Len and Eddie Wood will never forget the moment they saw the 1963 Ford Galaxie with No. 21 on the side in their rearview mirrors, exactly where they never thought it would be.

As it rolled by, they could see it was obviously a replica, with chrome wheels and Hoosier tires where Firestones should have been. It was at this precise moment, as the Woods sat in the infield of the Brickyard waiting for the garages to open in July 2011, the spell was cast.

“We knew there was going to be a historic car show at the track that afternoon, with Dan Gurney, Cale Yarborough specials, as well as other muscle cars from the sixties.” said Len, who owns and operates Wood Brothers Racing with his brother Eddie and sister Kim. “That morning we heard something coming, looked up, and it was a replica of Tiny Lund’s car. We said ‘we’ve got to go look at that.”’

When they saw it, they knew they’d build one too.

Tiny Lund became a hero twice during speed weeks of the 1963 Daytona 500. First, literally.

Driver Marvin Panch was supposed to drive the No. 21 Galaxie for the Wood Brothers, qualifying it P12. Then came a freak accident.

Panch was attempting a speed record in a Birdcage Maserati 10 days before the 500 when the car flipped in turn three and burst into flames with the driver trapped inside. Fortunately for Panch, Lund was nearby with Glen Wood, founder of Wood Brothers Racing, NASCAR official Johnny Bruner, crewmen and drivers, who ran to pull him out of the fire.

It was Lund, the strongest of the group, who pulled Panch out. He was awarded the Carnegie Medal of Honor for the rescue.

Ten days later, thanks in large part to the Wood Brothers original crew chief-engineer-fabricator Leonard Wood, Lund drove the 1963 Ford Galaxie, with English Motors on the sides, to victory lane. It was Ford Motor Company’s first win in the Daytona 500.

After seeing the replica in Indianapolis, recreating the 1963 Galaxie became an ongoing, but casual topic of conversation for the family.

“It came up in conversation while on airplanes, in the garage and at home,” Eddie Wood said, “but the decision to make it period-correct wasn’t made until later.”

First they needed a car. The treasure hunt began.

“There were several cars that were too expensive to take it and cut it up to make a race car,” Len said. “We needed a donor car. We made several trips riding around looking for one.”

By then it was October, and after searching and looking at several cars, the answer turned out to be closer than they’d expected.

“We found a street car that was light blue,” Len said. “A former pit crew member of ours had it. We’d looked at several cars, but this one was in Roanoke, Va. It had some rust on it and a 390 engine, but we bought the car and stripped it.”

Eddie and Len made a wish list: They wanted a 427 tunnel port engine and a top-loader transmission.

“Those were things we had to have,” Len said. “The correct engine would have been a regular 427 with a low-riser intake manifold and the transmission at the time would’ve been a Borg-Warner. The tunnel port was the first engine we found as was the top-loader transmission. We weren’t concerned about being period correct at this time. We just wanted the coolest 427 and the best known transmission. We will correct both of these when the car comes out of the HOF.”

Eddie found the engine in California and sent longtime crewmember William Fulp on the cross-country journey to fetch it. The 427 needed some work so they took it to Jimmy Tucker, the same man who built engines for the team in the 1960s.

“We had him blueprint the engine, which is basically where you take it apart, measure it and reassemble it,” Len said. “There were a few things that needed changing. That took several months to make sure all the right parts were there, but we were in no hurry for it either.”

By December 2011, with the Galaxie’s engine off for work, the Woods were ready to focus on the body and interior of the car. Originally a project for Leonard Wood, builder of the original 1963, and Butch Moricle, Len and Eddie’s cousin, the recreation was soon adopted by the Motorcraft/Quick Lane-sponsored NASCAR Sprint Cup team the Woods compete with today.

At first, the family and team worked on it sporadically, between races. Once it was announced Leonard Wood was voted into the prestigious NASCAR Hall of Fame, the family had a deadline.

