Brett Bodine
Encyclopedia
Brett Bodine is a former NASCAR
Winston Cup Series driver and is the current driver of the pace car
in Sprint Cup events. Brett is the younger brother of 1986 Daytona 500
winner Geoff Bodine
and the older brother of 2006 Craftsman Truck Series
champion Todd Bodine
. He was born in Chemung
, New York
.
in mechanical engineering
before he became a professional race car driver. Growing up watching his brother Geoff race in the modifieds
, Brett decided to embark on a racing career on his own. He began in hobby stock races at the track owned by his parents in 1977 before moving up to the modifieds in 1979. That year he finished 33rd in the season long points race. In the 1980 season he moved up to 24th overall. The 1983 season was Brett’s most successful in the modifieds as he recorded 56 starts, 6 wins, 20 top fives, and 30 top tens in route to 7th in the overall standings. He also won his first NASCAR Modified National Championship event, the Stafford 200. 1984 was the last full season of modified driving duties for Bodine. He started 39 events, winning 3 with 19 top fives and 29 top tens while finishing 12th in the overall standings. He also won another National Championship event, this time at Oxford Maine.
The 1985 season saw Bodine move up to the NASCAR Busch Grand National series driving the #5 Levi Garrett Pontiac. In just thirteen starts that season he managed 3 poles, 3 wins, 7 top fives, and 10 top tens. He also made a handful of modified starts and won the most prestigious event; the Race of Champions at Pocono. 1986 saw Bodine run his first full season in the Busch series and he fell just 20 points short of winning the championship. Driving the #00 Thomas Brothers Old Country Ham Oldsmobile he tallied 2 wins, 16 top fives, and 24 top tens to go along with 8 pole positions. Bodine also made 4 modified starts in 1986, winning two, both of which were NASCAR Modified National Championship events held at Martinsville. Bodine made his Winston Cup Debut in 1986, driving the #2 Exxon Chevy in the Coca-Cola 600. Bodine started 32nd and finished 18th in the Rick Hendrick owned entry.
Bodine again drove the full Busch series schedule in 1987 and was voted the series most popular driver. He accumulated 5 poles, 8 top fives, and 17 top tens, and finished 3rd in the championship. Bodine also replaced Terry Labonte on the pace lap in two Winston Cup events. Despite starting from the rear he managed to finish 8th and 9th respectively, although Terry Labonte is technically credited with the finishes. Bodine then ran 14 late season Cup races for Hoss Ellington in the #1 Bulls-Eye Barbecue Sauce Chevy. He had 5 top 10 qualifying efforts but his best finish was an 11th at Daytona, one of 5 top twenty finishes.
. He drove the #15 Crisco Thunderbird posting 5 top-10 finishes and finishing the season 20th in points. Bodine returned in 1989 and recorded 6 more top tens in the #15 Motorcraft Ford before finishing 19th in points. In two years Bodine recorded 3 top 5s, 11 top 10s, and 17 top ten qualifying efforts. Bodine and Bud Moore parted ways following the season, partly because Ford wanted a more high profile driver.
Bodine's breakout season came in 1990. Driving the #26 Quaker State
Buick Regal
for champion drag racer Kenny Bernstein
, Bodine won his first race at North Wilkesboro Speedway
, which came under some controversy. During a long 17-lap caution flag, scoring was mixed up, and some felt that Darrell Waltrip
was robbed of the win because of the error. The win stood however, and before the season was over, Bodine had won his first pole position
at the fall event at Charlotte Motor Speedway
and was 12th in the championship standings. Bodine wasn't able to equal his 1990 effort, and parted ways with Bernstein after the 1994 season. In his 5 seasons driving the #26 Quaker State car Bodine posted 5 poles, 1 win, 13 top fives, and 43 top tens while finishing no worse than 20th in the final standings. For 1995 he signed with Junior Johnson
piloting the Lowe's
Ford Thunderbird. He posted two top ten finishes and finished twentieth in points.
