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NASCAR BGN: Todd Bodine looking forward to another trip to the Northeast

9 May 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
"Anytime we visit the northeast I enjoy the trip. My wife, Lynn, is originally from Connecticut and we always go up a few days early to visit with the family. It's pretty much my hometown away from Chemung (N.Y.). New Hampshire is one of the first places I competed at in a Busch Series car and we always tend to do real well there. I look forward to racing there this weekend." -- Todd Bodine, driver of the No. 66 Phillips 66 Chevrolet

Todd's Thoughts On New Hampshire . . . "New Hampshire is pretty comparable to Martinsville. The track has real long straightaways and short, tight corners. A driver can use the brakes up on a car real quick there so it's important to have a real good-handling race car. New Hampshire last year was our typical 1999 season. We struggled in qualifying and had to take a provisional. We came up through the field pretty quickly and ran in the top 10 and top five pretty much all day. We were running in sixth place when a couple cars got together coming out of turn four on the next to the last lap. We were all the way up in the wall but still managed to walk away with a top-10 finish. So far this season, we've backed up our performance in the race with top-five finishes and that's what we intend to do this weekend."

* In 11 starts at New Hampshire, Bodine has scored five top-10 finishes and started from the outside pole during the Busch Series race in 1997. Bodine has finished no lower than ninth during his last three outings at the 1.058-mile oval.

* In 2000, Bodine has completed 96.7 percent of the laps run in the NASCAR Busch Series, Grand National Division.

* With eight top-10 finishes in 2000, Bodine leads all drivers in the top-10 performance category. The eight top-10 finishes scored in 2000 brings Bodine's career total to 121 top 10s in 215 starts.

The Equipment . . . "Twister" will make its first appearance of the 2000 NASCAR Busch Series, Grand National Division season this weekend at New Hampshire International Speedway. "Twister's" last appearance was at Phoenix last season where it scored a ninth-place finish. "Twister" is the same car the Phillips 66 team scored a second place with at Indianapolis and a fourth place at Memphis.

Last Week in Richmond . . . The Phillips 66 Team scored their eighth top-10 finish of the 2000 season with a seventh-place finish last weekend at Richmond International Raceway. Bodine started the event in fifth place but a tight-handling race car prevented the Chemung, N.Y., native from making a run for the win. Bodine was in fifth place with less than 10 laps to go in the event, but hard-charging Mark Martin and Steve Park shuffled back two positions to give Bodine a seventh-place finish the Hardee's 250.

Text provided by Penny Copen

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