“Our goal (at first) was to have it ready for the week of the Daytona 500,” Len said. “We’d gone to (Living Legends parade) for several years, but instead of being spectators, we wanted to be participants, share something with the people that had shared with us. Give something back.”

“That was the long-term goal. We also knew we were coming up on the 50^th anniversary of that car winning the Daytona 500. When Leonard got nominated into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in May 2012, we said ‘OK, now there’s a deadline.’”

They got the engine back, had the frame painted, and suspension components like they wanted by summer 2012, Len said.

“We had the engine running in the frame,” Len said. “No body, just sitting there with a frame and a bucket of gas with a hose dropped in it. That’s how Leonard cranked it up to make sure everything was running.”

Then, by Christmas, came the metamorphosis. Rust was replaced by the Rangoon Red and Corinthian White, circa Ford colors in 1963. The Woods, now devoted to making the car period-correct with the help of the same classic car historian/appraiser that helped them with the 2011 Daytona 500-winning Ford Fusion, used acrylic enamel, the paint from the day. The appraiser, Jim Cowan, suggested the Woods hire NASCAR Hall of Fame historian Buz McKim to hand-letter the Galaxie just like it was back in 1963.

“Buz loved the project,” Len said. “Overall, he spent about 20 hours on it. He used One Shot paint, a thick paint. He used a Campbell soup can and an assortment of sixties-style tools. He did buy some new brushes. He had these sticks that were used to steady his arm while he made his strokes. It had what looked like a pencil eraser on the end of it. He did it like he was doing it in the 1960s.”

Eddie and Len used old photos taken at English Motors, the Ford dealership the original race car was taken to for an appearance after it won, to make sure the interior of the car, from holes in the dash to logos on the vinyl panels and the direction tape was wrapped, was all correct. It was ready just in time for Leonard’s Hall of Fame induction Feb. 8, 2013. They even had the right tires and trophy.

In a rare move, the NASCAR Hall of Fame allowed the family to bring the recreated 1963 Galaxie to this year’s Daytona 500, where driver Trevor Bayne qualified P3 with a replica paint scheme on the sides of his 2013 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion. This year’s 500 marks the exact 50^th anniversary date of Tiny Lund’s win. Fans can see the 1963 Galaxie in the Sprint Fanzone in the infield of Daytona International Speedway this week.

Bayne starts Thursday’s Budweiser Duel on the outside of row one.

“We’re so proud of it,” Len said. “Anytime someone is in the garage, and something gets brought up about the 63, I say ‘You got a few minutes? Let’s go walking.’ I betcha I made 12 trips to the Fanzone. We’re just so proud of the accomplishments that our Dad and Leonard had with that car. (This win was) One of the biggest and one of the earliest ones. When people see it their faces light up. I think that’s what I was looking for. Everybody’s been really pleased with it.”

“When our Dad got here Saturday I asked him if he wanted to walk down there, so we crossed into the Fanzone and there was a mob of fans, so he had to sign autographs. That was very special. They have a little grassy knoll with palm trees around it. Every time I go down there, there’s fans all around it. I think it’s a big hit. For us to have a good qualifying run, that helped too.”

For live updates from the Daytona 500, follow the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion team on Facebook and Twitter (MQL_Racing). Follow Wood Brothers Racing on Facebook and Twitter (@WoodBrothers21) and driver Trevor Bayne on Facebook and Twitter (@TBayne21).

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A quick trip around Daytona International Speedway on Sunday afternoon assured Trevor Bayne and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion a starting spot in next Sunday’s 55^th annual Daytona 500.

In pole qualifying, Bayne, the 2011 Daytona 500 winner, turned a lap at 195.976 miles per hour to post the third-best qualifying time, so no matter how he finishes in Thursday’s 150-mile Budweiser Duel, he’ll be in the line-up for next Sunday’s Great American Race.