He had 8 starts in the Brickyard 400.
After the season, Johnson sold the team to Bodine and his wife Diane. Bodine also bought former boss Kenny Bernstein
's old team and merged them together to form Brett Bodine Racing
. Bodine raced with Lowe's sponsorship for one more year, scoring a top ten finish and placing 24th in the standings. He then signed Catalyst Communications for 1997 and beyond, but troubles erupted when Catalyst stopped paying its sponsorship fees, leading to a lawsuit. The season had started well 2 top tens and 6 top twenties in the first 9 races, but the lack of funding took its toll. Bodine failed to qualify for a late season race and the team slipped all the way down to 29th in the final standings.
For 1998 Bodine found reliable sponsorship from Paychex
and his Ford Taurus showed a marked improvement from the past seasons. He qualified for every race for the first time since 1995 and placed 25th in the final standing. Paychex returned in 1999 but Bodine was unable to carry the momentum of the previous year and slipped to 35th in the standings after missing 2 races. The eventual struggles of being an owner/driver had slowly crept up on Bodine, and he found himself struggling with the responsibilities of fielding a competitive team.
He signed up Ralphs Supermarkets
to sponsor his car for 2000, and sold half the team to businessman Richard Hilton
. The later deal fell through, but he was still able to keep Ralphs as a sponsor, but the failed buy-out put the team behind in its preparation. Bodine continued to struggle through 2000 though, as he failed to qualify five times that year, and again wound up 35th in points. Ralphs returned as the sponsor and Bodine turned it around slightly in 2001, posting two top ten finishes (the first time he finished that high since 1997), and qualifying for all the races while placing 30th in points. Brett Bodine Racing
also expanded to a two-car team for the first time in its history, fielding the #09 Ford for older brother Geoff
, who himself was struggling to maintain his Winston Cup career, in two races. Ralphs however, decided not to return as the sponsor of the team.
With no major sponsors Bodine received sponsorship from minor sponsors such as Wells Fargo
, Timberland Pro, and Dura Lube. Three races into the season Hooters
was signed to a deal, although at this point Bodine's team was already well behind in development. Several key members of the team, including the crew chief, had left due to worries about being able to run the full season. As part of the deal, Bodine fielded a car from Hooters original driver Kirk Shelmerdine
, for a couple of races. But after the team failed to make a race, Shelmerdine and his team splintered. Bodine missed four races during the season and finished 36th in the points. Hooters returned in 2003, but with far less funding than the already small amount they had provided the previous season. Bodine became involved in a difficult time during a divorce
from his wife and team co-owner Diane. The dispute lead Bodine to file a restraining order
against his wife,http://www.ejfi.org/DV/dv-73.htm whom he alleges hit and threatened to ruin him financially. The domestic violence protective order also required Diane Bodine to stay away from NASCAR tracks where her husband was scheduled to race. At the same time Hooters withdrew sponsorship for the Bodine racing team. Bodine had planned to run a partial schedule, running six events until June, when Hooters
pulled the plug on its sponsorship program. In the next race at Michigan
, Bodine was seriously injured in a practice accident. The impact was violent, and Bodine suffered a broken collar bone and damaged teeth. He recovered from his injuries and tried again with a one race ride with the struggling Morgan-McClure Motorsports
, but the car failed to make the field. With no major sponsorship for his team and most of his employees laid off, Bodine attempted to run at Indy in a fan sponsored "Brick Car" where, for $500, fans would get their name on the car. The program was a success, but Bodine failed to qualify for the race by .001 seconds. Rumours of a sponsor for 2004 and beyond surfaced, but nothing panned out and the team was sold. After all the recent events and struggles, he decided to retire from driving. For his 18 year Winston Cup career Bodine started 480 races with 5 poles, 1 win, 16 top fives, and 61 top tens while winning over 13 million dollars in prize money.
at its research and development
center as the Director, Competition, R&D. He works on cost-cutting measures for the sport, the Car of Tomorrow
program (now known as simply the "new car"), and he drives the pace car
during all NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events, except for those events with a promotional or celebrity pace car driver. During races with a celebrity pace car driver, he rides shot gun, guiding the driver through all NASCAR pace car protocols.
