Bodine gets boosts in sponsorship, schedule

LYNN HAVEN, Fla. -- Geoffrey Bodine, carrying the momentum from the successful Winter Olympics showing of the United States bobsled team, is also enthused about the possibility of returning to a full NASCAR Winston Cup program in 2003.

After returning from Salt Lake City, Utah, Bodine said he would run as many as 10-12 races this season in cars from owner James Finch's Phoenix Racing shops. Sponsorship would come from the South Florida Miccosukee Indian tribe and its associates.

Phoenix crew chief Marc Reno said his crew, which also operates Finch's NASCAR Busch Series program that fields No. 1 Yellow Freight cars for Jimmy Spencer, is currently working on a couple of new Winston Cup chassis.

Bodine, 52, started the year knowing the Miccosukee Indian Gaming Group would sponsor his No. 09 Ford in both races at Daytona, along with the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. However, Bodine's rousing third-place finish in the Daytona 500 got the attention of both Finch and his sponsors.

The Miccosukee tribe stepped up to underwrite the two races at Talladega Superspeedway after Finch said he would reward Bodine's effort by running there anyway. They didn't stop there.

"We're going to do Talladega, Daytona (Pepsi 400) and Homestead with the Miccosukee tribe," Bodine said. "And they came on to do Indy (Brickyard 400), Phoenix and Atlanta at the end of the year -- and maybe a few others to make 10-12 races this year."

Bodine said the tribe, who have previously confined their sponsorship to events in their home state of Florida, "are talking to some other tribes to get them involved."

"It's big," he said of his hopes for a comeback. "Next year they're talking a full deal."

When Finch's team came to Daytona, all it had in its Winston Cup arsenal was a pair of Ford Tauruses. Reno said the two cars currently under construction to do the Brickyard 400 test in June could become either Fords or Dodge Intrepids.

"Either car uses the same roll cage and our engine supplier can build either, as well," Reno said. "Right now we're leaning towards them being Fords because they've (Ford Motor Co.) been able to do the best politicking in the past."

Both Dodge and Ford teams received rules breaks during Speedweeks 2002 at Daytona. Being an independent owner, Finch can run whatever manufacturer he feels has the most competitive model for a given track.

For the short term, Reno said Bodine's proposed schedule was perfect for Finch's operation, which Reno runs with veteran car chief Johnny Allen.

"We're trying to keep it at a level at which you can do it right," Reno said. "If we do a limited amount of races and do them in the right way everybody will end up better in the long run, especially the sponsors. That's what we tried to do at Daytona and it worked out pretty well for us."