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NASCAR BGN: Todd Bodine prepares for 'big race' in Texas

28 March 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

"Everything in Texas is big and the racetrack is no different. Because NASCAR is still fairly new to Texas a lot of fans come out to the events. It's a pretty exciting event. The bottom of the track is the preferred line and because we've only been racing at Texas since 1997, the bottom groove is still pretty much the only groove." -- Todd Bodine, driver of the No. 66 Phillips 66 Chevrolet

Todd's Thoughts On Texas . . . "The track at Texas has a lot of grip which should make the Busch cars capable of running wide open at least during qualifying. There isn't a lot of room for passing and the preferred groove is right along the bottom of the track. Texas is a track where we have always run well. We were real strong last year and made a lot of progress during the race. At about the halfway point, we overheated the motor and finished 37th. It was an unlucky break, but that was pretty much the story of our 1999 season. We have high expectations for Texas. We're taking our Atlanta car to Texas and we were strong in Atlanta earlier this year."

Crew Chief Talk with Donnie Richeson. . ."Texas can be a little tough when it comes to defining the best set-up on the Busch cars. The Busch cars don't have a lot of horsepower and because the track has a lot of grip, Todd (Bodine) should be able to run wide open. That makes it hard to develop the set-up that will accommodate the driver. We're walking a tight rope the whole time when it comes to the set-up at Texas."

The Equipment . . . The Phillips 66 team will field "Twister's Sister" at Texas this weekend. "Twister's Sister" is the car Bodine finished fourth with at Atlanta three weeks ago.

Last Weekend in Bristol . . . The Phillips 66 team secured their fourth straight top-five finish of 2000 with Bodine's third-place finish in the Cheez-It 250 last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. The third-place finish moved Bodine to fourth in the point standings, 62 points behind leader Matt Kenseth.

"It was a typical Bristol race. We dodged a few wrecks, passed a few lap cars and stayed out of trouble. We got a couple of good breaks on pit stops and stayed on the lead lap. Our car started working better as the race went on, so we were pretty strong at the end. We didn't have enough time to get by Sterling (Marlin) and Jeff (Green) but anytime you can leave Bristol with a third-place finish it's been a good day."

Text provided by Penny Copen

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