NASCAR BGN: Geoffrey Bodine preps for racing at Chicagoland

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

July 10, 2001

Geoffrey Bodine On Chicagoland Speedway . . . "One thing fans can expect to see at Chicago is speed. That track is fast. We tested at Chicago in June with a lot of other teams. The track is as fast as, if not faster, than Texas and Atlanta. The tricky part is going to be the width of the track. It's pretty narrow. Passing there will be interesting, which makes qualifying up front more important. The other difficult thing is access to pit road. A few guys had problems entering pit road, which again should be interesting if there's a lot of green flag racing and green flag pit stops.

"I look forward to racing at Chicago next weekend. It's a 1.5-mile oval that's super fast. It's a new track in a new part of the country for NASCAR racing. I think it will be an exciting weekend."

Donnie Richeson On Chicagoland Speedway . . . "The track is nice. It is fast. It's a one-groove race track and the speeds these cars are generating make the track fairly narrow. We tested there and were able to pick some things up that will help us this weekend."

Equipment . . . "Beetlejuice" is the car the Phillips 66 team will compete with this weekend in the "Hills Brothers 300" at Chicagoland Speedway. This will mark the second appearance for "Beetlejuice." "Beetlejuice" is the same car the team raced at North Carolina Speedway in February. The team was running in the top 10 until a late race accident with Ryan Neuman relegated the 66 car to a 30th - place finish.

Birthdays In July . . . A number of Cicci-Welliver Racing team members are celebrating birthdays in July. Phillips 66 crew chief Donnie Richeson celebrated a birthday on July 9th. Team manager Clyde McLeod will celebrate his birthday on July 19th.

Text provided by Penny Copen

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