John Wood stood 6 foot 5 and weighed around 250 pounds, but it wasn’t just his imposing physical presence that inspired his enduring nickname: Big John.
“He had a big laugh, a big smile and a big heart,” friend and fellow drag racer Roger Squire said.
And he left a big hollow in many lives when he died in an ATV crash Oct. 29, five weeks short of his 64th birthday.
More than 600 people filled the Melba High School gym for Wood’s memorial celebration one week later. His love for cars, and for other people who love cars, was well-reflected.
“There were over 300 hot rods there. It could’ve been a car show in its own right,” Squire recalled. “There was a procession through downtown, and everyone in that town was hanging out of their homes and businesses, waving John on.”
The hearse bearing Big John’s casket through his hometown was a red 1955 Chevy station wagon.
He was a car guy. More precisely, “he was a 100 percent Chevy guy,” Squire said. “The word Ford was never spoken in the family house. That was a cuss word.”
WORK HARD, PLAY HARD
A gregarious man with a knack for figuring things out, Wood generally ended up in leadership positions, including on his racing team and his pool team, his son Jake said.
“He was not controlling, but he could control things,” he said. “He was a true get ’er done kind of guy.”
Wood owned and operated Wood Pump Co., working out of a shop at his home between Nampa and Melba.
“He was just the hardest worker,” Jake said, marveling at the effort involved in pulling a pump during a winter freeze. “His work ethic was incredible, but somehow he found the time to have a lot of fun.”
He was a competitive pool player, heading a pool team for Cook’s Two-Holer Bar in Melba for 27 years. He savored swap meets and was an ace wheeler-dealer, often remarking that “free is my favorite price.”
In addition to drag racing, Wood loved snowmobiling and riding ATVs in the Owyhee Mountains. He was four-wheeling with friends in the Reynolds Creek area when he had his fatal crash.
Knowing that he died while doing something he truly loved “is probably the only comfort I can really find,” Jake Wood said.
FAMILY, FRIENDS AND FIREBIRD
John Wood relished his family, including Sandy, his wife of nearly 46 years, and their two sons, Troy and Jake. He doted on Jake’s daughters, Libertee and Lily, and loved to play tour guide, showing them Silver City and other places that were special to him.
“He had classic cars and antiques, but he’d always say, ‘My favorite toys are my two granddaughters,’ ” Jake said. “He was a good dad. He was so big, he kind of put the fear in you, but he was a very loving man.”
Both sons enjoyed four-wheeling with their dad, he said, and each had a special bond with him.
Troy and Big John competed together on the pool team, Jake said, and “I was more of the car side.”
John Wood’s signature hot rod was a bright red 1938 Chevy coupe.
“He bought it in ’83, and we kind of rebuilt our relationship around that car,” Jake said. “I was 11 years old, and I was his wheel polisher.”
Wood and his ’38 Chevy were fixtures at Firebird Raceway. He led the Melba Outlaws, the winningest team in the track’s history. This past season the Outlaws won their 13th championship out of 17 years competing in the Challenge.
Longtime friend Bill Muchow, another Melba Outlaw, said some of his favorite times with Wood were during the five-day Halloween Classic at Firebird each October, when they’d share Muchow’s motor home and have plenty of time to visit.
This year’s Classic was their last together, and one incident on the last race day illustrated Wood’s nature, Muchow said.
A young driver flipped his vintage pickup on the way home, he said, and “John was right on the PA system at the Firebird track, trying to get people to donate to help the kid out.”
“That’s the way he was,” Muchow said. “He was a special guy, and all of us guys sure miss him.”
The first race next season will be a tough one for Wood’s friends and teammates, Squire said, but they’ll keep the Outlaws going.
“If we don’t,” he said, “he’ll come down and kick our butt.”
In Remembrance is a weekly profile on a Treasure Valley resident who has recently passed away. To recommend a friend or loved one for an In Remembrance, email newsroom@idahostatesman.com.
