Watkins Glen: Todd Bodine race summary

8th-place finish for Discover Card Racing at The Glen.

Todd Bodine took the green flag for Sunday's SIRIUS Satellite Radio
The Glen from the 13th slot in a 43-car field and quickly piloted the No. 26 Discover Card Ford Taurus into the top 10 by lap 20.

Navigating the 11-turn road course, Bodine ran as high as seventh before he pulled in for the first of only two pit stops. Crew Chief Donnie Wingo directed the Discover Card pit crew while the No. 26 machine took on four fresh tires and 18 gallons of fuel in under 18 seconds. The pit crew and NASCAR officials stayed cool when a pit-road fire started in the Discover Card pit stall. Some extra fuel from the pit stop overflowed from the car and spilled throughout the pit road box. A chunk of hot, worn off tire rubber fell from the left-side wheel well and ignited the fuel as Bodine exited the pits. Pit road fire fighters extinguished the fire quickly and no one was injured.

Bodine hovered in the top 15 for the majority of the race and carved his way through the field and into ninth place by lap 69. The Discover Card racing team weathered five more caution periods and maintained their track position for a late-race charge. The No. 26 Discover Card Ford Taurus was racing in the eighth position when fellow NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver Kenny Wallace spun off of the track and brought out the red flag. Wallace hit a section of the retaining wall that was protected by large Styrofoam blocks (the blocks are nearly three feet deep and six feet wide).

The clean up stopped the race for nearly 25 minutes. The field took the final green flag on lap 89 of the 90-lap contest that created a tense one-lap dash to the checkered flag. Bodine crossed the stripe in eighth and claimed the team's third top-10 finish of the season. This was Bodine's second consecutive top-10 finish at Watkins Glen International. The Chemung, N.Y., native started seventh and finished fifth in last year's event.

FROM THE COCKPIT:
"We had a great car today," Bodine said. "Donnie (Wingo) made all the right calls with the adjustments and the pit crew did an awesome job getting me in and out of the pits. The key was that we made minor adjustments to the car that made it better each time. Any time you start making major changes in the car's set up during the race, you stand a good chance of getting yourself in trouble. We stayed clear of that. Top-10 finishes are the consistent finishes we're looking for and capable of producing.

"We maintained our track position which was key," Bodine continued. "We were where we needed to be to finish strong. The last lap had the potential to get out of hand, but we stayed focused and didn't do anything stupid -- we all used our heads."

-h/cm-