From The Inside
by Todd Bodine-Staff Writer and Winston Cup Driver
02/27/2003

Hi Race Fans -

The NASCAR Winston Cup Series headed off to North Carolina Motor Speedway, otherwise known as the “Rock”. Rockingham is a track where I have had some success in the NASCAR Busch Series, and I was hoping to translate that over to the Winston Cup side for last weekend’s Subway 400.

Mother nature was a big factor all weekend as it rained part of Friday and all day Saturday, delaying the NASCAR Busch Series race and limiting the No. 54 National Guard Ford to only one practice session. In that practice session, which was held on Friday, we were 20th fastest. We put the car in race trim during the session, knowing the weather was not encouraging on Saturday and only did one qualifying run in which I was very loose.

In qualifying, we went out 38th of 43 cars. The later it got the more problems drivers where having getting a hold of the track. We were loose in turns 1 & 2, but quick as the leaders in 3 & 4. In the second lap it was the reversed and we were forced to take our first provisional of the 2003 season, which actually didn't count against us because there were only 43 cars. I guess I just didn’t put a whole lap together.

The weather was perfect for racing on Sunday, a little cool but you really don't mind that as hot as it gets in the car. The National Guard Ford was really good, we were just a little loose, but fast! Due to the limited practice sessions, NASCAR was going to throw a competition caution on lap 45 to allow teams to check tire wear. By then we had moved from 42nd to 29th. On our only pit stop of the day, we put one pound of air in the right front tire to help it getting into the corners.

When we returned to green flag racing, the car was once again good and we were patiently working our way to the front. Nearing the 90-lap mark, we think we ran over something on the track. The right front tire blew and shot the car into the wall ending our day.

I was able to limp the car back to pit road and drive it to the garage area. The team and I begun making repairs hoping to get back out on the track to collect points, but the damage was too extensive and we were forced to retire from the event.

Despite the poor finish I am really proud of this team. The guys did a great job on pit road and even picked me up a spot. This is the second week in a row we had a car capable of finishing in the top ten but luck did not go our way.

We are heading west to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a track where I am the defending pole sitter of the event. We tested earlier this year and had promising results, so I am hoping that we are able to back up our results from 2002, and give everyone on the BelCar Racing team and The National Guard our first pole of the 2003 season.

The UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 is set to get under way this Sunday starting at 2:30pm EST on FOX. I am hoping for a great race on Sunday and hope that you will be keeping an eye on the National Guard Ford along with your favorite driver(s).

I'll talk to you next week and thanks for reading!

Todd Bodine

You can reach Todd Bodine at: tbodine@catchfence.com