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
Winston Cup Series driver and is the current driver of the pace car
Safety car
In motorsport, a safety car or pace car is a car which limits the speed of competing cars on a racetrack in the case of a caution period such as an obstruction on the track. During a caution period the safety car enters the track ahead of the leader...
in Sprint Cup events. Brett is the younger brother of 1986 Daytona 500
Daytona 500
The Daytona 500 is a -long NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is one of four restrictor plate races on the Cup schedule....
winner Geoff Bodine
Geoff Bodine
Geoffrey Eli Bodine is an American motorsport driver and bobsled builder. He is the oldest of the three Bodine brothers . Bodine currently lives in Cornelius, North Carolina....
and the older brother of 2006 Craftsman Truck Series
Craftsman Truck Series
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing...
champion Todd Bodine
Todd Bodine
Todd Bodine is a NASCAR driver. Todd is the younger brother of former racers Geoff Bodine and Brett Bodine. Bodine is known for his bald head, which has given him the nickname The Onion...
. He was born in Chemung
Chemung, New York
Chemung is a town in Chemung County, New York, USA. The population was 2,665 at the 2000 census. The town name is derived from the river flowing through it, which means in the native dialect, "Big Horn."...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Early life
Bodine attended Alfred State College and received an associate's degreeAssociate's degree
An associate degree is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by community colleges, junior colleges, technical colleges, and bachelor's degree-granting colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study usually lasting two years...
in mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
before he became a professional race car driver. Growing up watching his brother Geoff race in the modifieds
Modified racing
Modified stock car racing, also known as Modified racing or simply Modified, is one of the oldest types of racing in the United States, dating back to the days of the post-World War II coupes. The name for modified racing cars come from the fact that they are not stock but, rather, modified...
, Brett decided to embark on a racing career on his own. He began in hobby stock races at the track owned by his parents in 1977 before moving up to the modifieds in 1979. That year he finished 33rd in the season long points race. In the 1980 season he moved up to 24th overall. The 1983 season was Brett’s most successful in the modifieds as he recorded 56 starts, 6 wins, 20 top fives, and 30 top tens in route to 7th in the overall standings. He also won his first NASCAR Modified National Championship event, the Stafford 200. 1984 was the last full season of modified driving duties for Bodine. He started 39 events, winning 3 with 19 top fives and 29 top tens while finishing 12th in the overall standings. He also won another National Championship event, this time at Oxford Maine.
The 1985 season saw Bodine move up to the NASCAR Busch Grand National series driving the #5 Levi Garrett Pontiac. In just thirteen starts that season he managed 3 poles, 3 wins, 7 top fives, and 10 top tens. He also made a handful of modified starts and won the most prestigious event; the Race of Champions at Pocono. 1986 saw Bodine run his first full season in the Busch series and he fell just 20 points short of winning the championship. Driving the #00 Thomas Brothers Old Country Ham Oldsmobile he tallied 2 wins, 16 top fives, and 24 top tens to go along with 8 pole positions. Bodine also made 4 modified starts in 1986, winning two, both of which were NASCAR Modified National Championship events held at Martinsville. Bodine made his Winston Cup Debut in 1986, driving the #2 Exxon Chevy in the Coca-Cola 600. Bodine started 32nd and finished 18th in the Rick Hendrick owned entry.
Bodine again drove the full Busch series schedule in 1987 and was voted the series most popular driver. He accumulated 5 poles, 8 top fives, and 17 top tens, and finished 3rd in the championship. Bodine also replaced Terry Labonte on the pace lap in two Winston Cup events. Despite starting from the rear he managed to finish 8th and 9th respectively, although Terry Labonte is technically credited with the finishes. Bodine then ran 14 late season Cup races for Hoss Ellington in the #1 Bulls-Eye Barbecue Sauce Chevy. He had 5 top 10 qualifying efforts but his best finish was an 11th at Daytona, one of 5 top twenty finishes.
