Wood Brothers Racing contemplating possible return to full-time racing

Nov 2, 2014; Fort Worth, TX, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Trevor Bayne (21) during the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Wood Brothers Racing, one of the oldest teams in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, is facing a lot of changes for 2015 — a new driver in Ryan Blaney, a new crew chief as Jeremy Bullins rejoins the team to crew chief the No. 21 for Blaney, and an affiliation swap that sees the team forming an alliance with Team Penske instead of Roush Fenway Racing.

But there’s yet another change that may be on the horizon for the iconic No. 21 — a return to full-time Cup racing. Since the mid 2000s, Wood Brothers Racing has competed on a part-time basis because of sponsorship issues. Already during the offseason, though, there have been hints from the Wood Brothers camp that a full-time schedule could be in store if adequate sponsorship is found. Claims also have been made that Wood Brothers Racing could actually already run more races than it has in recent seasons.

A return to full-time racing was hinted at the start of the 2014 season, soon after the announcement of the new Chase for the Sprint Cup format that emphasized winning while also requiring qualifying attempts for all 36 points-paying races on the schedule.

"“We would be really love to be back full-time,” Wood Brothers Racing co-owner Eddie Wood told NASCAR.com early in 2014. “With so much emphasis now on the championship with the Chase. . . we work toward getting back full-time all the time. My kids Jon and Jordan, they do a lot of research and try to generate marketing strategies, and we’re open to anything to find more funding.”"

Trevor Bayne drove the No. 21 to victory lane after the 2011 Daytona 500. With a win assuring a spot in the Chase for a full-time driver/team now, provided said driver is in the top-30 of the points standings after race 26, another such win early in the season would have Wood Brothers Racing even more seriously considering a full-time run.

"“That would change the game a little bit,” Wood said. “If you’re fortunate enough to say, win the Daytona 500, then you’d figure out a way to do it. But that would be huge.”"

Blaney, as of now, doesn’t look to have a full-time schedule in any of NASCAR’s three national series, but he’ll be busy, as he expects to make at least 12 starts in the No. 21 at the Cup level while running some Camping World Truck and Xfinity/Nationwide races here and there. But if Blaney has his way, his Sprint Cup schedule will be beefed up somewhat; however, whether an increase would come with a few races in a third Team Penske entry or more races with the Wood Brothers is unknown.

“I hope we can get it upwards to 17 to 20 (Cup races),” Blaney told the Sporting News. “We’re working really hard to get that done. I’m going to be racing a lot next year and fortunate to be in great cars, so I can’t worry about it too much. My mindset is try to do more Cup races, just with that is the ultimate goal, obviously, and try to get more experience in that. I want to try to find more Cup races instead of Nationwide just because it progresses you a lot faster learning the cars.”

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