Bodine

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Todd Bodine had a shot to win the Daytona 500.

Bodine stayed out during a caution on lap 97 and took the lead with hopes that the rain would come and keep the race under caution past the halfway point.

But it didn't happen.

"We took a shot," said Bodine, who finished 18th. "You've got to gamble when you're in that position in the Daytona 500. You've got to gamble and we did, but it didn't pay off."

The green flag was going to drop, so Bodine was forced to pit.

"We had to come back in with the on to go to change tires and fuel it up, and that put us back in the pack," he said. "We were fighting our way back through, but we needed more time. We had a better car than 18th and we felt like we could get a top 10."

Bodine, who started the race in the sixth position, still came out of Sunday's race looking pretty good in the overall scheme of things.

"Well, it's the best start we've had to the season in a long time," Bodine said. "Eighteenth in points going to Rockingham (N.C.). And we ran well there last fall, so hopefully we can get a good run there and move up more in the points. So it's a good start in the points."

A good start is meaningful for Bodine, who suffered through sponsorship problems and criticism of his driving ability last season. Those criticisms resurfaced this weekend after Bodine got into the back of Jimmy Vasser in Saturday's Busch Series race, causing a late wreck.

Bodine admitted his contact on Vasser caused the wreck, but said he only made contact because Vasser must have let up. Bodine also said he is bothered by his reputation as a reckless driver.

But the 37-year-old Chemung, N.Y.,-native put in a performance worthy of praise Sunday. Aside from his brief tenure as race-leader under caution, Bodine was able to mix it up with the leaders early in the race.

And his performance on Sunday has Bodine feeling confident about his prospects for 2003.

"We feel good about (2003). National Guard came on board as a sponsor. We've got a great race team and we came down here and ran up front all week. We did what we had to do. Unfortunately, like I said, we didn't get the finish we needed. To be 18th going to Rockingham (N.C). -- I guess it's not all bad.

"It's the best start to the season we've had in a long time. You can't complain about that. The problem is we felt like we had a top-10 run going and it would have been nice to start the season top-10 in points."

Mears' first run

	Mears

Casey Mears' Winston Cup debut was a bit fulfilling and a bit disappointing at the same time.

After starting from the back of the field, on Sunday, Mears finished a respectable 27th -- though he thinks he could have placed his Target Dodge much higher in the field.

"It felt good. The car was working good," said Mears, who is teamed with Sterling Marlin and Jamie McMurray in Chip Ganassi's Winston Cup stable. "We got caught back there out of the draft on one of the starts and it dropped us back. It's unfortunate because of the shortened race that we didn't have time to get back up to where we needed to be. But I felt pretty good about it."

Jack Sprague was the highest-finishing rookie, notching a 14th-place finish. But if it weren't for the rain, Mears could have challenged Sprague.

"You've always got a chance (for a good finish) here," Mears said. "I think anybody that's running last has got a chance to be in the top five at the end of this race because of the draft, if you can stay in it. Unfortunately, the rain shortened it. I think we could have been in the top-10, top-15 if we would have worked it right."

Mears comes from a family which certainly has a strong racing history. But after finishing 21st in his Busch Series rookie season last year, Ganassi tabbing him to drive a Cup car raised a few eyebrows.

But Mears thinks his team is pretty close to where it needs to be as the '03 season gets going.

"I think so," he said. "Everything's going good. We're just learning as we go. We learned a lot from this race and there are probably a lot of little things here and there that we're going to have to change to make communication a little bit better. But I feel pretty good about it."

And for what it's worth, Mears did do what he set out to do on Sunday.

"I wanted to get miles under my belt and get all the experience I could," he said.

Biffle brilliant at times

	Biffle

Though his 21st-place finish doesn't necessarily reflect it, rookie Greg Biffle was strong in his Daytona 500 debut.

Biffle started 27th but worked his way through the field and was running among the leaders as the race's midpoint approached. But as with Bodine, the rain didn't quite cooperate with the team's strategy late in the race.

"Instead of pitting (as the 100th lap approached), we stayed out and tried to get the rain," said Biffle, who drives for Jack Roush. "A few minutes before, we were just second. And then it didn't rain. It started to, but it didn't, so we came down pit road, throw the green and two laps later it rains.

"So, we tried to stay out and get a good finish if it rains out. Didn't happen. Come down pit road and then it rains. You can never, ever bank on the rain."

But the team did try to bank on the rain, even though it goes against Biffle's instincts when in comes to weathering the weather.

"The way I like to do it is just do what you're supposed to do, don't worry about the weather. Just do -- unless, of course, it's just monsoon raining, and you're out there, don't come in. But it wasn't raining at that point. We knew it was coming. Don't try and bank on it. It's bit us every time.

Regardless of losing the rain game, Biffle did show that he is savvy enough to run well at restrictor place races where patience is indeed a virtue. And the ability to show patience and to drive aggressively yet intelligently is important for the former Busch and Craftsman Trucks champ, who was sometimes knocked as being overaggressive and reckless on the track.

Biffle had a strong car on Sunday and he was good enough to make the most of it for much of the race.

"It was a real exciting day for me. The Grainger Ford ran real well and the guys did great pit stops. We got great fuel mileage, engine ran good, I can't complain. I got hung out there a little bit at the start. I was running fourth after the last rain delay. I kind of got hung out, went back to 22nd, but that'll happen. ... I think we got a good car."