One of the most enduring and endearing traditions of Speedweeks will end this weekend. For the first time in 72 years, NASCAR Hall of Fame team owner/driver Glen Wood will miss the Daytona tradition. It was inevitable, but it is nonetheless a sad moment, one worthy of serious reflection.

Wood, now 92, attended his first Speedweeks in 1947. He drove a 1940 two-door Ford coach from his home in Stuart, Virginia, bringing along his future father-in-law and future brother-in-law. Curious about Bill France’s new stock car series, they trekked south to watch the races on his 4.0-mile highway/beach course south of Daytona Beach. It wasn’t until 1953 that Wood Brothers Racing -- brothers, cousins, friends, in-laws and neighbors -- first brought their race cars to the highway/beach course.

All told, Glen Wood ran eight Modified, Sportsman, Convertible and Grand National races on the beach, winning three Sportsman races. When France opened Daytona International Speedway in 1959, Wood finish fourth in its first Convertible race and 34th (broken clutch) in his only Daytona 500. More comfortable on shorter dirt tracks, they were his only starts at the self-proclaimed World Center of Racing.

Wood raced occasionally until 1964, when he retired to spend more hands-on time with his team. That brought him to Daytona Beach every February, when his No. 21 Ford products generally ran well. But age and time are relentlessly unforgiving, and both overtook the revered Hall of Famer this year. Bernice, his wife of 67 years, was recently hospitalized after a fainting spell while out to dinner. With her health a concern -- and his own strength not what it once was -- he decided this was the year to finally end the 71-year streak.

“He thought about it and thought about it before deciding to stay home,” said his son, Len, a co-owner of the team. “One day he’d think he’d come; the next day he’d say he wouldn’t. He sort of went back and forth for a while. We could have gotten him down here in a car (a tough 720-mile drive) or flying (which he doesn’t like), but it would have been tough on him. He’s not in bad health, not at all. He’s doing OK at home. But he doesn’t have the strength he used to. He hates it, just like the rest of us hate it. It won’t be the same without him.”

A year ago, on the 71st anniversary of his first Speedweeks, Glen Wood spoke of his streak. “In some ways, it’s been a miracle that I haven’t been sick or hurt or anything to keep me away,” he told Autoweek. “Nothing’s ever happened this time of year to keep me home. Maybe the closest was about 10 years ago, when I hurt my right hand pretty bad and thought about maybe not coming down. But I managed to get here with help from the boys (team co-owners Eddie and Len Wood). After that first year, I just kept coming down with friends and family, and I’m still here. It doesn’t pay anything, but it gives me something to look forward to and something to talk about.”

A year ago, he said it was difficult to pick his favorite Daytona 500 moment. He clearly enjoyed Tiny Lund’s victory in 1963, when his team ran all 500 miles on the same set of tires. He mentioned Cale Yarborough’s 1968 victory from the pole, the day he took the lead with four laps remaining. Then there was A.J. Foyt’s dominating 1972 victory when he led all but 33 of the 200 laps. And what about David Pearson’s memorable 1976 victory when he nursed his battered car over the line after a last-lap, last-turn crash with Richard Petty.

Finally, he settled on the most recent victory -- not surprising, really -- when virtual unknown Trevor Bayne won in 2011 in his first Daytona 500. “It’s hard not to say Trevor’s,” Wood said. “It was just his second Cup start and nobody knew much about him. We didn’t think anybody would go (draft) with him; we thought they’d all go with people they knew (in the final laps). But Kyle Busch ran with him some and Jeff Gordon ran with him a while and Robby Gordon and, finally, Terry Labonte.

“I remember Darrell Waltrip saying Trevor was a sitting duck on the last lap because they were going to line up and go by him. But Trevor kept on getting it, and it worked out so good. I was glad I was here to see that one.”

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