JOLIET, Ill. (July 13, 2003) – With less than 30 laps to go in the Tropicana 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, a transmission problem parked the No. 54 National Guard Ford. Bodine had the Guard car running in the top 25 before the setback.

“We were having a tough day but we weren’t giving up,” said Bodine after taking the green flag in 39th place. “We were worked hard to make our way through the field. I really think we could have gotten a 21st, 22nd or 23rd place out of it. We somehow developed a transmission problem after I drove through a big crash involving about five or six cars. It’s a real shame.”

From the start, the Guard car was tough to turn through the corners. A quick series of changes came under a green flag condition on lap 65 and on laps 84, 85, 107, 129 under caution periods. Air pressure, spring rubber and track bar adjustments were the course of action, however it appeared as if air pressure was making the most difference. 

According to Crew Chief Derrick Finley, “The car really took off after we worked on the car, however at certain points in the race, the tight handling characteristics would develop early versus late in the run.  We obviously wanted to find out what the car needed to delay the onset of the push. If we could do that, we knew we’d be more competitive on the track. I think we were moving in the right direction at the time our transmission problem transpired.”

The crash that Finley was referring to happened on lap 214 after Casey Mears got into Johnny Benson. The incident triggered a multi-car accident that forced Bodine to take evasive measures by diving low onto the racetrack. The No. 54 made it through with no sheet metal damage, however within seconds, the driver radioed in to report a possible problem underneath the hood.

“I got down onto the apron and down shifted into third gear,” remarked Bodine. “That’s when our trouble started so we came into the pits under caution. Darrell Dobson did a great job by quickly climbing into the passenger side to bungee cord the shifter. It worked and for the time being we only lost third gear. We chose to drop back so we could get a decent restart on lap 222. We got one heck of a start to gain seven spots to run in 21st place.” 

“I kept telling Todd to be smooth when shifting,” continued Finley. “We also needed this race to remain caution free. It was our only real shot at making it to the finish.  Any kind of stoppage would risk more wear and tear on the transmission. The race just would not go our way. Casey Mears crashed out on lap 233. We dropped another gear while waiting for the track to get cleaned up. Once we went back to green, we could not get back up to speed. It’s a shame, we only had 30 laps to go in the race.”

Ryan Newman took home his third victory of the season outlasting a hard charge at the end from Tony Stewart. Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Michael Waltrip round out the top five.

Read More About The Race:
AP Race Story --- Labonte Fire

Unofficial Results --  Unofficial Points Standings -- Image Link
 

By: Traci Hultzapple
Senior Account Manager – BelCar Racing - No. 54 National Guard Taurus
Cox Marketing Group / Mooresville, NC  28117