G. Bodine to pilot No. 11 Ford in Shootout

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Geoffrey Bodine, who made a big career statement with a third place finish in last year's Daytona 500, will drive a No. 11 Hooters Ford entered by his brother's Brett Bodine Racing in Saturday's Budweiser Shootout.

	Geoffrey Bodine

The eldest of the three racing Bodine brothers said he would also try to finish what he started in the inaugural NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race three years ago at Daytona International Speedway by racing a Robert Yates-powered Ford F-150 owned by Al Thompson in the Feb. 14 Florida Dodge Dealers 250.

"I think it's a neat deal," Geoffrey said of the plan that came together Monday, the deadline for entering the 25th annual Shootout, the $966,000 special event that will be run Saturday night in prime time. "We're trying to help each other out and this will be a nice way to do it."

Earlier last month Brett Bodine said he would cut back his schedule to run fewer races. His brother -- who also won the 1986 Daytona 500 -- had a guaranteed spot in the Shootout, having won the race in 1992 while driving for Bud Moore.

Bodine said he connected with Thompson when the truck owner went to a body shop where his oldest son, Matthew works to get some work done on the vehicle.

Geoffrey said he would also drive the truck at Darlington Raceway and Martinsville Speedway -- two tracks that figured prominently in the early stages of his career.

"These are three darned good tracks for me and I'm excited about it," Bodine said. "I wasn't planning on doing any racing this year -- I was planning on going in some different directions and having some fun.

"But I still know I can do it. This is a challenging deal and I like a challenge. Who knows where this will lead? Hopefully, this time in a truck at Daytona will end up a lot differently than in did before."

Bodine was running in the top-five midway through the first Craftsman Truck race at Daytona when two other trucks wrecked next to him, came up the track and launched his truck into the frontstretch fence.

Bodine's truck was ripped to pieces in the accident but he escaped serious injury and raced later that season.