PERSONAL PROFILE
	Spouse: Diane Kids: Heidi Hometown: Chemung, NY Birthdate: January 11, 1959 Personal Vehicle: '59 Thunderbird, Ford Explorer Hobbies: Golf, Playing with three dogs and three cats

Brett Bodine should enjoy his sixth year as a Winston Cup owner/driver with his sponsorship package and key crew positions intact in 2001.

Bodine, who competed in his 15th straight Winston Cup season in 2000, got a solid crew chief in Mike Hillman, dependable power from Robert Yates engines and rode his Ralphs Supermarkets Fords to 35th in the standings, which did not reflect the competitiveness of his team.

Bodine, a native of Elmira, N.Y., competed in only 29 races in 2000 and missing two of the first three shows put him in a deep hole. He ended up with a best start of fourth at Martinsville and a best finish of 14th at Homestead; one of only five top-20 finishes his team scored. He went over the $1 million mark in winnings for the third straight season.

It may be easy for some fans to overlook Bodine -- the middle of three racing brothers -- but no one in the sport works harder than the driver who purchased legend Junior Johnson's team in 1995 after driving the previous year for Johnson. After finishing 35th for the second straight season, a move to a single round of qualifying in 2001 should help his independent effort.

Bodine's background includes NASCAR Modifieds and the Busch Series, where he was runner-up to Larry Pearson in the championship in 1986. Bodine stepped in as a relief driver for Terry Labonte in Johnson' s Budweiser Chevrolet in 1987 (Martinsville and North Wilkesboro).

He made his Winston Cup debut in the 1986 Coca-Cola 600 in a Rick Hendrick-owned car. He finished 17th. His first victory came at North Wilkesboro in 1990 in his 80th start while driving for Kenny Bernstein. Nineteen races later he got the first of five career Bud Pole Awards in the 1990 Mello Yello 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

That season was his best in the series, as he finished 12th.

Bodine, who has an associate's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of New York at Alfred, started his racing career at his hometown Chemung Speedrome -- which will return to the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series in 2001 -- in 1977.