The Buzz: Dec. 13, 2001
December 13, 2001
5:05 PM EST (2205 GMT)
BODINE BETTING ON DAYTONA
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Geoffrey Bodine
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Geoffrey Bodine will be rolling the dice, so to speak, when he enters this year's Daytona 500. Not that he can't win it -- he did so in 1986. It's his sponsor, Miccosukee Indian Gaming from Florida, that has him feeling lucky.
The gaming company is reportedly going to sponsor him for the Daytona 500, Twin 125s and the Budweiser Shootout in February as well as the Pepsi 400 in July at Daytona and next year's Homestead race. In addition to that deal, Bodine is looking to put together a team of his own and sources say he is close to securing the sponsorship deal that would enable him to run more races than the ones on Florida tracks.
Bodine, brother of drivers Brett and Todd, ran two Winston Cup races last year. One was at Bristol and the other at Homestead.
TRUCKS TEST IN ATLANTA
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David Starr
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Craftsman Truck Series veteran David Starr proved Tuesday at Atlanta Motor Speedway he could be a quick study in Spears Motorsports’ No. 75 Chevrolet Silverado. But after posting the fastest speed of some eight Chevy teams in attendance at the fact-finding session Starr slapped the wall when a tire went down on Spears’ truck, ending their test.
Second quickest was former seven-time Truck Series winner Mike Bliss, who has spent the past couple seasons trying to make some headway in the Winston Cup and Busch Series. Bliss was in Xpress Motorsports’ Silverado, preparing for what is expected to be a full season in 2002.
Possible early championship co-favorite Travis Kvapil was close to Bliss for most of two days in his No. 60 Addington Racing Chevy. Coy Gibbs, who had a career best top-10 points finish last season, was also on hand with new crew chief Doug Hewitt.
The Chevy teams were checking different nose configurations prior to making recommendations to NASCAR for possible adjustments prior to the 2002 season-opener at Daytona International Speedway. Both Dodge, which dominated last season in terms of victories despite Chevy’s Jack Sprague winning his third championship, and Ford received aerodynamic adjustments in 2001 while Chevrolet basically stood pat all season.
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