From The Inside
by Todd Bodine-Staff Writer and Winston Cup Driver
03/12/2003

Hi Race Fans –

Last weekend, the NASCAR Winston Cup Series headed to one of the fastest tracks on the circuit, Atlanta Motor Speedway. The track had been good to me in the past, and I was hoping for the same kind of luck.

Throughout the course of the weekend, we struggled with the National Guard Ford. We were not impressive on any of the speed charts, before qualifying and after. However, we were not forced to use a provisional, as we were able to hold on for a solid lap that would put us 35th in the starting lineup.

The entire team knew that we had to try and make some adjustments to the Ford Taurus in hopes of improving the handling of the car for the race on Sunday.

After Happy Hour we were still not pleased with the results. We were loose into and off of the corners and tight in the middle. We would fix one thing and fight another.

The goal heading into the race on Sunday was survival. We changed 4 shocks and 4 springs before the race because Happy Hour was so unhappy, and that didn't even help.

When the green flag flew we were hoping for the best. We were able to pick up some spots in the beginning, but then began drifting back.

There were moments during the race were the No. 54 National Guard Ford was better, but overall it was pretty discouraging. We were really loose to start off and we adjusted that, and got too tight and adjusted that, and went loose and then tight. Our car was not well balanced and we just tried to survive.

In the end, we were able to hang on to the car and crossed the line 28th, four circuits behind winner Bobby Labonte.

We won’t be bringing this car back in November. This is the only car in the BelCar Racing stable that we hadn’t tested or taken to the wind tunnel and is obviously not a good car. Our Vegas car was to be our primary car for Atlanta but after getting the fenders all bent up and the truck getting back on Tuesday, we didn’t have time to fix it.

The series heads to the “Lady In Black”, Darlington Raceway this weekend. We actually were running well last year at Darlington but cut a tire down and lost two laps. Our lap times after that were very competitive. We have to qualify better and hopefully we will have some luck on our side.

The Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 is scheduled to get underway this Sunday from Darlington Raceway. The race will take the green flag shortly after 1pm EST, but coverage begins live on FOX at 12:30pm EST, with MRN on the airwaves beginning at 12:30pm EST.

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