: Mason Adams/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Adams: The first thing I wanted to ask you is, I’ve had people tell me that drivers help but it’s really mechanics that win races. Is that true?

Wood: It’s both. You can have the best car in the world and the driver not do his job like it’s supposed to. But yeah, a good driver is a big credit to your winnings, but he can’t carry it on his back, he’s got to have something that’ll perform. I’d rate it equal, one or the other.

Adams: Were you mechanically inclined as far back as you can remember in life, or was there a moment where it kind of clicked for you?

Wood: No, I was always mechanical in mind. I’d always tear my toys apart. Brother Delano, his next Christmas were like brand new, and mine all torn to pieces. Back when I was just 12 years old, I was making little Jeeps out of wood. Then I made one and had a steering wheel on it and I would come roaring down that hill, the back of the hill. We used to have a bottle of oil, and we’d oil the axles and put the wheels back on so they drove faster, you know. Those little bottles are still buried up there for a long time. Then I made a gasoline-powered go kart when I was 13. It’s in the museum over there, and it’s got a washing machine motor on it.

I can remember when I was just a young thing, I told my dad I wanted something with a motor on it. And so then my sister’s husband’s dad had a washing machine with a gasoline motor on it, and when electricity came along, he took the gasoline mode off and put an electric motor on it. My brother in law gave me that motor, then I made a go kart out of it.

Hall of fame racing hands.

*Photo Credit: Mason Adams/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Adams: Oh wow. So my 11 year old loves tearing stuff apart and sometimes builds it back together, sometimes not. What advice would you have for him?

Wood: Well, when you decide to make something, you do heavy concentration and you stick to that until you get the thing done. You don’t just do a little bit here and lay it down and all that. When you start to make something, concentrate hard on what you want to build and how you want to build it, and keep doing it ‘til you get it fixed.

I used to design zone cylinder head ports and intake manifolds and all that, and when I’d start, I’d just keep at it ‘til I got it like I wanted it. I didn’t lay it down and forget about it, come in next week and work on it. When you really want to make something and make it run, you just concentrate ‘til you fix it. I don’t know at times that I have thought of ways to do it, and something just triggers my mind how to do it. And then before I get done, something else triggers my mind, “No, this is the way you do it — even better.”

I tell people, “I know what I do know and I also know what I don’t know.” My dad always said what he didn’t know it make a great big book, and I feel the same way. But I do thank the Lord [for] the talent he gives me to do the things I do.

Adams: What’s your next project?

Wood: Eddie and Len always come up with something for me to do. They decided to have me make a half-size 427 engine. We started making it. I have a great machinist — Bennie Belcher. He’s the greatest I’ve ever seen. He can take regular milling machines and turning lathes and all that, and make it look like a CNC made it. He and I together, you know, we made this 427 half-size like we ran at Daytona.

So Eddie tells Edsel Ford what they’re going to have me to do. Edsel says, “Well, it’d be nice to have it to look like a 427 that won Le Mans in 1967.” So that’s what we ended up making, was one like that won the Le Mans race in 1967. Edsel said, “We’ll put it in the Ford museum,” so that’s where it is now. So now they decided to make a 429 Boss Hemi engine like David Pearson drove in the ‘71 Mercury. So we got that about two-thirds done right now. And we’re going to make that one run. The one in the Ford museum, the manifold, all that’s fixed, but you don’t have any parts to make it run. But this one’s gonna run.

A workshop at the Wood Brothers Racing Museum in Stuart, Virginia.

*Photo Credit: Mason Adams/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Adams: I’ve thought about that famous Wood Brothers pit crew and how tight y’all had that system. Where did that come from? Was that a combination of the mechanics applied to the pit crew and maybe some military background? Or do you know?

Wood: We were at Charlotte in 1960, World 600, the very first one. And we had two cars. We prepared two Fords. So Fireball Roberts and Smokey Yunick made a pit stop, to change two tires and fuel. Took them 45 seconds. John Cowley with Ford Motor Company told us, “I think there’s some time to be gained in the pits.” We started working on it, so right away we was down to 25 seconds with the same deal. Then we just worked from there.

We would machine the studs, recess the end of them, you could put a lug nut on them and start the lugs. Then put a spring in the socket, so whenever you went from one lung to the other, throw the socket out and all that, and now we’ve got the tires changed. Now we’re waiting on the jack to get up. It took about 12 pumps. So I enlarged the plunger so it only takes like two strokes to jack the car up. So now I got the tires changed, now the gas won’t go in. So now we start working on the fuel system, streamline that to where it improved the fuel flow, and now we got a quick pit stop.

