Of the 20 drivers who have been fortunate enough to win races with the Wood Brothers Racing team, nearly half of them were first-time winners, with Josh Berry being the latest. From there, it's been fairly split on what the future held for these drivers as some never won again, while a couple went on to become NASCAR Cup Series champions. It remains to be seen where Berry will fall on this list, but here's a look at the other eight who kickstarted their Cup careers with a victory while driving for the Wood Brothers:
Harrison Burton -- 2024 Daytona summer race
Burton now competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series after scoring his one and only win in the No. 21 last summer, which came after the team decided to part ways with him following three years together. At this time, there are no plans for him to return to the Cup Series in the immediate future.
Ryan Blaney -- 2017 Pocono
Blaney has of course won many races since his time with the Wood Brothers. The duo earned a top-ten points finish together before Penske (who has a technical alliance with the #21) snatched him away. Blaney has since gone on to win 13 Cup races and even become champion in 2023.
Trevor Bayne -- 2011 Daytona 500
When it comes to one-hit wonders, they don't get much bigger than this. One day after his 20th birthday, Bayne drove the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford to its fifth 500 win as a team. However, Bayne was never able to recreate the magic of the day, having never won again despite nearly 200 starts in the Cup Series.
Elliott Sadler -- 2001 Bristol
Sadler had a respectable NASCAR career after his 2001 victory, winning two more races with a different team [Yates Racing] and starting 438 Cup races. He enjoyed a little more success in the Xfinity Series, nearly winning the title on several occasions. Sadler was also the beginning of a fascinating trend as all five of the team's victories during the 21st century came with five different drivers, and each were first-time winners.
Dale Jarrett -- 1991 Michigan
Joining Blaney, Jarrett is the only other driver listed here to actually parlay their first win with the Wood Brothers into a championship-winning career. The second-generation racer has since joined his father in the NASCAR Hall of Fame, having won 32 Cup races, but only the first victory came with the Wood Brothers. In 1999, he became a champion with Yates Racing.
Kyle Petty -- 1986 Richmond
The son of Richard 'The King' Petty and the grandson of Lee Petty, there was a lot of pressure on Kyle to live up to the family name. Although it wasn't quite the career he may have hoped for, he still started over 800 Cup races and won eight. Of the other first-time winners on this list, only the two champions won more races. Petty is also the most recent driver to win multiple races with the Wood Brothers, as the others enjoyed the rest of their success elsewhere or never won again.
Tiny Lund -- 1963 Daytona 500
Like Bayne, Lund earned his first Cup win in the sport's biggest race. Lund, who stood at 6ft 5in, certainly wasn't 'tiny,' but he did know how to wheel a race car in the early days of the sport. He started 303 races, winning five races with three different teams before his tragic death in the Talladega 500 in 1975.
Glen Wood -- 1960 Bowman Gray (x4)
Appropriately, the first driver to ever win with the Wood Brothers was of course one of the original Wood Brothers. Glen, who has since joined the NASCAR Hall of Fame before his passing in 2019, won four races behind the wheel of the family-owned car (all at Bowman Gray). But his true legacy lies in the team he and his brothers built.
What it means and what comes next
While not a points-paying race, Michael Waltrip also won the 1996 All-Star Race with the Wood Brothers, which came five years before his victory in the 2001 Daytona 500, which of course was overshadowed by the tragic death of Dale Earnhardt.
So yes, the Wood Brothers have a knack for giving drivers the opportunity to prove their talents, but they've also featured many legends such as David Pearson and Cale Yarborough, as well as international racing stars like Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt. But these nine drivers are the ones who began their career with this iconic group.
But for team co-owner Eddie Wood, it's the first-time winners that are really special to him. "That's one thing I'm probably most proud of," he said. "We got a wall in our museum with the winners. I went a couple, three weeks ago, already got a picture of Josh [Berry] in a Motorcraft uniform ready to go hoping we'd get that first win.
"You never know when you're going to get one or if you're going to get one. I felt so good about the combination with Miles [Stanley, crew chief] and Josh, like I said a while ago, they just clicked and you could see it from the get-go. Just felt like he was going to run up front. You got to get in the right spot to win a race. These races are so hard to win."
But what makes this team such a great jumping off point for the careers of so many drivers? While every situation is different, the fact that the Wood Brothers are an old school team has to play a role in it all. They're not hiring pay drivers or asking for anything other than a talented wheelman looking for a chance. More often than not, they are the ones to step up and grant that opportunity while larger teams are unable or unwilling to do so. And as showcased by their 101 victories and 70+ years in the sport, they know what they're doing when picking a driver.
It's unclear where Berry's career goes from here, but the No. 21 seems to have consistent speed that it hasn't had in a while. Perhaps he'll be the first driver since Petty to win multiple races with the team, or maybe he'll go on and become a champion elsewhere like Blaney and Jarrett. There's of course the chance that he never wins again, but most would bet against that. Or maybe he could be the driver to finally deliver the Wood Brothers the one thing missing from their illustrious trophy shelf -- a NASCAR Cup Series championship.
