Jon Wood filled in for Ricky Rudd during Friday's practice session at California Speedway in preparation for Sunday's Sony HD 500. Rudd was not at the track after attending the funeral of his father, Al Rudd, Sr. earlier on Friday in Virginia. Al Rudd, Sr. died on Tuesday after a lengthy illness. Many teams, including all five Roush Racing Fords, are sporting decals on their cars in memory of Rudd, Sr.



JON WOOD - No. 21 Motorcraft Genuine Parts Taurus (Qualified 39th) - "I don't even consider it a lap. With what happened to Ricky's dad and the circumstances leading up to it, I don't think anybody is really in the right frame of mind, and I'm certainly not in the frame of mind to go out there and run as fast a lap as I possibly could. I just kind of wanted to make sure I didn't wreck it for him, so the car is in one piece and I think he'll be able to drive it. I think the stuff we worked on during practice yesterday and today will probably be beneficial for him, so maybe it'll be a good thing."

THOUGHTS AFTER THAT? "When I got out of it there was a spoiler on it and a grille, and stickers on both sides. That's all I wanted to do was make sure it was in one piece. It's very unfortunate what happened with Ricky's dad and everybody's thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family. It's so unfortunate. I have always wanted to drive this car and I think I can name every reason and every circumstance other than the one to get in it now. It was not even bittersweet, I was just there filling in a space that needed to be filled. I hope the practice we did yesterday and today will be beneficial for him in tomorrow's race and we'll see what happens."