Nancy Wilds Wood, wife of NASCAR team owner, brought her ‘huge heart’ to racing
Nancy Wilds Wood wasn’t born into NASCAR’s oldest continuously operating Cup Series team, but she was critical to upholding Wood Brothers Racing’s family values.
She spent 40 years married to Len Wood and was a constant presence at the racetrack traveling with the family-owned operation. Although Wilds Wood didn’t hold an official team title, at least one member of the motorsports industry, Winston Kelley, called her part of NASCAR’s “unofficial welcoming committee” because of her genuine kindness.
“She was one of those folks that welcomed anybody into the industry,” said Kelley, who met Wilds Wood when he was a reporter for PRN. Kelley later worked closely with Wilds Wood and the family in his role as the executive director of the NASCAR Hall of Fame in uptown Charlotte.
“If you couldn’t get along with Nancy Wood, then you need to look in the mirror,” he said.
That’s probably why when Wilds Wood, 64, passed away on Dec. 11 in Huntersville after a 2 1/2-year battle with a rare form of colon cancer, titans of the NASCAR world, such as Edsel Ford II, Jim France, Mike Helton and Lesa France Kennedy, sent condolences to the family or turned up in person for her memorial service.
“It was kind of amazing the amount of people that reached out,” Len Wood said. “Nancy tried helping people and never asked for anything in return.”
Wilds Wood’s son, Keven Wood, highlighted that generous trait about his mother, too.
“She just had this persona about her where she would light up a room,” he said. “She had such a huge heart. She would go out of her way to help anybody that she could.”
Len and Keven pointed out other facts about Wilds Wood that demonstrated her gentle nature. For example, she graduated from Averett University in Danville, Virginia, with a degree in social work, and helped children involved in domestic dispute cases before mastering her role as a full-time mother when their family was living in Stuart, Virginia.
While Len was at the track on weekends running the NASCAR team that his father, Glen, started in 1950, Wilds Wood was the ultimate “racing mom” raising Keven, Len said. She also was a volunteer hospice worker and, like most of the family, always lent a helping hand unpacking T-shirts and die-casts to be signed by the famous drivers who raced for the Wood Brothers’ team. She also led tours at the Wood Brothers Racing Museum in Stuart, her hometown.
“I like to say she was as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside,” Len said.
Wilds Wood and the family split time between Stuart and the Charlotte area after the team relocated its shop following the 2003 season. Wilds Wood loved to travel, according to her family members, and Daytona Beach, Florida, was one of her favorite places.
“She loved Daytona,” Keven said. “She loved going shopping. She loved going out to eat. She loved her beach time. But more importantly, she loved being with her family.”
The only thing she placed above family, according to Keven, was God. Wilds Wood was a devout Christian who was comforted by her faith in her final minutes. Keven recalled the conversation with his mother in the ICU after doctors told him that no more could be done to save her.
“She looked at me and said, ‘OK, I’m ready. I’m excited to see heaven,’” Keven said. “No fear whatsoever… My mom was facing death and she wasn’t scared because she knew exactly where she was going.”
That conversation inspired Keven, who helped care for her since her diagnosis in April 2019.
“I told myself, ‘If she can do this without any fear, you can get through this, too, and you’ll be OK,’” he said. “That’s my mom living inside of me.”
Len Wood said that what especially stands out to him about her later years was how even through hundreds of doctor’s appointments, chemotherapy treatments and a bout of septic shock that left her hospitalized for more than 40 days, “she pushed that aside and pressed on to make sure that everybody else was OK,” he said.
“She was one of a kind.”
