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NASCAR BGN: Racing a good reason to visit Music City: Todd Bodine Preview

5 April 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

"Everyone looks for an excuse to go to Nashville and the Busch Series race at the track is a good opportunity for a lot of people to visit the Music City. This will be the first stand-alone event for the Busch Series in 2000 and I know we are all looking forward to seeing a Busch Series regular in victory lane. This Phillips 66 team is prepared to do the job and score our first win of the 2000 season." -- Todd Bodine, driver of the No. 66 Phillips 66 Chevrolet

Todd's Thoughts On Nashville . . . "We had a good race car at Nashville last year. We thought we had a chance for the win, but the car started getting looser and looser the longer the race continued. We would have finished seventh there last year, but the last caution of the race involved two of the cars in front of us so we ended the day in fifth place. One of the things we've been capable of doing this year, is having a race car that tends to get better towards the end of the race. If we can do that this year, we'll be in good shape. We'd like to be the first Busch Series regular to get a win in 2000 and that's our goal for the race in Nashville."

Homecoming For Donnie Richeson . . . Crew Chief Donnie Richeson isn't a Nashville native, but he might as well be with all the weekends he spent racing at Nashville Speedway while helping further the racing careers of the Green brothers.

"We raced at Nashville every weekend," Richeson said. "We were all from Owensboro and Nashville was only two hours away. Anytime I get to go back to Nashville it is a homecoming because I grew up so close to that city. Racing at Nashville is really a throw-back to Saturday night late model racing. It's a lot of fun and tends to be pretty exciting for the fans to watch."

Equipment . . . "Fido" is the car the Phillips 66 Performance Team competes with this weekend at Nashville Speedway U.S.A. "Fido" is the same car Bodine raced to a third-place finish last year at Pikes Peak International Raceway and a fourth-place finish during the spring race at Richmond. The Top-Five Streak Continues in Texas. . . Bodine and the Phillips 66 Racing Performance Team stretched their top-five finish streak to five with a fourth-place finish in the "Albertson's 300 presented by Pop Secret" last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. Bodine started the event in 11th place and led 15 fifteen laps in route to scoring his 63rd career top-five finish.

Text provided by Penny Copen

Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos and art, visit The Racing Photo Museum and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.