“It’s a big sigh of relief,” crew chief Donnie Wingo said as his Motorcraft/Quick Lane crew pushed their Ford Fusion, the fastest of the Blue Oval contingent, through the inspection line.

As Bayne pointed out in his post-qualifying interview, speed in qualifying at Daytona is more a result of preparation by the crew than driver performance.

“The Wood Brothers know how to do it, that is for sure,” he said. “That is what is so cool about qualifying here. It shows all the hard work that they put into these cars. Once you get in the race and get beat up a little bit, it doesn’t matter quite as much, but qualifying shows all the hard work they put into it.”

Wingo didn’t disagree.

“This is a tribute to everbody in the engine shop at Roush Yates Engines and the people at Roush Fenway Racing who build these cars and to our Motorcraft/Quick Lane guys who put it together and got it right,” he said.

Team co-owner Eddie Wood said he too was relieved to be in a position to race in The Great American Race no matter what happens in Thursday’s Duels. Only the top two qualifiers are locked into their starting spots. The remainder of the field is set by the results of Thursday’s Duels, and there are additional spots reserved for the top qualifiers not otherwise in the starting field with the final spots going to teams based on car owner point standings. Also, there is one final spot that is reserved for a past champion, if it’s needed.

“With the uncertainty surrounding how these cars are going to drive and so many unknowns with a new car, it feels good to know we’ll be in the race,” Wood said, adding that it’s important to the current team members to have a strong Speedweeks this year. “It’s a tribute to Leonard [Wood] being inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame and to Tiny Lund and Marvin Panch.”

A replica of the Ford Galaxie that Lund drove to victory in the 1963 Daytona 500 in relief of Panch who had been burned in a sports car race, is on display in the Fan Zone adjacent to the garage at the speedway. After Speedweeks, it will spend a year in the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte to commemorate Wood’s recent induction.

Bayne and the 2013 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Fusion, which carries the same paint scheme and the same colors as the ’63 Galaxie driven by Lund and Panch, will return to the track to determine their Daytona 500 starting spot on Thursday in the first of two 150-mile Budweiser Duels. Those qualifying races are scheduled to start at 2 p.m., with TV coverage on SPEED.

The 55^th annual Daytona 500 should get the green flag just after 1 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 24, with coverage on FOX.

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The 2013 edition of Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway has a throwback feel as the Generation-6 cars that will make their competitive debut this week, once again closely resemble those found in dealer showrooms, bringing back the old “Win on Sunday, sell on Monday” approach to Motorsports Marketing.

NASCAR’s qualifying rules have been changed back to an earlier format, one that puts more emphasis on performance during qualifying rather than rewarding teams for past performances.

It’s a perfect environment for the Wood Brothers and Motorcraft/Quick Lane to roll out their 2013 Ford Fusion. This Fusion, while carrying the shapes and style of the street-legal Fusions, is decked out in the same colors as the 1963 Ford Galaxie that Tiny Lund drove to victory in the Daytona 500 for the Woods on Feb. 24, 1963, 50 years ago to the day from this year’s 500.

The Rangoon Red-and-Corinthian White paint scheme is part of the effort of the current generation of Wood racers to honor the team’s long-time chief mechanic and crew chief Leonard Wood, who was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame last week.

“It’s a real honor to be able to do something like this for our uncle,” said Eddie Wood, one of the co-owners of the team.

Wood also is anxious to get back on the track with a Ford Fusion that, like the ’63 Ford Galaxie back in the day, has the kind of appeal that sends race fans to the local dealership after their favorite race car wins in NASCAR.

“I’ve have at least a dozen people come up to me recently and say they went out and bought a 1963 Galaxie after Tiny Lund won the Daytona 500,” Wood said, adding that a true-to-life replica of Lund’s winning Ford will be on display in the Fan Zone at Daytona International Speedway during Speedweeks.

The real emphasis for the Woods and their current driver Trevor Bayne will be in the garage and on the track as they compete in the 55th running of the Daytona 500.

