Taste of Watkins Glen win sweeter for Bodine, Park

For a couple of native New Yorkers, a victory at Watkins Glen International was not only an affirmation of their status at NASCAR's top level, but a chance to shine in front of the home folks.

The track in the heart of the Finger Lakes area of upstate New York was very familiar to Geoffrey Bodine and Steve Park, long before they visited Victory Lane.

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The first race at Watkins Glen, in 1948, was the very definition of a road course -- a 6.6-mile stretch of connected highway that wound in and around the village. By the mid-'50s, a track was built nearby to handle the increasing interest in road-course racing.

Bodine, who grew up in Chemung, used to come to the road course in the '60s and watch the action from the limb of an oak tree on the backstretch. Later, he learned to drive the track on a snowmobile.

And in the 1996 Bud at The Glen, he found himself very much in contention for the win. But he needed some pit strategy to do it.

"I talked to [crew chief] Paul Andrews and some other guys on our team and we decided to make this a two-stop race, no matter what," Bodine said.

When the rest of the field came in for service during a caution flag on Lap 54, Bodine stayed out and acquired the lead.

"I looked in the mirror and everyone else was in the pits. Everyone in this place probably said, 'We know he's crazy. And he is crazy,'" he said. "People have said I'm known to be different. I guess I proved it today. I thought it was a pretty gutsy move. I like to be different."

Then eight laps later under green, Bodine ducked into the pits for enough gas to make it to the end. Two laps later, Ricky Craven stalled on the track, which was advantageous in two ways. First, it allowed Bodine to regain lost time. Second, when the others pitted again, he found himself in second place, behind Ken Schrader.

Bodine pulled around Schrader on Lap 83 and pulled away from Terry Labonte to win by a half-second.

"I ought to win here," Bodine said. "Half the folks here today are related to me."

Dale Earnhardt, who was expected to turn over driving duties to a relief driver because of a broken collarbone and sternum he suffered at Talladega, instead wound up leading 54 laps and remained in a battle with Labonte until his brakes faded, leaving him sixth at the end. (Continued)