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NASCAR BGN: Todd Bodine ready for 'physical' challenge of Bristol

21 March 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
"Bristol is a very physical racetrack. It takes as much out of the driver as it does out of the racecar. When you put 43 cars on a half-mile oval with 36 degrees of banking, something big is going to happen. The key to succeeding is staying on your toes and out of trouble."

-- Todd Bodine, driver of the No. 66 Phillips 66 Chevrolet

Todd's Thoughts on Racing at Bristol . . . "Bristol is a track that will exhaust a driver. You find out what kind of physical shape you are in after running a 250-lap race at Bristol. I have always enjoyed racing at Bristol. Last year we finished fifth at both Busch races. That's pretty impressive when you take into consideration that we started 38th in the spring and 35th in the fall. We have made a lot of progress with our qualifying program. We want to start up front at Bristol so we don't have to worry as much about making up ground but about maintaining a top spot."

* Although Bodine has two wins at Bristol Motor Speedway, he has yet to win a race during the spring event at Bristol. His best finish in the spring event was in 1993 when he finished second to Michael Waltrip.

The Equipment . . . For the second week in a row, "Hillbilly" is the car of choice for the Phillips 66 Racing Performance Team. "Hillbilly" is the same car Bodine finished fifth with last weekend in Darlington. In addition to the fifth-place finish last weekend, "Hillbilly" scored a pair of fifth-place finishes last year during both Busch Series events at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Last Weekend in Darlington . . . The Phillips 66 team continued their streak of top-five finishes with Bodine's fifth-place finish last weekend in the SunCom 200 at Darlington Raceway. The fifth-place position gained Bodine a spot in the points standings to make him third in driver points. Ahead of Bodine are points leader Matt Kenseth and Mark Martin.

"We hated to get passed by Jeff (Green) on the last lap but our tires wore out pretty quickly there at the end. We had great pit stops all day and this fifth-place finish gained us a spot in the point standings and that's what is important. We are looking at the big picture and we're doing the things we need to do to win a championship."

Text provided by Penny Copen

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