We was coming back from California and we stopped down at Greenville, South Carolina to fuel the truck and get a bite to eat. Brother Ray and I was in this little ton truck, and the race car’s on an open trailer and these people, these fans were all standing around looking at it. When we come out when it was 20 degrees, so we didn’t stand around and talk. We got in the truck and left.

We get between Greenville and Charlotte, ready to stop in Charlotte. And this truck starts vibrating and shaking and brother Ray said, “You can even feel it in the roof.” I’m looking at the one side to see if there was an airport nearby, an airplane warming up or whatever, and then it quit. Then we got up to Charlotte and we had to exit off, and it started up again. I look out the side glass and see steam coming out the exhaust pipe for the race car. And so I told Ray, “Stop this thing.”

We stopped and I went around, and I could see this silhouette of a human behind the windshield. I’m thinking now, one of the crew members has pulled a trick on us and got in the car. Then I’m thinking, no he ain’t that dumb, as cold as it is. I look in, this guy’s got Marvin helmet on. I said, “What do you think you’re doing?” And he said, “Let’s go!”

Anyway, we pulled him out and then about that time, a sheriff drives up, and we handed him over to the sheriff.

Adams: Oh my goodness.

Wood: I didn’t know the guy. I don’t know where he lives and haven’t heard from him since. I would love to get to talk to him. But I don’t know where he is, whatever happened to him.

Adams: Thank you very much. It’s been an honor talking to you.

Wood: Well, same here. You’ve been interesting.

——

View Leonard Wood’s 2013 hall of fame video and a video of him building a half-scale model.

A Tale Of Treenware And A NASCAR Legend, Inside Appalachia

This week on Inside Appalachia, a pair of former miners found love shoveling coal and shaped a life making wooden spoons. We learn about treenware. Also, NASCAR Hall of Famer Leonard Wood shares stories, and a bit of advice. And, group bike rides are a way to socialize and get outside. But here in Appalachia, newcomers are met with steep hills.

This week, a pair of former miners found love shoveling coal and shaped a life making wooden spoons. We learn about treenware.

Also, NASCAR Hall of Famer Leonard Wood shares stories, and a bit of advice.

And, group bike rides are a way to socialize and get outside. But here in Appalachia, newcomers are met with steep hills.

In This Episode:

Two For Treenware
Hanging Out With NASCAR Legend Leonard Wood
Exploring Morgantown On The Back Of A Bicycle
Sovereignty At The Museum Of The Cherokee People

Two For Treenware

Stan and Sue Jennings turned a conversation about a passion into a business.

*Photo Credit: Zack Gray/Allegheny Treenware*

For 30 years, Sue and Stan Jennings have run Allegheny Treenware, a West Virginia company that makes wooden kitchen utensils. But they started off as a couple of coal miners. And when they weren’t underground, they talked about what else they could be doing.

Folkways Reporter Capri Cafaro visited the Jennings.

Hanging Out With NASCAR Legend Leonard Wood

Straight from the source at The Wood Brothers Racing Museum.

*Photo Credit: Mason Adams/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Stock car racing’s roots run deep in Appalachia. Some of NASCAR’s early stars came straight from the lawless moonshine runners of the 1920s and 1930s, but NASCAR’s oldest continuous racing team had nothing to do with moonshine.

Mason Adams visited with Leonard Wood at The Wood Brothers Racing Museum in Virginia for stories and wisdom.

Exploring Morgantown On The Back Of A Bicycle

The ad-hoc Morgantown Social Rides aim to get cyclists onto the streets to explore the city in a new way.

*Photo Credit: Chris Schulz/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

With spring, lots of folks are heading out to the woods or the rivers, but one group in Morgantown, West Virginia is taking to the streets – on their bicycles.

WVPB’s Chris Schulz grabbed his helmet and tagged along to explore his city in a new way.

Sovereignty At The Museum Of The Cherokee People

BPR’s Lilly Knoepp (left) spoke with Museum of the Cherokee People Director of Education Dakota Brown and Director of Collections Evan Mathis at the Appalachian Studies Conference on Friday March 8, 2024 at Western Carolina University.

*Photo Credit: BPR*

In western North Carolina, a new exhibit called “Sovereignty” recently opened at the Museum of the Cherokee People. The exhibit focuses on the autonomy of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Director of Education Dakota Brown is co-curator of the exhibit.

