NASCAR-BGN: Todd Bodine Cant Wait for Charlotte
2 October 1998
Ever since an August NASCAR Busch Series Charlotte test session, Slim Jim #30 driver Todd Bodine has been eager to get back for the race. I cant wait for Charlotte, he has exclaimed on numerous occasions since the test.We took two cars to the test, said Slim Jim crew chief Donnie Richeson. One car was so good we just set it aside and havent run it since then. We liked it so much we didnt want to take a chance of anything happening to it before the race.
The Slim Jim team is banking on the 34 year old Bodines extensive Charlotte experience for a top finish. Hes run four races in the Sportsman division finishing second in three of them. He has eleven Busch Series starts with one Top Five and four Top Ten finishes. He also has ten Charlotte Winston Cup races with one Top Ten finish and a win in the 1994 Winston Open.
Ive been excited about the Busch race at Charlotte ever since we tested so well, said Bodine. Ive got a really good car for the race. We were running faster than pole speeds with a race set up. I dont know what exactly it is about Charlotte that clicks for me but Ive liked it since the first time I was on it. There are definitely some tricks as to the fast line around the track and I feel like Ive figured them out. Were going to focus on qualifying well and getting the car to be good on long runs on old tires. I think all of our Team 34 cars are capable of Top Five finishes.
Bodine is currently on a hot streak. In the eight 1998 Busch events since he joined Richeson at the Slim Jim team he has five Top Five finishes, four of them in the past four races. His twelfth place Winston Cup finish last week at Martinsville was the best finish for the Little Joe #91 Chevrolet all season.
If any track on the circuit owes me something, its Charlotte, said Bodine. Ive been good there too many times not to have won more races. I cant wait for Charlotte.
