Rain washed out qualifying on Friday for the 150-lap event, which forced the NASCAR Busch Series teams to line up on the starting grid based on 2002 owner points.  Officially, the Excedrin Racing team was slated to start in the ninth spot, however two of the top-8 competitors changed engines before the start of the race, a move not approved by NASCAR, and Bodine took the green flag for the start of the 9th event of the 2002 season in seventh place.

A quick yellow flag on lap three of the Auto Club 300 gave Bodine the opportunity to communicate to the crew that the No. 92 Excedrin Chevrolet was handling much better than it had in practice.  Bodine fell slightly through the field upon the restart but worked his way through traffic until the second caution flag of the event came on lap 44.  Bodine, who was in 13th place when the yellow flag flew, entered the pits where his crew changed all four tires, filled the tank with fuel and made a track bar adjustment before sending him back out on the 2.0-mile track in the 12th position.

Bodine fought both loose and tight handling conditions in the middle stages of the race while working his way into the top 10.  The crew made air pressure and wedge adjustments to remedy the situation during several subsequent pit stops, which resulted in a much-improved handling Chevrolet Monte Carlo.  With only a handful of laps to go, Bodine, whose car became tight again in the latter stages of the race, was the victim of an aggressive Ron Hornaday who hit Bodine from behind and caused him to spin.  Bodine saved the Excedrin Chevrolet from making contact with the wall and took the checkered flag in 22nd place, the last car on the lead lap.  Unofficially, the team fell one spot in the NASCAR Busch Series owner point standings, to tenth.

“We missed the setup just a bit, but were able to overcome it pretty good in the middle of the race,” said Bodine.  “The changes Rambo (crew chief Tony Liberati) made to the car really helped for a while.  The Excedrin Chevy just got way too tight on the last restart and there wasn’t much I could do.  I got to pushing off of four and Hornaday just ran into us.  He didn’t do it on purpose, it was just one of those things.”

The NASCAR Busch Series heads to Richmond International Raceway next weekend for the running of the first night race of the season.  Friday night’s Hardee’s 250 will be broadcast live on FX television and MRN radio at 7:30 p.m. EDT.  Qualifying for the race will take place on Thursday, May 2 at 4:00 p.m. EDT. 

For more Excedrin Racing information log onto www.excedrin.com.  Excedrin is a family of non-prescription pain relievers for safe and effective pain relief for a range of headache types.  Excedrin is produced by Bristol-Myers Squibb, a leading diversified worldwide health and personal care company, whose principle businesses are medications, nutritionals and medical devices.

For more information on Herzog Jackson Motorsports, Reggie Jackson and Todd Bodine please visit www.hjmotorsports.com, www.reggiejackson.com and www.todd-bodine.com.