From The Inside
by Todd Bodine-Staff Writer and Winston Cup Driver
11/14/2003

Hi Race Fans -

The BELCAR Racing team headed to North Carolina Motor Speedway last weekend, hoping for some good results. In the fall event last year, we had a very fast Ford Taurus. However, during the course of the race, we blew a tire putting our No. 26 hard into the wall, while running in the top five.

Once the National Guard car was unloaded at Rockingham, it was fast. In the first practice session, we recorded the third quickest lap. The team was hoping to repeat the practice effort in qualifying but were forced to settle for 27th place after recording a lap time of 23.844 seconds or 153.548 seconds.

I think there was an inconsistency of tires. We unloaded really good. We made some minor adjustments and then went right back to where we unloaded. We put the stickers on and it was terribly loose in practice. So, we made some very minute adjustments in tire pressure for qualifying and put another set of stickers on and it pushed so bad it was ridiculous.

When the green flag waved for Sunday's main event, the Guard car slid back in track position due to a loose in and pushy loose back to throttle condition. Despite the handling problem, car 54 was recording lap times as fast as the leader on lap 42.

The first chance to visit pit road occurred under caution on lap 77. In 16.58 seconds, wedge and air pressure changes were made to help fix the car. The changes worked helping us climb from 25th place to sixth on lap 117.

The turning point for the team occurred on lap 241, when the caution flag came out due to Mark Martin's engine coming to a halt. At the time, car 54 was on pit road for a wedge adjustment, four tires and fuel. In an attempt not to get caught on pit road and losing a lap, the team tried to quickly get me back out on the race track before the leader crossed the start-finish line.

Unfortunately, there was a miscue. The right side tires were not completely changed. We went a lap down and were forced to come back down pit road to complete the stop. The incident caused the team to go two laps down.

We had a good car at the time we had our problem in the pits. Instead of settling for the situation and finishing what could have been a top 30, we all regrouped to record a very respectable finish.

The longer the runs, the faster we were against the competition. There in the end, we were as good as the top-five runners. We would have liked to finish up there with them but it just wasn't in the cards for us.

We are doing exactly what we need to be doing to finish out our season. We are improving our entire efforts with good qualifying and race runs.

Bill Elliott ended up taking the victory while Matt Kenseth clinched the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup championship.

I want to personally congratulate Matt Kenseth and his entire race team for winning the championship. He will be a great ambassador for our sport.

The time has come for the last event of the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season from Homestead-Miami Speedway. I'm really excited to get down there and see for myself the results of the reconfiguration. I have always been in favor of progressive banking. As a matter of fact, I have always thought it was the way to go when fixing the Homestead-Miami track. I am going down early to watch the Busch Series test to see if I can get any additional ideas for our Winston Cup test scheduled for Wednesday. I am also happy to see they put up SAFER barriers.

I think some of the Cup drivers who have decided to enter the Ford 300 event are doing so for the additional track time. It can only help. I wish we could have done the same of thing.

Regarding the test on Wednesday, we are going to work on our race set up. We really aren't going to spend much time, if any, on qualifying trim. We are bringing chassis No. 29. It's been a really good car for us. It has qualified well but most important, it has raced very well. I am really hoping we can close out our season with a top-five finish.

From what I understand from the engineering model, the outside groove is the quickest. I won't know for sure until I get there and actually see for myself. From what I have heard from drivers who have visited the facility, it's awesome. Fans could realistically see three grooves of racing. If that indeed is the case, it's not only going to be fun to watch, it's going to be fun to drive.

As for my 2004 racing plans.

I am hoping to know in the next few weeks. We are still waiting from word from the National Guard. I've also got several other irons in the fire so I am just waiting to see how things shake out. Regardless, I am very optimistic about my plans for next year. When I know, an announcement will be made.

The Winston Cup Series are ready to attack the "new" Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend. The green flag for the Ford 400 drops shortly after 1:00 PM EST, with live coverage on NBC beginning at 12:30 PM EST, with MRN radio also joining at 1:00 PM 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