TODD'S DEFINING MOMENT
Todd
Bodine's
Most
Memorable Race
There is one race that every driver
remembers as if it had happened
yesterday. One that is considered
special. For some drivers it is their
first start behind the wheel of a stock
car, or their first career win. It may
be competing against a family member
whether it be a brother, father or son.
Each scenario has a common thread in
that it usually is a defining moment
in the driver's career.
Todd Bodine considers his defining
moment to be the first race he ran at
Michigan Speedway. The driver of the
Phillips 66 Chevrolet participated in
the inaugural NASCAR Busch Series,
Grand National Division event at
Michigan in
1992. Bodine won the inaugural event
after starting 12th, for his third
career win. While most drivers tend
to pay more homage to their first
career win, Bodine considers his win
at Michigan to be his best.
"That was the first time anybody had
raced at Michigan," Bodine explained.
"It was only my second full season
racing any kind of race car. There
were a lot of Winston Cup regulars in
that Busch race. We finished first and
like the next 10 cars were Winston Cup
regulars. That was a pretty awesome
feeling."
Bodine finished ahead of quite an
elite group of drivers. The second-
place finisher in that event was Hut
Stricklin, followed by Dale Earnhardt,
Bill Elliott and Harry Gant.
"That is by far my favorite racing
memory," Bodine recalled. "I had been
racing in the Busch Series for not
quite two years. Plus, I hadn't had a
lot of experience behind the wheel of
a race car. I have been working around
racing just about all my life but I
haven't always been driving race cars.
I had only been driving race cars for
two years when we raced at Michigan.
"Anyway, to go into an event racing
against people like Dale Earnhardt and
Mark Martin is really a test of skill.
You have to be pretty sharp to beat
those guys. After that day, I knew I
had what it took to race with the big
boys and be competitive."
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