Keven Wood had humble expectations during his NASCAR debut aboard the No. 21 Bush's Baked Beans Ford. Keeping the Wood Brothers/JTG Racing Ford F-150 in one piece and being around for the finish was all the team wanted, and he easily accomplished that.

He started 19th in the O'Reilly 200 at the Memphis Motorsports Park.
His 27th-place finish was the product of the team's strategy, not the ability of the young driver or his race truck. The team decided to have him drop back during the first half of the race to gain experience.

Wood, the son of team co-owner Len Wood, is working through NASCAR's rigorous qualification process. By successfully racing at Memphis without incident, he's now able to race at most tracks of one mile or less in NASCAR.

The No. 21 Bush's Baked Beans will return to action on July 14 at the Kentucky Speedway.

Keven Wood, Driver No. 21 Bush's Baked Beans Ford F-150: "I don't know what to say," he said. "This is a whole different world out here. We started off tight and got the truck running better there near the end. There were times when I could have been in the top-10, but being my first time, I gave plenty of room to let the others go by. I was running hard, but also trying to get some respect out there and not get labeled as a 'weapon' or anything. I wanted to finish the race and that's what we did."

Len Wood, Co-Owner No. 21 Bush's Baked Beans Ford F-150:
"We had Keven drop back a couple times to make sure he stayed out of the way," he said. "I think he learned a lot. It was a very good first step. He brought the truck home with all four fenders and he was on the track at the end of the race. That's everything we wanted. We'll see what's next for Keven."

Race News

• Keven Wood earned $9,050 in his first NASCAR start in the Craftsman Truck Series.
• The next race for the No. 21 Bush's Baked Beans Ford is at the Kentucky Speedway on July 14.
• The Top-five finishers at Memphis were: Travis Kvapil, Jack Sprague, Ron Hornaday Jr., Mike Skinner and Aaron Fike.