Brooklyn, Mich. (August 17, 2003) – Shortly after getting the No. 54 Guard car dialed in for the final 136 laps of the Michigan 400, National Guard driver Todd Bodine was involved in a crash with Kenny Wallace on lap 64. The No. 54 machine was handling well and was on the verge of breaking into the top 25 when the incident occurred. Unfortunately, the car could not be repaired. As for Bodine, he was checked out and released from the infield care center. Meanwhile, the early end meant a 43rd-place finish.

"I'm alright,” said Bodine who started in the 41st starting position. “My knee is a little sore and my ankle is a little sore, but, other than that, I'm good. It was just one of those racing deals. I turned down and got under Kenny and was pulling in front of him, but I got Kurt pinched down a little bit and the air came off his spoiler and he got into me. That's one of those racing deals. If Kenny wasn't outside of me and I would have had some room to save it, we would have been alright, but Kenny was right out there and when I moved up the track he got in the quarter panel and turned me right up into the wall and it was on from there. It's a crying shame. We've struggled all weekend. This is the car we crashed testing at Indy. It was really fast there, but we crashed and fixed it. We came back here and struggled all weekend with it, but we made some changes this morning and the car was a lot better. Crew Chief Gary Cogswell made some adjustments and the car was really good right there. We were just working our way through. Kurt and I were coming up through there together and I was basically just following him. In that one instance he was down low and I got under Kenny and it was just one of those racing deals." 

Media representatives tabbed the crash as being ‘spectacular looking’. Obviously the National Guard driver had a different perspective on the situation, but what mattered most was no one was hurt. "That's not the closest I've come to turning over,” shrugged Bodine. “I knew I was close to turning over when I looked out the windshield and the wall was going sideways. That was not fun. And then the fire, I didn't know if it was my car or what was going on. I didn't know Kenny was underneath me like that. It was a pretty hard hit when Kenny turned me up in the wall. I hit the wall at probably 180 miles an hour, but, fortunately, I've got a Lajoie seat and a HANS device and everything did its job. The only thing is I've got a sore knee and a sore ankle. That's racing. 

“I'm not going to blame Kurt. I was mad at him at first, but after seeing the replay I know it wasn't his fault. It was just one of those racing deals. Air came off his spoiler and he got into me. It's just one of those deals. It's a shame for our National Guard crew."

Ryan Newman collected his fifth checkered flag of the season. Kevin Harvick followed him in second while Tony Stewart finished third. Greg Biffle and Steve Park rounded out the top five. 

Unofficial Results    Unofficial Points Standings    Image Link

Read More About The Race:   AP Story    Michigan Wrecks    Busch/Spencer

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