Often on small NASCAR teams crew members will fill in on multiple roles both in the race shop and at the track week in and week out. Though, JD Motorsports’ Gabriel (Gabe) Wood, no relation to the Wood Brothers, may have taken that to another level.
Humble Beginnings
Wood is currently the fueler (only at Portland for Gray Gaulding), tire specialist, and the underneath mechanic on Ryan Vargas’ No. 6 Chevrolet Camaro SS.
Long before Wood worked for JD Motorsports, or even public relations for a sponsor, he worked construction, picked watermelons, just earning money. Those first jobs for the University of Northwestern Ohio graduate helped him raise enough money for a sim racing computer and a sim racing wheel.
“That’s actually how I got my first sim racing computer was I was a farmhand and I saved up my money,” Wood recalled. “My first wheel, from GameStop, was a Logitech Driving Force GT.”
Taking Pride in One’s Work
In addition to the at-track work Wood does for JD Motorsports, he also builds the rear-end of the No. 6 Chevrolet Camaro SS at the Gaffney, S.C. race shop.
Gabe Wood has made a career of being a 'jack of all trades' in the NASCAR Xfinity Series garage.
Though most weeks the underfunded team is fighting for a top-20 or top-25, several times a year their hard work is on full display. At both superspeedways this year, when there was qualifying, Vargas qualified the No. 6 in eighth, seventh, and 10th, beating many multi-million-dollar teams.
“It’s the pride of seeing something that I put together go on the racetrack,” Wood admitted. “Talladega is so great because friction is one of the biggest things. You’re stuck with what you got horsepower, you’re stuck with what you have gear–wise.
“It is good that the rear end that I put together, when I’m at the shop I put I put all of our rear gears together for the No. 6 car, that it is fast and it makes it through the race.”
The 24-year-old was a spotter at Daytona International Speedway for Tim Richmond and at Watkins Glen International. He’s even made the trip North of the border into Canada to spot for William Hale.
Original source can be found here.
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