Moving up
In 1988, Bodine moved to the Cup series full time for Bud Moore EngineeringBud Moore Engineering
Bud Moore Engineering was a championship-winning NASCAR team. It was owned and operated by mechanic Bud Moore and ran out of Spartanburg, South Carolina. While the team was a dominant force in the 60s and 80s, the final years were tumultuous due to lack of sponorship and uncompetitive race cars.-...
. He drove the #15 Crisco Thunderbird posting 5 top-10 finishes and finishing the season 20th in points. Bodine returned in 1989 and recorded 6 more top tens in the #15 Motorcraft Ford before finishing 19th in points. In two years Bodine recorded 3 top 5s, 11 top 10s, and 17 top ten qualifying efforts. Bodine and Bud Moore parted ways following the season, partly because Ford wanted a more high profile driver.
Bodine's breakout season came in 1990. Driving the #26 Quaker State
Pennzoil
Pennzoil is an American oil company founded in Los Angeles, California in 1913. In 1955, it was acquired by Oil City, Pennsylvania company South Penn Oil, a former branch of Standard Oil. In 1963, South Penn Oil merged with Zapata Petroleum; the merged company took the Pennzoil name. During the...
Buick Regal
Buick Regal
The Buick Regal is a mid-size car introduced by General Motors for the 1973 model year. North American production ended in 2004 and began again in 2011. For the 2011 model year, Buick re-introduced the Regal to the North American market, positioned as an upscale sport sedan...
for champion drag racer Kenny Bernstein
Kenny Bernstein
Kenny Bernstein is an American drag racer and former NASCAR and IndyCar team owner. He is nicknamed the "Bud King" for his success in the Budweiser King dragster, he has also been nicknamed "The King of Speed," because he was the first driver to break 300 miles per hour in the standing-start...
, Bodine won his first race at North Wilkesboro Speedway
North Wilkesboro Speedway
North Wilkesboro Speedway was a short track that held races in NASCAR's top three series from NASCAR's inception in 1949 until its closure in 1996...
, which came under some controversy. During a long 17-lap caution flag, scoring was mixed up, and some felt that Darrell Waltrip
Darrell Waltrip
Darrell Lee Waltrip is a 3-time NASCAR Cup Series champion , 3-time runner-up , winner of the 1989 Daytona 500 and 5-time winner of the prestigeous Coca-Cola 600 ,...
was robbed of the win because of the error. The win stood however, and before the season was over, Bodine had won his first pole position
Pole position
The term "pole position", as used in motorsports, comes from the horse racing term where the number one starter starts on the inside next to the inside pole. The term made its way, along with several other customs, to auto racing. In circuit motorsports, a driver has pole position when he or she...
at the fall event at Charlotte Motor Speedway
Lowe's Motor Speedway
Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the Sprint All-Star Race...
and was 12th in the championship standings. Bodine wasn't able to equal his 1990 effort, and parted ways with Bernstein after the 1994 season. In his 5 seasons driving the #26 Quaker State car Bodine posted 5 poles, 1 win, 13 top fives, and 43 top tens while finishing no worse than 20th in the final standings. For 1995 he signed with Junior Johnson
Junior Johnson
Robert Glenn Johnson, Jr. , better known as Junior Johnson, is a retired moonshiner in the rural South who became one of the early superstars of NASCAR in the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966...
piloting the Lowe's
Lowe's
Lowe's Companies, Inc. is a U.S.-based chain of retail home improvement and appliance stores. Founded in 1946 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, the chain now serves more than 14 million customers a week in its 1,710 stores in the United States and 20 in Canada. Expansion into Canada began in...
