| News/
BODINE SCORES PODIUM FINISH AT ROCKINGHAM
Pit Crew Completes Perfect Day of Stops
ROCKINGHAM, N.C. (February 24, 2003) - Todd
Bodine and Herzog Jackson Motorsports took home third place
in Monday's rain-delayed Rockingham 200. The finish, which
marks the first top-five and second top-10 in as many starts
for the team this season, puts Bodine second in the 2003 driver
points standings - only 25 points shy of the leader.
"The Rock" as it is so affectionately
called by NASCAR regulars has been good to Todd Bodine in
the past, and this weekend was no exception. Despite a near
rainout weekend, the No. 92 Chevy did manage to get a few
practice laps in before qualifying started on Friday afternoon.
The team, which ranked among the top-five in the lone practice
session, headed into the two-lap qualifying challenge with
confidence. Bodine delivered and the team posted the ninth-fastest
qualifying lap putting them on the inside of row five.
Despite the pending rain showers, the No.
92 team spent Saturday morning preparing for the 200-lap race.
Unfortunately, Mother Nature did not cooperate, and at 2:00
p.m. NASCAR officials made the call to postpone the event
until Monday.
On Monday morning, with sunny skies and temperatures
hovering around 60 degrees, the Rockingham 200 finally got
underway. In just the first lap Bodine let it be known that
he wanted to own a piece of "the Rock" moving the
No. 92 Chevy into the sixth position. After the second caution
was thrown on lap 29, crew chief Tony Liberati called Bodine
into the pits. With four fresh Goodyear tires and a full tank
of fuel, the No. 92 Chevy left the pits in third - a two-position
gain.
Running as high as second place, Bodine kept
the No. 92 in the hunt for the lead through the mid-part of
the race. Nearly 100 laps passed before Bodine would have
another chance to get fresh tires and allow the pit crew to
make adjustments. On lap 111, the No. 92 entered pit road
running in the ninth position. The Herzog Jackson Motorsports
pit crew bolted on four fresh tires, added fuel and made a
track bar adjustment all before sending Bodine out in sixth.
Following the second pit stop, Bodine continued
to press towards the front while keeping the fenders on the
car by dodging a few close calls. One more pit stop on lap
166 allowed the No. 92 crew to change tires, add fuel and
make a track bar adjustment to loosen up the car. The changes
helped, and with a three position-gain in the pits, Bodine
had moved into second at lap 170.
With just three laps left in the event, and
the No. 1 car of Jamie McMurray well in front, the No. 37
entry driven by David Green took over the second position.
When the checkered flag flew at lap 200, Bodine was listed
in third.
"Third is pretty good," commented
Bodine. "What's strange is we had a tire going toward
the end. The tire and a lap car kept me from holding onto
second, but we're happy with third. You can say we had such
a great race because of all my experience here, but it was
all the pit crew. They were unstoppable today."
Crew chief Tony Liberati was equally excited
with the performance of his crew. "The team was nearly
perfect today. We hit all our pit stops and Todd drove the
wheels off that car. We finished sixth last week and with
this third, we're establishing our consistency."
Consistency and another strong performance
is just what the team is looking for as they head to Las Vegas
Motor Speedway for Saturday's running of the Sam's Town 300.
Not wanting to gamble on a strong finish, the No. 92 tested
at the 1.5-mile facility late last month. The test went well,
and with Bodine's strong record, the Herzog Jackson Motorsports
team is a favorite for the victory. NASCAR officials will
drop the green flag for the start of the Sam's Town 300 at
3:30 p.m. ET. FX Television and MRN Radio will broadcast the
event live.
For more information on Herzog Jackson Motorsports,
Reggie Jackson and Todd Bodine, please visitwww.hjmotorsports.com,
www.reggiejackson.com and www.todd-bodine.com. |