Brett Bodine Racing makes a statement at Bristol

By Liz Allison, Turner Sports Interactive
August 29, 2001
9:22 AM EDT (1322 GMT)

COMMENTARY

Liz Allison

One of the biggest stories to come out of Bristol was certainly the effort of Brett Bodine Racing.

In an era where big-money teams dominate Winston Cup Racing, Brett was able to field two cars in Saturday’s Sharpie 500. Most of the top-dollar teams are running on budgets from $10 million to $15 million. But Brett is able to keep his team going on half of that.

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Brett and his brother, Geoffrey, qualified in the top 20 along with younger brother Todd, who is driving for Haas-Carter Motorsports -- putting all three Bodines in the top 20 for the popular Bristol night race.

Brett Bodine

I have known the entire Bodine family for many years. Brett and Diane have been two of my dearest friends in racing. I was around when Brett was racing for Kenny Bernstein and Junior Johnson. I also was there when Brett got his very first Winston Cup victory in North Wilkesboro, N.C., in 1990.

I was not surprised when Brett and Diane decided to purchase the team from Junior in 1995. He and Diane put everything they had towards buying the team.

This was a dream for them to be car owners. The opportunity knocked and they took it.

Geoffrey Bodine

Brett and Diane have always been willing to take a risk. They felt that their future was better in their own hands than someone else’s. That was the whole decision behind owning a Winston Cup team. It enabled them to have Brett drive as long as he wanted while one day putting another driver in the car.

The idea of running two cars at Bristol came after Geoffrey was injured in a truck accident in Daytona and spent the remaining part of 2000 recovering from his injuries.

Geoffrey was ready to get back in the car after fully recovering, but questions still lingered as to whether he was capable of racing on a competitive level again. Geoffrey admits that he was labeled as "damaged goods" and that it would be hard to get anything going again until he could prove himself.

Geoffrey Bodine finished 27th at Bristol.

Brett wanted to put something together for his older brother and that is how the Bristol entry came to be. "It was a combined effort to put this car together for Geoffrey," says Carolyn Carrier, who is the public relations representative for Brett Bodine Racing.

"The shop guys worked through the night to make this happen. We are all very proud of them for getting two cars together. It was a lot of work."

Brett was able to pull off a 26th-place finish after a penalty put him behind. Geoffrey, with his No. 66 Busch team pitting for him, finished 27th. "I am so thankful for the opportunity that Brett and Diane gave me here tonight. This is a good night," Geoffrey said about his first run for his brother.

It is still undecided whether or not Geoffrey will race in the future for Brett.

"A lot of it depends on funding," says Carrier.

Brett Bodine is one of the last remaining owner-drivers in NASCAR.

The future for Brett Bodine Racing could come by way of Josh Richeson -- the nephew of Brett and Diane. Josh’s mother is Donna Richeson, who is Diane’s twin sister, and his father is Donnie Richeson, who is the crew chief on the No. 66 Busch entry driven by Geoffrey.

Josh has run several ARCA events this year in Brett and Diane’s car. He had a very impressive second-place finish in the June Pocono ARCA race. And in July, he was the fastest car in practice at the second Pocono ARCA event before engine problems put him out of the field for qualifying. This would keep him from making the field.

Josh is hoping to run Busch races at Richmond and possibly a few other tracks this year to gain valuable track experience.

"Josh is a good race car driver," says Brett about his nephew. "Diane and I hope to have Josh in a position to race for us one day when I am ready to get out of the car."

In the meantime, Brett Bodine Racing is a "little fish left in a big sea" but his dreams for the future are bright.

There is not a nicer guy out there than Brett Bodine. It is good to see him still living out his dreams after all these years of doing it on his own -- a very tough feat these days.