BPR Senior Regional Reporter Lilly Knoepp spoke with Brown as part of a panel at the Appalachian Studies Association conference in March and sent us an excerpt.

——

Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by The Dirty River Boys, Charlie McCoy, John Blissard, Sierra Ferrell, and John Inghram.

Bill Lynch is our producer. Zander Aloi is our associate producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. We had help this week from folkways editors Nicole Musgrave and Mallory Noe Payne.

You can send us an email: InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

You can find us on Instagram, Threads and Twitter @InAppalachia. Or here on Facebook.

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Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

A Little Daytona In Ona

Ona, West Virginia is a town with two stop lights, but it’s also a place where legends are made.

Greg Sigler has been racing at Ona Speedway for nearly two decades. But today, he’s coaching his 15-year-old son, Cole, from the sidelines, using a headset that lets them talk back and forth. Cole, who drives a white 2006 Cobalt sporting the number 99, has just embarked on his own racing career. It’s his first time behind the wheel of a car.

In a special report exploring folkways traditions, as part of the Inside Appalachia Folkways Project, Lexi Browning spoke to the Sigler family. For them, days at Ona Speedway are a family affair. Cole’s mother, Michalann, is there too. She said racing has brought the father and son closer together.

“They didn’t have a whole lot in common, and now that they’re racing, they talk a lot,” she said. “They stay gone late at night working on cars, and it’s really made his dad proud of him.”

Between practice sessions and races, Greg, Cole, and Michalann often spend long days together at the speedway. But she doesn’t mind.

“It’s just real family-oriented and I like that about it,” Michalann said.

Out on the track, Cole’s cautious, but he’s gaining confidence. He’s easing into turns and leaning harder into the accelerator.

After a few more laps, he pulls over for a tune up and his crew guides him to a trailer, which serves as their makeshift pit. It’s a routine check for safety. The guys check the tires, add air and tighten a few bolts.

Greg gives the green light and with that, the Cobalt — and Cole — are ready to return to the track.

Spectators look on at the Sept. 8, 2018 race at the Ona Speedway in Ona, West Virginia.

It’s not just blood relations who come together here. The track is the center of a racing community that Michalann describes as, “one big family.”

Marshall Herring agrees. He’s been coming here since the track opened, first as a spectator, then as a driver, promoter and flagger. Now, at 71, he’s seen his fair share of tracks.

“I raced at Ona back in the sixties and then I moved to Florida. Raced at Palm Beach Fairgrounds Speedway, Hialeah Speedway, Hollywood Speedway, Punta Gorda Speedway, Vero Beach Speedway …” he trailed off.

But the Ona Speedway is home, and there’s no place he’d rather be.

When it opened in August 1963, it could seat 16,000 spectators and was slated to become a NASCAR track. The speedway hosted four NASCAR races, bringing big names like Richard Petty and Bobby Allison to the tiny town.

A vehicle collision on the asphalt draws a crowd at the Ona Speedway in Ona, West Virginia.

“People actually bought stocks in Ona Speedway. Back then they were going to build this track and make it a big thing. The track that’s there now is the original track that they built, but it was laid out for an even bigger track around the outside of it to run the NASCAR cars on.”

NASCAR racing traces its roots to the Prohibition era, when quick getaways were a necessity for moonshiners in the hills of Appalachia. Souped up engines became a way for moonshiners to deliver their products — and outrun any lawmen they encountered.

By the 1950s, the sport was gaining traction and fans across the United States. And Ona was right there at the center of it.

“It was unbelievable I mean I remember going there when I was young as a kid,” Marshall said. “When they ran it as a NASCAR track. Where the airport is now and all that whole bottom land, there was nothing but cars. There was people up in the trees on the hillside. It was unbelievable the people that came to watch the NASCAR races at that track.”

But things were about to change.

The rural roads made it difficult for NASCAR’s massive car-hauling trailers to access the track. The speedway was only a half mile from the nearest stretch of interstate, but without any off-ramps to accommodate the trailers, the NASCAR races eventually stopped.

Greg Sigler, a veteran driver at the Ona Speedway, does a quick bit of maintenence on his stock car before the races begin in Ona, West Virginia. Sigler, who has been racing at the speedway for the last two decades, was joined by his 15-year-old son, Cole, this season on the track.

