Bernece Wood, matriarch of NASCAR’s oldest active team, died Tuesday
Bernece Wood, wife of NASCAR Hall of Fame member Glen Wood and the matriarch of the family-run Wood Brothers Racing team, died Tuesday. She was 90 years old.
“We often times are told how incredible it is that our family all gets along. We owe the credit to family matriarch Bernece Wood so it’s with profound sadness that we had to say goodbye to her today,” the Wood Brothers Racing account posted on Twitter. “These things are never easy and we all experience grief, but it’s still hard.
The indisputable fact is that everything our team stands for and has stood for are the values that originated from her and my grandpa Glenn. Plz keep Eddie, Len and Kim in your thoughts.” the post written by Bernece’s grandson, Jon Wood, said.
Bernece and Glen had been married for 68 years when Glen died in 2019, and Bernece had seen NASCAR’s longest active race team grow since its inception in 1950. Brothers Glen and Leonard Wood formed the team that still competes in NASCAR’s top Cup series in the No. 21 Ford car, which is currently driven by Matt DiBenedetto.
Bernece grew up in Charity, Va., and was born Jan. 28, 1931. The family said she died from natural causes. She is survived by her children Eddie, Len and Kim Wood, who run the Wood Brothers Racing team.
“On behalf of the entire NASCAR Hall of Fame team, I would like to offer our most sincere condolences to Eddie, Len, Kim and the entire Wood family on the passing of Bernece Wood,” NASCAR Hall of Fame executive director Winston Kelley said in a statement. “Ms. Bernece — as she was affectionately known throughout the NASCAR industry — was so much more than the wife of NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Glen Wood and the matriarch of the Wood family. She was truly the family’s rock and north star. She was a very active and integral part of NASCAR’s longest, continually operating team ...
“In addition to being a loving and devoted wife to Glen, she was an incredible mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. The respect and love she had for her family and they for her is matched only by the respect and love the NASCAR industry has for this truly special and remarkable lady. Ms. Bernece will be dearly missed but her legacy and the impact she had on so many will live in our hearts and minds forever.”
This story was originally published March 30, 2021 at 4:07 PM.
