Jack Wood’s 2024 campaign came to a close at Phoenix Raceway on Friday with an 11th-place finish in the ARCA Menards Series West (AMSW) and a 35th-place finish in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) finale. The Loomis, Calif. native secured a career-best fourth-place finish in the AMSW championship standings in the No. 16 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet SS and tackled double duty in the No. 91 Mongoose Bicycles Chevrolet Silverado RST.
Wood’s day began by starting third in the AMSW 100-lap finale on Friday afternoon. He kept the NAPA Chevrolet in the top-five during the opening laps under the bright desert sun. The race’s first caution came out on lap eight and the heat cycle on tires began to contribute to a handling issue for Wood. After restarting third on lap 14, Wood found himself in eighth by lap 34. He communicated to the NAPA team that his Chevrolet was too tight on both ends of the Phoenix mile and ran eighth at the halfway caution on lap 50.
Crew chief Kevin Bellicourt made sizable adjustments during the break and utilized the two fresh right-side tires, per AMSW rules. Wood restarted ninth on lap 55 but continued to fight handling issues for the balance of the afternoon. He ran 11th on lap 91 when the event’s final caution flew. He took the checkered flag in that position to finish the 12-race season with five top-five’s and seven top-10 finishes.
Wood’s run in the second act of the day’s doubleheader began from the 21st starting position in the crescendo of the NCTS campaign. Wood’s truck behaved similarly to his MHR teammate Christian Eckes in the opening laps, and fired off too loose. The event began with a 43-lap green flag run and Wood fell a lap behind the leaders and ran 24th on lap 45 to end Stage 1.
Bellicourt called Wood to pit road for his first stop of the NCTS event for chassis adjustments to compliment four fresh tires and fuel. After restarting 25th on lap 55, Wood’s night ended in the Turn 1 wall after contact with the No. 41 truck on lap 59. Wood retired from the event due to terminal damage from the incident as the No. 91 team finished the season 17th in the NCTS owners’ point standings.
Jack Wood Quote:
“We had a tough day, but proud of everyone on our NAPA Auto Care and Mongoose Chevrolets. Everybody at BMR and MHR put in a ton of effort to both the West car and truck program this year, and I’m proud to drive for these guys every week. We were too tight the first half the West race and lost track position with those long green flag runs, and got caught in a bad spot into Turn 1in the truck race. We have some good notes to go back on when we come back and we’ll start getting ready for next year when we get home.”
McAnally Hilgemann Racing PR
