Wood Brothers Racing played a pivotal role in Jim Clark‘s historic Indy 500 win for Lotus in 1965, and for this weekend’s NASCAR throwback race at Darlington Raceway the team is reliving that wonderful winning weekend with a classic green and yellow livery paint scheme. Josh Berry’s number 21 Motorcraft Ford will be decked out in the same British racing green and canary yellow as Clark’s famed Lotus-Ford was sixty years ago. The throwback look was unveiled on Thursday with a commemorative event at The Henry Ford museum in Dearborn, Michigan, where Clark’s original race-winner is displayed.
“This was a really fun project to work on with the team, from sorting all the details to making sure it properly reflected such an important moment in history,” said Jon Wood, president of Wood Brothers Racing. “It’s always special to run a throwback, but this one carries extra meaning because of the connection our family had to that Indy 500 win. Unveiling it at The Henry Ford, right next to the original car, made it even more special. Seeing the No. 21 in those colors is a great way to honor that history, and I think it’s something fans will really appreciate.”
How’d they do it?
Clark’s number 85 car was the first rear-engine car to ever win at Indy, due in large part to its more aerodynamic shape and better handling character around the Brickyard, but the Wood Brothers brought innovation to the team’s pit stops. The Woods came up with an innovative gravity-feed pressurized venturi fueling system that packed a car to the brim in mere seconds while other teams were still relying on fuel cans and pumps. According to a recounting from Leonard Wood one of the Indianapolis pit stall inspectors didn’t believe it would work, and bet the team that they “couldn’t pour 20 gallons a minute to come out of that tank.” The team knew their secret weapon in the pits would help them win the race and didn’t take the bet for fear of actually taking that man’s money. “We connected it and stopped it. We put 58 gallons in in 15 seconds.” confessed Wood. “That was pretty awesome, really.”
Clark, who led 190 of the 200 laps that year, took the win by a little under two minutes at the end. The Wood Brothers still say that Clark used a single set of tires for the full 500 mile race. It’s safe to say that Josh Berry will need more than one set of Goodyears to make it to the end of this weekend’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington. Maybe with some quick pit stops and a fast Ford engine Berry can find his way to victory lane again after winning last weekend’s Las Vegas round.
