---

NASCAR BGN: Todd Bodine confident of another strong Bristol finish

22 August 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

"This team always has run well at Bristol. I started with this same exact group of guys midway through 1998. We've finished in the top five every time we have competed together at Bristol. We had our best finish together at Bristol in the spring when we finished third. We have a lot of momentum going into Bristol after scoring the win last weekend in Michigan so we have high hopes for this weekend." -- Todd Bodine, driver of the No. 66 Phillips 66 Chevrolet

Todd's Thoughts On Bristol . . . "To win at Bristol you have to not only have a good race car but you also have to have a good head on your shoulders. Bristol is a very challenging race physically and mentally. It's survival of the fittest at its best. Whoever has a good race car and good racing smarts will win that race. Racing at Bristol is always exciting and even more so during the night event."

Crew Chief Donnie Richeson On Bristol . . . "You have to put on your little Tasmanian devil suit to drive at Bristol. To do well there you have to get up on the wheel and keep from going a lap down while trying to dodge all the wrecks. Todd is one of the best when it comes to getting through traffic during the race and that's what we'll be counting on Friday night."

The Equipment . . . "Hillbilly" is the Phillips 66 Chevy that Bodine will compete with in the Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway. "Hillbilly" is the same car Bodine finished third with at Bristol during the 2000 spring Busch Series race. Bodine also raced to a fifth-place finish at Darlington earlier this season while driving "Hillbilly."

Food City Festival . . . Bodine will appear at the Food City festival in downtown Bristol this weekend on Thursday, August 24. Bodine is scheduled to sign autographs from 5 - 7 p.m.

Winning At Michigan . . . Bodine scored his first win of the 2000 NASCAR Busch Series season last weekend in the NAPAonline.com 250 at Michigan Speedway. The win was Bodine's first since the inaugural event at California Speedway in 1997. It was a hard-fought battle as Bodine had to hold off Winston Cup regulars Michael Waltrip and Jeff Burton to seal his second career win at the two-mile oval.

"When you run in the top five every week you're going to eventually get the win. We've had seven bad races this year that were nothing but freak incidents. Other than those seven races, we've been in the top 10 every week and most of those finishes have been in the top five. The team got a little down because we hadn't won a race yet and I came up with this saying. If you give 110 percent and still don't make it to victory lane and win races, you have no regrets because you know that you gave the best of yourself that day."

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.