When life deals you lemons, you can either try to grin and bear it, or do what Todd Bodine did: turn sour misfortune into sweet-tasting lemonade.

Bodine may be having his struggles in the No. 54 car on the Winston Cup side, currently sitting in 40th-place in the standings, but the veteran stock-car driver is red-hot in the Busch Series.

For as bad as his season has started in Cup, Bodine and the No. 92 Ford team find themselves atop the Busch standings for the second straight week heading into this weekend's Busch and Cup events at Texas Motor Speedway.

That's right, for the first time in his career, Bodine is No. 1 in the standings (Bodine holds a 48-point lead over Jason Keller), and he intends to maintain a stranglehold on that position for as long as he can.

"My crew has just been awesome, simply the best I've ever worked with," Bodine said of his Busch team. "They are the reason I'm where I'm at right now. Since Daytona we've had a car capable of winning every race. It hasn't seemed to matter where we started the race, because the car has made it to the front every time. Tony (crew chief Tony "Rambo" Liberati) and the guys have really put together some great race cars, and I'm just the guy lucky enough to drive them."

What's more, Bodine has climbed to No. 1 in one of the hardest ways possible: driving an unsponsored car

"Todd and Herzog Jackson Motorsports have meshed from the beginning," said Herzog-Jackson Motorsports co-owner Stan Herzog (the Jackson part of the equation being baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson, who is a part-owner in the team). "He brings us a level of consistency that is key to remaining successful in NASCAR."

Added fellow team owner Randy Herzog, "What Todd has brought to the table is a level of consistency. He not only has the experience of running in the Busch series, but a race car driver's mentality. He is able to give us feedback in a matter of seconds, and that's what it takes to be competitive in NASCAR."

While the team continues to search for elusive sponsorship, it's enjoying the ride it's on and the view at the top of the standings.

"This team has been consistent all season," Bodine said. "My crew has been the reason that we have finished as high as we have. Each week they have brought a car that has been able to run at the front of the pack, which makes my job a whole lot easier. I am definitely looking forward to running at Texas and hopefully getting another strong finish."

	Bodine won at Darlington two weeks ago.

Getting to the top hasn't been easy for Bodine. When the 2002 campaign began, he was optimistic that he was ready to enjoy the best season he's ever had in Winston Cup, only to have a multimillion-dollar sponsorship from Kmart be pulled after the company filed for bankruptcy just before the season began.

While he remained loyal to team owner Travis Carter (who also owns the No. 54 car Bodine is driving this season on the Cup circuit) and managed to start 24 of the 36 Cup races last season -- many as an unsponsored entrant until the team finally secured a backer -- Bodine also hooked up with Herzog-Jackson Motorsports on the Busch side of things.

While he left HJM with six races left last October due to a ruptured disc in his lower back, Bodine rejoined the HJM fold at the start of this season and is attempting to run both demanding series full-time.

So far, things couldn't be much better for Bodine on the Busch side, with one win, two top-five and four top-10 finishes in the first five races. That one win, by the way, came in perhaps the hardest fashion possible, with Bodine taking the checkered flag at Darlington Raceway, the South Carolina facility known as the "track too tough to tame."

But at least for one time, Bodine did indeed tame the "Lady in Black" of Darlington.

"When you run at a place like Darlington you know it's going to be work the entire 200 miles," Bodine said. "If you've run there 30 times or three, there is nothing that can prepare you for the level of difficulty when running there."

Bodine, who finished ninth in the Busch race this past Sunday at Bristol (Tenn.), has enjoyed a fair amount of success at Texas in the Busch Series. In five starts there, his best showing has been a pair of fourth-place finishes (1997 and 2000).

"We made some adjustments to it that cost us some track position, but all in all, it was a pretty good day and I can't complain with a ninth place finish," he said of his Bristol finish. "We're looking forward to Texas and hope we can get another victory for the No. 92 team."

Now all Bodine needs to do is start turning around his Winston Cup fortunes -- his best finish this season has been 18th (at Daytona), but has also been knocked out early of three of the first six races, including the last two events, due to crashes.

	“	This team has been consistent all season. My crew has been the reason that we have finished as high as we have. Each week they have brought a car that has been able to run at the front of the pack, which makes my job a whole lot easier. ”
		— Bodine

And when it comes to Cup racing, TMS has not been a welcome host to Bodine. In two previous starts at the 1½-mile facility, his best start was 15th (2001), and his best finish was a miserable 25th (1997).

Despite that, Derrick Finley, crew chief on Bodine's No. 54 National Guard "War Wagon" Cup car is optimistic that his driver can have a dramatically better finish in this Sunday's event, and turn the team's fortunes around in the process.

"Texas is a track that suits Todd," Finley said. "It requires no holding back and no trepidation. Todd has no problem going wide open at a place like this. If anyone can find speed and go fast, it is Todd."

Bodine agrees that his third career Cup start at TMS could potentially be the time he finally tames the place.

"I think so," Bodine said. "To me, it's a combination of two of my favorite tracks, Charlotte and Atlanta. It is so much fun to drive because it is so fast. However, it is a tough place because there isn't much grip on the track. You just have to look at Texas as a new adventure every time you visit the place.

"Looking back, I've only run there two times in the Cup series. In the inaugural event I subbed for an injured Ricky Craven who was driving the Bud car at the time. At one point I had a shot to win (including leading the race twice for a total of nine laps), so it's always nice to go back to a place where you know you have a decent shot at it.

"We have been struggling due to a series of unbelievable bad luck. It's time for this team to shake it off and show the competition what we've actually got."

Jerry Bonkowski covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. He can be reached at Motorsportwriter@yahoo.com.