Edsel Ford, member of the Board of Directors for Ford Motor Company and great-grandson of founder Henry Ford, toured some Ford team race shops on Wednesday and even though he will not be in attendance at tomorrow's Pennsylvania 500, he will still have a presence. During his visit to the Wood Brothers shop, co-owner Eddie Wood asked Mr. Ford to sign the hood of the No. 21 Keep it Genuine/Motorcraft Taurus that qualified 33rd on Friday.



EDDIE WOOD, Co-Owner - No. 21 Keep it Genuine/Motorcraft Taurus - WHAT DID IT MEAN TO YOU AND YOUR TEAM TO HAVE EDSEL FORD DROP BY THE OTHER DAY? "Having Edsel Ford show up at your shop, especially with our history with Ford and having raced for over 50 years, it's almost just like having Henry himself walk in. I mean, you know the history but it just means more to us than probably anybody else because we know and have cared so much about Ford forever. My dad started racing Fords in 1950 and even though we had a time in the seventies when we ran Mercurys, it's still Ford. Just having him there was really special. I made sure everybody in the shop got to meet him and shake his hand. To us, it's like the President of the United States walking through the day. He's like royalty or whatever you want to call it. He's special and very down to earth. We did a pull on the chassis dyno while he was there so he could see that and we really interested. We tried to show him what goes on and I hated the fact that he could only stay a couple of hours. I could still be talking to him."
WHY DID YOU HAVE HIM SIGN THE HOOD OF THIS WEEK'S CAR? "I don't know. I was in the car and just finished the dyno pull and he was in the control room. When I started to get out of the car it just kind of hit me that I wanted him to sign this car and he did. I handed him the Sharpie and he signed it. We put a piece of plastic over it because with the cleaners and stuff we use it might have been wiped away, but that hood will go in our museum in Stuart. That's a one-race hood right there."