WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (August 10, 2003) – Hoping to turn in his best finish of the season at his home track, Chemung, New York native and National Guard driver Todd Bodine went off the course with 25 laps remaining. The setback resulted in a 35th-place finish in Sunday’s Sirius at The Glen. 

"It was a tough day,” said Bodine after the race. “From the start, something was wrong with the brakes. I would push down the brake pedal and nothing much would happen. Later on, I found myself trying to slow down and stuck between second and third gear. There wasn’t much I could do but hope I would miss the sand trap. My front tires found the hazard and that pretty much ended our chance for a top 10 … top-15 finish. This is my home track and it’s tough to leave with the worst finish I have ever had at The Glen. It’s tough.”

The Guard Car started the Sirius at the Glen in 17th position. It didn’t take long for Bodine to pick up several positions. Two quick caution flags were thrown on laps one and 22. The second caution period set up the first round of pit stops. On lap 23, the No. 54 came in for an air pressure adjustment to help loosen up the race car. Unfortunately for the crew, the second gas can got hung in the car. Gas Man Scott Moyer tried to retrieve the can before Bodine took off but failed. NASCAR called the National Guard car back in for a stop-and-go penalty for the rule infraction. The team went from 13th to 37th place.

Since the team lost significant track position, Crew Chief Gary Cogswell chose to work on the car during the next caution period on lap 35. This time air pressure and track bar changes were the course of action. 

“We had nothing to lose,” remarked Cogswell. “I felt if we continued to work on the car we could easily get back into the game.”

He was right. By the 60-lap mark of a total 90 circuits, Bodine was back into the top 25 shortly after making his final planned pit stop of the event. Unfortunately a brake problem on lap 75 put the National Guard machine off the course and out of contention.

Meanwhile, Robby Gordon showed his continued dominance of the road courses by collecting his second victory of 2003. His first came at Sonoma, another track of similar configuration. 

Todd Bodine’s comments after qualifying for the Sirius at The Glen:
(Qualified 17th) THAT'S A GOOD PICKUP FROM PRACTICE.  "Yeah, that was about a half-second pickup, so we're real happy with that.  The car was a lot better.  Gary (Cogswell) made some changes right before we went out and it was definitely better.  We need a little more, but we'll take that.  That was a pretty good run for the National Guard Ford.  We went down to Kershaw (SC) this past Tuesday and tested and we learned a lot.  We're trying to incorporate what we learned here, but it's a little different.  Kershaw is a tight little race track and this place is real fast, so we're getting there.  We got a lot better right there and, hopefully, we'll be better for the race with the National Guard Ford." 

IS IT SPECIAL COMING HERE WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS? "Yeah, I love Watkins Glen. First, I love road racing and Watkins Glen is an awesome place to race. To come here and have all family and friends, hometown, it's just awesome. The only thing that could make it better is if Geoff and Brett were racing with me." 

YOU MISSED YOUR ORIGINAL QUALIFYING SPOT TO CHANGE THE TRANSMISSION.  WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM?  "In practice the transmission stuck in third gear twice getting into one, so, instead of taking a chance we went ahead and changed it to make sure it didn't happen in qualifying."

Unofficial ResultsWC - StandingsWC

Images from the Weekend

Read More About The Race:  AP Race Story --- Harvick Fire --- Hired Gun Results
 

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