Bodine to BGN No. 7, contracts willing

MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- Todd Bodine may contend for the NASCAR Busch Series championship in Ed Evans' No. 7 Kleenex Chevrolets if any contractual wrinkles between Evans, his partner Joe Nemechek and Herzog Jackson Motorsports can be worked out.

	Todd Bodine

HJM on Monday laid off all but a skeleton crew of its team that earlier this season led the Busch Series standings for nine weeks with Bodine driving its No. 92 Chevrolets.

It's the latest chapter in a Busch Series season that has seen no less than three top-15 teams struggle to maintain their bearings while remaining sponsorless to some degree.

Crew chief Tony Liberati and less than half a dozen employees remain at HJM to maintain its equipment in hopes that a sponsor would allow it to continue. But after taking last weekend off, a team spokesman said that while the team was technically not shut down, it would not race again without sponsorship.

The only race definitely on HJM's card is at Kansas Speedway in September, where Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve is slated to sponsor the car.

The next full-time team to fall is Biagi Brothers Racing, which has fielded cars in the first 19 races for Mike Wallace. The Biagis, who run a trucking company in Napa, Calif., have backed Wallace in races not covered by sponsor GEICO Insurance.

But the team will not attend the race at New Hampshire this weekend and needs to pull the details together on a driver and sponsor package to make the race July 26 at Pikes Peak International Raceway.

Pete Roe, Nemechek's business manager at NEMCO Motorsports, said that Nemechek, Evans and Randy, Bill and Stan Herzog hoped to work out details that would allow Bodine to drive the No. 7 Monte Carlo for the second consecutive week in Saturday's New England 200 at New Hampshire International Speedway.

"It's our sincere hope that Todd can work out the details to drive the 7 car this weekend at New Hampshire," Roe said. "And it's our very sincere hope that he's able to drive it the rest of the year.

"Todd is a great race car driver, and while we're sorry that things didn't work out to allow Herzog Jackson Motorsports to continue with their season, it's a blessing for us if we can get a driver that's in the middle of the Busch Series championship hunt into our Kleenex car."

	Mike Wallace

HJM cancelled its entry for last weekend's Tropicana Twister 300 at Chicagoland Speedway and Bodine got into the No. 7 car after Nemechek had qualified it. Although the engine blew and Bodine finished well down in the results, he only fell to sixth in the standings, 124 points behind leader Scott Riggs.

Roe said that if the details were worked out between NEMCO and HJM to allow Bodine to drive the No. 7, team principal Nemechek would replace part-time NEMCO driver Jeff Fuller in the No. 87 Cellular One Chevrolet at NHIS.

Innovative Motorsports is the other team that has been running all season with minimal backing, most from long-time backer Goulds Pumps. Driver Shane Hmiel is 10th in the standings after 19 races.

Team owner George deBidart was unavailable for comment Monday afternoon.

Biagi Brothers Racing will compete in races at Michigan and Kansas City without a primary sponsor, the spokesperson said, "because they have loyal associate sponsors and they're committed to the series, and the team."

The Biagis plan to skip the late-season race at Memphis if no additional sponsorship is forthcoming. Wallace is currently 14th in the Busch driver standings.