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NASCAR BGN: Todd Bodine ready for another good run at Michigan

15 August 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

"I've run well at Michigan Speedway with this Cicci-Welliver Race team. We won the inaugural Busch Series event there and that was an awesome feeling. There were a lot of Winston Cup drivers in that race and it was just my second full season in Busch Series competition. I finished ahead of guys like Harry Gant, Bill Elliott and Dale Earnhardt. That's still one of the highlights of my career." -- Todd Bodine, driver of the No. 66 Phillips 66 Chevrolet

Todd's Thoughts On Michigan . . . "We tested at Michigan Speedway a few weeks back and really picked up a lot of things that should work well. There are very few cautions in the Busch Series race at Michigan which is probably one of the reasons they added another 50 miles to the race this year. The track is extremely wide and smooth which allows for a lot of two-wide racing. Last year at Michigan, we ended up going down a lap to the race leaders because we were battling handling conditions on the Phillips 66 Chevy and because there was only one caution. It's real easy to get down a lap at Michigan if your car isn't handling the way it should."

The Equipment . . . "Willard" is the Phillips 66 Chevy that Bodine will compete with in the NAPAonline.com 250 at Michigan Speedway. "Willard" is a new car to the Cicci-Welliver Racing team. It is the car Bodine tested with at Michigan a few weeks ago.

Happy Birthday . . . Team member John Kowalski celebrated a birthday during the off weekend for the NASCAR Busch Series. Kowalski is the gas catch man for the team on race day. He celebrated his birthday on August 12.

Two Weeks Ago In Indianapolis . . . Bodine scored his 15th top-10 finish of the 2000 season two weeks ago at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Bodine started the 200-lap race in 22nd place and patiently worked his way into the top 10 by avoiding the accidents. The Phillips 66 Chevrolet finished the Kroger 200 in seventh place.

"I never would have dreamed we would end up with a seventh-place finish after starting 22nd. Track position is everything at Indianapolis Raceway Park and we didn't have it at the beginning of the race. The Phillips 66 Chevy was pretty tight at the beginning of the race. We were actually really good after that last pit stop. We had one of the better cars during the last 50 laps but the top seven cars got pretty stretched out and we ran out of time to pick up anymore track position."

Text provided by Penny Copen

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