Ford Thunderbird. He posted two top ten finishes and finished twentieth in points.
He had 8 starts in the Brickyard 400.
Owner/Driver and its subsequent struggles
Kenny Bernstein
Kenny Bernstein is an American drag racer and former NASCAR and IndyCar team owner. He is nicknamed the "Bud King" for his success in the Budweiser King dragster, he has also been nicknamed "The King of Speed," because he was the first driver to break 300 miles per hour in the standing-start...
's old team and merged them together to form Brett Bodine Racing
Brett Bodine Racing
Brett Bodine Racing was a NASCAR racing team from 1996 until 2003. It was owned by former NASCAR driver Brett Bodine and his wife of 23 years Diane Bodine . The Bodines purchased the team Brett had driven for in 1995 following that season from Junior Johnson...
. Bodine raced with Lowe's sponsorship for one more year, scoring a top ten finish and placing 24th in the standings. He then signed Catalyst Communications for 1997 and beyond, but troubles erupted when Catalyst stopped paying its sponsorship fees, leading to a lawsuit. The season had started well 2 top tens and 6 top twenties in the first 9 races, but the lack of funding took its toll. Bodine failed to qualify for a late season race and the team slipped all the way down to 29th in the final standings.
For 1998 Bodine found reliable sponsorship from Paychex
Paychex
Paychex, Inc. is a payroll and human resource service company which serves approximately 572,000 businesses in the US. The company is headquartered in Penfield, New York and has more than 100 locations across the country...
and his Ford Taurus showed a marked improvement from the past seasons. He qualified for every race for the first time since 1995 and placed 25th in the final standing. Paychex returned in 1999 but Bodine was unable to carry the momentum of the previous year and slipped to 35th in the standings after missing 2 races. The eventual struggles of being an owner/driver had slowly crept up on Bodine, and he found himself struggling with the responsibilities of fielding a competitive team.
He signed up Ralphs Supermarkets
Ralphs
Ralphs is a major supermarket chain in the Southern California area and the largest subsidiary of Cincinnati-based Kroger. It is the oldest such chain west of the Mississippi River. Ralphs also operates stores under the Food 4 Less and Foods Co. names in California.-History:Ralphs Grocery Company...
to sponsor his car for 2000, and sold half the team to businessman Richard Hilton
Richard Hilton
Richard Howard "Rick" Hilton is an American entrepreneur and hotelier. He is the Chairman and co-founder of Hilton & Hyland, a real estate brokerages firm based in Beverly Hills that specializes in homes and estates in Beverly Hills, Holmby Hills, Bel-Air, Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and...
. The later deal fell through, but he was still able to keep Ralphs as a sponsor, but the failed buy-out put the team behind in its preparation. Bodine continued to struggle through 2000 though, as he failed to qualify five times that year, and again wound up 35th in points. Ralphs returned as the sponsor and Bodine turned it around slightly in 2001, posting two top ten finishes (the first time he finished that high since 1997), and qualifying for all the races while placing 30th in points. Brett Bodine Racing
Brett Bodine Racing
Brett Bodine Racing was a NASCAR racing team from 1996 until 2003. It was owned by former NASCAR driver Brett Bodine and his wife of 23 years Diane Bodine . The Bodines purchased the team Brett had driven for in 1995 following that season from Junior Johnson...
also expanded to a two-car team for the first time in its history, fielding the #09 Ford for older brother Geoff
Geoff Bodine
Geoffrey Eli Bodine is an American motorsport driver and bobsled builder. He is the oldest of the three Bodine brothers . Bodine currently lives in Cornelius, North Carolina....
, who himself was struggling to maintain his Winston Cup career, in two races. Ralphs however, decided not to return as the sponsor of the team.
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational diversified financial services company with operations around the world. Wells Fargo is the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by assets and the largest bank by market capitalization. Wells Fargo is the second largest bank in deposits, home...
