Kelly
Bires will remain in the Wood Brothers/JTG Racing No. 47
NASCAR Busch Series entry this season with Jon Wood moving to the team's Craftsman Truck Series team. Wood has been recovering from a reaction to prescription medicine and has been sidelined for the last five races. While the team plans to eventually run him in the Busch and
Nextel Cup series once more, for now he will be easing back into competition by driving the No. 21 truck Tad
Geschickter, co-owner of the team, confirmed the plans Saturday at
Daytona International Speedway.
"We're going to keep bringing Jon back up into the Busch and the Cup, but based on what he's doing in making himself better, that's a really good place for him to knock the rust off," he said. " ... We're excited. We think he can go out there and knock off some wins for us in that truck."
Geschickter added that the team is excited because the group's trucks have been strong at the track. Adding Wood's experience to the program is a significant boost.
As to Bires, the team is high on the rookie who has now driven in five races filling in for Wood and has posted a top finish of seventh. He has two other finishes of 16th or better, including a 16th in Saturday morning's Winn-Dixie 250 at Daytona International Speedway.
"That guy was driving ASA Late Models this time last year and he just ran 250 miles at Daytona up in the draft the whole time, didn't put a scratch on it," Geschickter said. "[He] showed a lot of respect for his competitors, got almost in the top 15."
As to Wood, Geschickter dismissed the possibility of him testing the truck before showing up to race it.
"It's like riding a bike," he said.
Wood moving to truck series; Bires to remain in Busch