Even after 63 years of NASCAR racing and a Hall of Fame induction, Leonard Wood, who still works with the team, is looking out his windshield instead of his rear-view mirror as he heads to Speedweeks, where his team has five wins in NASCAR’s showcase race.

During his Hall of Fame induction, he talked about how happy he was to see his nephews, Eddie and Len, and his niece Kim, along with crew chief Donnie Wingo, win the 2011 Daytona 500. He also laid out his hopes for this year.

“I want to see them do it again this year,” he said.

He believes they’ve got the driver to do it in a new car and with a new style of racing, now that the two-car tandem that Bayne used so skillfully in 2011 appears to have become a thing of the past with the change to the 2013 cars.

“He seems to me he’s matured enough that I think he’s got what it takes to win the Daytona 500,” Wood said.

Qualifying for the Daytona 500 is set for Sunday, Feb. 17, at 1:10 p.m. Eastern Time. The 150-mile Budweiser Duels qualifying races are scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 21, at 2 p.m., and the 55th annual Daytona 500 should get the green flag just after 1 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 24.

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The recently completed NASCAR off-season was anything but for crew chief Donnie Wingo and his No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion team.

The change to a radically different Ford Fusion has kept Wingo and his Wood Brothers crew especially busy, even during the weeks of Christmas and New Year’s, when teams typically take a few days off.

“For the first time in a long time I didn’t take a vacation,” Wingo said. “We didn’t even take the whole week of Christmas off.”

“This is by far the most change we’ve ever had from one season to the next.”

With NASCAR officials being extra careful with their specifications for the new cars, crew chiefs like Wingo found themselves working right up to the last minute before loading their cars for this week’s Preseason Thunder test sessions at Daytona International Speedway.

“NASCAR wants to get it right the first time with this new car,” Wingo said, adding that teams can either speculate what NASCAR will do and make changes to their cars or wait for the final rules to be released. He’s among those waiting for the final specs rather than guessing wrong on the rules. “You’ll stay behind if you’re constantly having to re-do things.”

It was just this week that the No. 21 Ford Fusion saw its first wind-tunnel test, one that answered few questions for now because it’s a totally new car.

“There’s really nothing to compare it to,” Wingo said.

For the Daytona test, Wingo and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team have taken the chassis they raced at Talladega Superspeedway last fall and made the necessary changes, including the installation of the new 2013 Ford Fusion body, one that more closely resembles those on the Fusions in dealers’ showrooms.

“The new bodies are going to appeal to the fans, especially those who are loyal to a certain manufacturer,” Wingo said.

How the cars perform on the race track will be determined in large part this week at Daytona.

“The car has less drag, but it also has less downforce – front, rear, and overall,” he said.  Since NASCAR is adding even more body templates this year, there’s very little that teams can do to affect the aerodynamic characteristics of their cars.

It should be fairly evident early on in the test as to which cars have the advantage heading into Speedweeks.

“You’ll know how you stack up after the first three hours of the test,” he said.

Wingo said he’ll have his driver Trevor Bayne focus initially on single-car runs, but he does plan to do some drafting before the test ends on Saturday. Only after some drafting practice will drivers and teams know whether the tandem-style racing that has been commonplace at Daytona and Talladega in recent years will be feasible with the new cars.

Bayne and the team have been successful at that style of racing as evidenced by their win in the 2011 Daytona 500, but that may not be a viable option this time around.

“It’s pretty hard to tell at this point,” Wingo said. “I’m not sure how the bumpers are going to line up, and the front ends are different for each manufacturer.”

There’s also the additional factor of the cars having less downforce.

“We don’t know how well these cars will push,” he said. “But I’m sure people will be playing around with it.”  

Qualifying for the season-opening Daytona 500 is set for Sunday, Feb. 17, at 1:05 p.m. Eastern Time, and the Great American Race is scheduled for Feb. 24 at 1:20 p.m.

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