Bodine Sells Team

Brett Bodine, owner/driver of the No. 11 Paychex Taurus, announced that he has sold his team to Richard Hilton, who has Ralphs Supermarkets of California on board as sponsor for 2000. Bodine spoke about what this will mean for his future and the team he helped build.

BRETT BODINE --11-- Paychex Taurus -- ARE YOU RELIEVED THAT THIS OWNER/DRIVER ROLE IS OVER? "It's not a case of being relieved. Fortunately with Richard, he still wants me to continue to help manage the race team and that's the part of it I do enjoy. I didn't enjoy the financial struggles we were in and with that gone and put behind us, I think that the management part of it is gonna be a real positive for me. I've always wanted to be involved day-to-day with a race team, that was one of the reasons why we bought the race team. So, given the new situation and everything, it's not a case of relief it's a case of excitement and anticipation of what the future is gonna be."

DOES THIS ALLOW YOU TO MAYBE UPGRADE AS FAR AS EQUIPMENT AND RESOURCES? "We're certainly gonna look at all aspects of the program and try to touch every part of it. The engine program, by making that switch (to Ernie Elliott), we feel like we're gonna improve there. We're gonna spend more time on aerodynamic development and, of course, new equipment and things like that. It's gonna be a progression. It's not gonna happen overnight and I don't think anybody here expects it to happen overnight, but we've gotta work hard and get our race team back on track and going towards the front, instead of falling back in the point standings."