But after a 22-year hiatus, a local family re-opened the freshly paved track in 1995. By then, its seating capacity had shrunk from 17,000 to 5,000, reflecting racing’s new realities.

“The track doesn’t bring the crowds in like they used to,” Marshall said. “It’s hard to bring a crowd into a race track and charge somebody to come and watch a race, even though they might want to watch it and it’s a show that you’re getting and it’s well worth the money, it’s hard to get people to do that because of television. That’s been a big factor in the short track racing.”

Over the last few years, though, Marshall said things have started looking up thanks to new owners. Both attendance and car counts are up. He said it reminds him of the old days.

“They’re running things pretty much the way it should be, and I see the track coming back a little bit,” he said. “And I hope it continues to. I would love to see that place packed full of people the way it used to be. The way all tracks used to be.”

Marshall said the key is leveling the playing field to make the sport more accessible to younger folks, and those with lower incomes.

“The little guy wants to race just like the big guy, and if you’ve got a big guy that’s got a million dollars in the bank versus a guy that pays out of his pocket from week to week and has to do without a loaf of bread maybe to get a bolt for his tire or something for his car so he can race, there’s a big difference,” he said.

Scouring junkyards for used parts or bartering with other drivers can help lower costs of restoring and maintaining the modified stock cars, which can be classified as late models, hobby stocks and classics. So can swapping out metal bumpers with cheaper plastics.

But the best way to get involved, Marshall said, is simply to start showing up and helping out at the track and in the garage. Like Cole did.

“He started coming up here to the shop with his dad some, and I’d give him a hard time and tell him we’re going to put you in one of these cars next year and he got to where he’s working on the cars little bit and helping us,” Marshall said. “I think it’s great, and I think we need more kids doing stuff.”

Marshall Herring waves the green flag as racecars take off on the asphalt track of the Ona Speedway in late 2018 in Ona, West Virginia. Built in the early 1960s, the track was the first of its kind in the Mountain State and hosted four NASCAR races in the small town.

It’s been a few hours, and Cole’s finishing out his final set of laps. The setting sun marks the end of practice, so he pulls off the track, parks, and gets out. Driving, he found out today, isn’t as hard as it seems.

“Honestly it feels like you’re being pushed. Feels like everything’s getting pushed to one side,” Cole said. “But you know, this is probably the best track for starting off.”

Greg walks over to congratulate his son on a job well done.

“You did it!” Greg said with a grin. “Look at you, you’re like a professional racer.”

The race cars are loaded and the trailer doors are closed. With that, the Siglers head home; eager to cross the next finish line.

This story is part of the Inside Appalachia Folkways Reporting Project, a partnership with West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Inside Appalachia and the Folklife Program of the West Virginia Humanities Council. The Folkways Reporting Project is made possible in part with support from Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies to the West Virginia Public Broadcasting Foundation. Subscribe to the podcast to hear more stories of Appalachian folklife, arts, and culture.

Tinkering As A Family Tradition: Restoring Vintage Cars In Roanoke

On any given Friday night, a parade of customized cars and trucks cruise from north to south and back again on Williamson Road in Roanoke, Virginia.

Modified with neon lights, spinning rims and streamlined spoilers, these vehicles do not necessarily scream “folk tradition”—but they are just the modern version of a long-running Appalachian tradition.

People in the mountains have tinkered with cars for as long as there have been cars. In the ‘20s and ‘30s, that often meant converting stock cars with bigger engines, stiffer suspensions and hidden compartments to hide bootlegged whiskey. That tradition formed the foundation for NASCAR and modern-day stock-car racing.

In a special report as part of the Inside Appalachia Folkways Project, Mason Adams profiled one family about how car repairs have turned into a unique family tradition.

In Roanoke, the Bennett family is sustaining the automotive tradition another way, by restoring vintage cars into pristine conditions, and sometimes by building them from the frame out.

“I’m into the traditional style cars,” said Jeff Bennett. “That’s what I like. I like stuff that looked like it was built in 1960. My term there is, less is more.”

Jeff’s father, Jack Bennett, ran Perfection Auto Body in Roanoke for 25 years and died last year. Jeff now operates a custom auto shop out of his home, where his son Jeremy assists him with high-end body work.

“His [Jeff’s] father had been in the automotive business and was interested in hot rods,” says Roddy Moore, vintage car aficionado and retired director of the Blue Ridge Institute, a folklife center in Ferrum, Virginia. “Jeff grew up with that and that interest went from father to son, like it’s gone from Jeff to his son. So you’ve got three generations right there.”

