Autolite/Fram 250

Richmond International Raceway

September 8, 2000


Congratulations, Jeff Burton, for the win at the 2000 NASCAR Busch Series Autolite/Fram 250 in Richmond, Va.

Mark seemed content to ride fourth behind third-place Todd Bodine lap after lap in the closing stages of the Autolite/Fram 250, but on the last lap, the battle heated up dramatically.

Bodine got loose coming off the second corner, and did a near-broadside all the way down the backstretch before regaining control. That allowed Mark to get a run to the outside of Bodine through turns three and four, and at the checkered flag, Mark took third place by about a fender.

Mark was asked after the race if he'd made contact with Bodine coming off turn two on the last lap, to which he replied, "No.. you know better than that."

Then, Mark continued.

"He just about lost it, just about lost control coming off of (turn) two back there," Mark said. "I managed to sneak up on the outside of him as he was trying to recover from a near spin. We never touched."

If Bodine thought Mark had touched him, he hid it very well. His Cicci-Welliver Racing Chevrolet wasn't handling quite like he wanted, and it cost him a spot on the final circuit.

"We don't know in practice if we got the car free enough. and we didn't know for sure if it was going to be all right. It wasn't." Bodine said. "It was pretty tight, but we kept working on it both stops.

"It was still a little tight in the middle, and then it got a little loose off at the end. We can't complain. It wasn't great by any means, but it was good enough to get fourth. We're gaining some momentum again, and we'll take it to the next race.