, Timberland Pro, and Dura Lube. Three races into the season Hooters
Hooters
Hooters is the trade name of two privately held American restaurant chains: Hooters of America, Incorporated, based in Atlanta, Georgia, and Hooters, Incorporated, based in Clearwater, Florida...
was signed to a deal, although at this point Bodine's team was already well behind in development. Several key members of the team, including the crew chief, had left due to worries about being able to run the full season. As part of the deal, Bodine fielded a car from Hooters original driver Kirk Shelmerdine
Kirk Shelmerdine
Kirk Shelmerdine is a NASCAR driver and former championship-winning crew chief for the late Dale Earnhardt.-Crew chief:...
, for a couple of races. But after the team failed to make a race, Shelmerdine and his team splintered. Bodine missed four races during the season and finished 36th in the points. Hooters returned in 2003, but with far less funding than the already small amount they had provided the previous season. Bodine became involved in a difficult time during a divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
from his wife and team co-owner Diane. The dispute lead Bodine to file a restraining order
Restraining order
A restraining order or order of protection is a form of legal injunction that requires a party to do, or to refrain from doing, certain acts. A party that refuses to comply with an order faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...
against his wife,http://www.ejfi.org/DV/dv-73.htm whom he alleges hit and threatened to ruin him financially. The domestic violence protective order also required Diane Bodine to stay away from NASCAR tracks where her husband was scheduled to race. At the same time Hooters withdrew sponsorship for the Bodine racing team. Bodine had planned to run a partial schedule, running six events until June, when Hooters
Hooters
Hooters is the trade name of two privately held American restaurant chains: Hooters of America, Incorporated, based in Atlanta, Georgia, and Hooters, Incorporated, based in Clearwater, Florida...
pulled the plug on its sponsorship program. In the next race at Michigan
Michigan International Speedway
Michigan International Speedway is a two-mile moderate-banked D-shaped superspeedway located off U.S. Highway 12 on more than in Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is sometimes known as a "sister track" to Texas...
, Bodine was seriously injured in a practice accident. The impact was violent, and Bodine suffered a broken collar bone and damaged teeth. He recovered from his injuries and tried again with a one race ride with the struggling Morgan-McClure Motorsports
Morgan-McClure Motorsports
Morgan-McClure Motorsports is an American auto racing team that competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series full time until 2007 and now occasionally attempts races. It has been in operation for 27 years, starting in 1982. The team is most notable for running the #4 from 1983 to 2009.-Starting...
, but the car failed to make the field. With no major sponsorship for his team and most of his employees laid off, Bodine attempted to run at Indy in a fan sponsored "Brick Car" where, for $500, fans would get their name on the car. The program was a success, but Bodine failed to qualify for the race by .001 seconds. Rumours of a sponsor for 2004 and beyond surfaced, but nothing panned out and the team was sold. After all the recent events and struggles, he decided to retire from driving. For his 18 year Winston Cup career Bodine started 480 races with 5 poles, 1 win, 16 top fives, and 61 top tens while winning over 13 million dollars in prize money.
To the NASCAR Office
Bodine currently works for NASCARNASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
at its research and development
Research and development
The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
center as the Director, Competition, R&D. He works on cost-cutting measures for the sport, the Car of Tomorrow
Car of Tomorrow
The Car of Tomorrow, sometimes called CoT or "Car of Today", is the car style for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Larger and boxier than the design it replaced, the Car of Tomorrow is safer, costs less to maintain, and was intended to make for closer competition.The car was introduced in the 2007 Cup...
program (now known as simply the "new car"), and he drives the pace car
Safety car
In motorsport, a safety car or pace car is a car which limits the speed of competing cars on a racetrack in the case of a caution period such as an obstruction on the track. During a caution period the safety car enters the track ahead of the leader...
during all NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events, except for those events with a promotional or celebrity pace car driver. During races with a celebrity pace car driver, he rides shot gun, guiding the driver through all NASCAR pace car protocols.