The Bennetts are all about cars that are built correctly, from the ground up. They find old cars through Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace and word of mouth. They take those bodies and rebuild them to look brand new.

Jeremy (left) and Jeff Bennett stand by a 1937 Ford pickup they rebuilt.

One of the cars in their shop sits stripped down to its frame, with only the engine and front seats sitting on it. The Bennetts will take this and build a new body for it. Sometimes they lower the body closer to the ground, but otherwise they tend to keep them as close to the original as possible.

Jeff spoke about a 1931 Ford Coupe he bought in North Carolina and rebuilt.

“I basically made the whole bottom of the car,” Jeff said. “It was rotted, all, built the frame. Built the whole car from nothing. There was really nothing there.”

Jeff learned those skills from his father, Jack, whose style was exemplified in the name of his shop: Perfection Auto Body.

“He was a perfectionist,” Jeff said. “I guess he tried to teach me to be a perfectionist also. You know his big thing is edges. Make sure the edge of everything is straight. Everything is perfect. Everything is fixed. “Edges will make you or break you, boy,” that’s what my dad would tell you.”

Jack passed away in September of 2018. More than a year later, Jeff is still processing his loss. What remains are his memories, and the lessons that his father passed to him. He recalled the first time he handled a professional paint job.

“We had a car sitting in the paint booth, and it had to be painted,” Jeff said. “He’s like, ‘You’re going to have to paint that car.’ I said, ‘I’ve never sprayed that stuff before.’ He said, ‘Well, just go in there and paint. That’s all I can tell you.’ I went in there and started prepping the car. I came back out of the paint booth.”

Jeff was struggling with the job. Jack called him over to a picnic table and sat him down. They had a beer and took a moment. Jeff tears up thinking about it, especially since Jack’s death.

“We sat there and had a beer,” Jeff said. “He said, ‘You feel better now?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘Go paint the car.’ I went out and painted the car and it looked really, really good.”

Now, Jeff is passing that knowledge on to his son Jeremy.

“I guess he’s taught me everything really,” Jeremy said. “I mean, cause I didn’t know a clue about how to do anything before I started here when I was like 14.”

On a balmy autumn evening, Jeremy worked with Jeff in the shop. Jeremy meticulously buffed the inside of a car hood, preparing it for another layer of paint. Very few people notice the inside of a car’s hood. But for Jeremy and his dad Jeff, the inside of the hood is just as important as the parts of the car you do see.

Jeremy also has developed his own interest in restoring vintage Volkswagen Bugs. He has completely restored two so far, including one vanilla and mint Beetle he drives around sometimes. The body of a third sat in the shop, waiting for rebuild and a new life.

The Bennetts are keeping their family tradition alive, while carrying on the tradition of tinkering with cars – an Appalachian craft that has been flourishing since before Prohibition. Jeremy Bennett’s Volkswagen Bugs would not make the best bootlegging cars, though. There is not enough trunk space.

This story is part of the Inside Appalachia Folkways Reporting Project, a partnership with West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Inside Appalachia and the Folklife Program of the West Virginia Humanities Council. The Folkways Reporting Project is made possible in part with support from Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies to the West Virginia Public Broadcasting Foundation. Subscribe to the podcast to hear more stories of Appalachian folklife, arts, and culture.

NASCAR's Hamlin to Head to West Virginia for Flood Aid

NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin is heading to southern West Virginia to help out after deadly floods ravaged the region.

A news release from The Greenbrier resort says that on Thursday evening, Hamlin will hand out toys and school supplies to Greenbrier County students affected by the June 23 floods. He’ll be at the White Sulphur Springs train station.

Kyle Larson, who competes in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series, will accompany Hamlin on Thursday.

The floods killed 23 people and devastated homes, businesses and infrastructure. Greenbrier County accounted for 15 of the 23 deaths.

W.Va. Senate President to be Coca Cola 600 Honorary Starter

West Virginia Senate President Bill Cole will be the honorary starter for the Coca Cola 600 NASCAR race this weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina.

At the Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday, the Mercer County Republican will be honored at a pre-race event, attend the official drivers meeting, address a crowd of nearly 100,000, participate in the pre-race spectacular and present the trophy to the winning driver.

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin served as honorary starter for the race in 2012. U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin filled the same role in 2006 when he was governor. State Department of Veterans Assistance Secretary Rick Thompson performed the duty when he was House speaker in 2008.