The Wood Brothers will still only field one Nextel Cup car in 2006, with veteran Ken Schrader behind the wheel. But the team has entered into a partnership with ST Motorsports, which has two Busch teams, and will be working toward becoming a multicar Nextel Cup team.

"If you look at the hardware industry, there are a couple of big companies to go to," said Eddie Wood, the team's co-owner. "Where else do you go to get anything to work on your house? ...The world seems to be going to the larger stores because they can get so much more there.

"It's the same thing with drugstores. You don't see the local drugstore any more. We're kind of in the same spot. ...We had to get bigger like anybody else. ...When you go talk to a sponsor, the first question you get is, 'Who is your teammate?'"