One thing Jon Wood doesn't have to worry about this week is qualifying for the NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Thanks to the work of Wood Brothers/JTG Racing teammate Ken Schrader last season, finishing among the top 35 in car owner points in the No. 21 Ford, the scion of the pioneer stock car family is guaranteed to start his first Cup race Sunday in his family's famed Cup entry.

Others aren't as fortunate, with 11 of the 54 entries heading home after Friday's qualifying on the 1.5-mile Las Vegas oval.

"It's the top level of NASCAR. There are only 43 guys that can do it and to know that I'm guaranteed to start for certain in that race on Sunday is pretty special," said Wood, son of team co-owner Eddie Wood and grandson of team founder Glen Wood. "Nevertheless, to be in the 21, it's even more special."

Eddie Wood, who co-owns the team with his brother Len and Tad Geschickter, said, "It's something that's kind of been in the back of our minds since Jon was in go-karting, like, 'What if, what if, what if,' and now it's here and that makes it even more special.

"No one with the last name Wood has actually driven the 21 since my dad did, so it's pretty special."

Glen Wood, who started the team in 1950 and won four races in what is now the Cup series, has watched his 25-year-old grandson develop as a race driver for the past decade. But this is what all that work has been for, to get the youngster into the team's main entry at the top level of stock car racing.

"I guess I'm probably more nervous than Eddie is about it, but I'm proud what Jon has accomplished and I'm sure he'll do well," Grandpa Wood said. "My advice is to do what he can do and also what the car is capable of and he'll be OK."

The youngster has served an extensive apprenticeship. He started racing in NASCAR's Craftsman Truck Series in 2001 at the age of 19 and spent four seasons in trucks, winning twice in 2003 and finishing a career-best fifth that season before moving to the Busch Series for the past two seasons.

This year, he will share the 21 with Schrader, planning to run 10 of the 36 Cup races.