Holiday Inn (a truck)

Wednesday, Oct. 30, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Geoff Bodine is using this off week in the NASCAR Winston Cup schedule to take a little vacation from the rigors of stock-car racing.

Of course, Bodine's idea of a vacation is driving a truck around the Las Vegas Motor Speedway at speeds in excess of 170 miles per hour. Bodine is one of five former Daytona 500 winners entered in Sunday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series 420K.

"I love Vegas and (this race) is an excuse to go to Vegas," Bodine said. "It's an off weekend, which allows me to do that, and it's a new track. We rode our motorcycles through there earlier this year and I saw what (the track) was going to be like and it's beautiful. When you get the opportunity to race at a good track, you take it."

In addition to driving his own Ford Thunderbird in the Winston Cup Series, Bodine owns a Craftsman Truck team, piloted by Dave Rezendes and sponsored by the QVC home shopping channel. Wearing so many hats can be stressful at times, which gives Bodine another excuse to get behind the wheel of a truck this weekend.

Alone in the cockpit

"I was just looking at my schedule after the season and it's worse than during the season," Bodine said during a break in qualifying last weekend at Phoenix International Raceway. "You don't race, so people want you to go here and they want you to go there and do this and do that.

"I got to thinking, 'Hey, when I'm racing, they can't do that to me -- I'm doing what I want to do.' It's a way to keep people from making you go someplace, to be behind the steering wheel. I like driving the truck ... so it's almost like a vacation for me.

"Around (the Winston Cup Series), it's ultrasonic high pressure; points, money, sponsors, competition. The trucks, for us, feel like a holiday -- a lot less pressure. I'm not saying we don't take it seriously. When you get behind the wheel, we're out there pedal to the metal, running as fast as we can go, but we don't feel the pressure as much."

Truck bucks

The hefty purse ($791,714) being offered in the truck series season finale was further motivation for the eldest of the three racing Bodine brothers to come to Las Vegas.

"You've got to be honest, right? They're paying a lot of money, so it'll pay some of the bills," Bodine said, sounding like the consummate owner. "You'd have to be crazy not to go up there and try for it. I think last place in Vegas pays more than last place in Charlotte."

Aside from all of that, Bodine said he simply enjoys racing the trucks. The 47-year-old has run only three truck races this season and posted an eighth-place finish in June at Nazareth, Pa. Bodine differs with some of his Winston Cup colleagues who maintain that there is little difference between driving a stock car and a truck.

"They're different, no matter what anybody says," Bodine offered. "Driving a Chevy or a Ford is different, so driving a truck versus a car has got to be different, right? A lot of drivers say it isn't, but it is. But drivers adapt to conditions, cars, trucks, all that stuff, pretty quick. So sometimes we don't think there's a difference."

Family affair

Despite his obvious fondness for the trucks, Bodine said he doesn't plan to ease into retirement by driving in the Craftsman Series when he steps out of his Winston Cup ride.

"My two sons are in the business: Matthew is 24 and Barry is 18," Bodine said. "Barry appears to have a talent for driving. Along with Dave (Rezendes) next year, I'm going to run Barry some more in the truck and he's going to run it a little bit up in Vegas.

"When I step down, it's going to be him stepping in, hopefully. I can't drive forever -- and I don't want to. I've been driving since I was 5 years old; 42 years of my life I've been behind a steering wheel and my elbows are getting worn out. These kids are going to be taking over and I'll hopefully own the team and guide them and coach them and get them started in the business."

Door to door

Although the Winston Cup cars and the Craftsman Trucks use the same chassis, Bodine said the truck series format makes for closer racing.

"The biggest difference is the format of the race; short little races where you have the stops where you can plan your strategy," Bodine said of the two or three scheduled "competition yellows" that allow teams to make adjustments on the truck's setup.

"In Winston Cup, you never know, you really have to be flexible and quick to adjust to an unwanted or unscheduled caution at any time. In truck racing, you know you're going to stop at this lap and you're going to be able to change tires -- and not have to hurry, not lose any positions. You know you're going to stop again and maybe sometimes three or four times in a race."

High-speed veteran

Bodine has 18 career Winston Cup victories, with his lone win this season in the Bud at the Glen at Watkins Glen, N.Y. He has posted five top-10 finishes, including a sixth-place showing in the Dura-Lube 500K at Phoenix.

Because of his Winston Cup experience, the New York native is hoping he will have an edge when he lines up his truck Sunday on the quick LVMS 1.5-mile tri-oval.

"I'm hoping (the high speed) is an advantage to a guy like myself, but there's some truck drivers who have run those speeds, too," Bodine said. "I didn't go down there to test -- Dave Rezendes did and we'll learn from that. Maybe I've got a little catching up to do with these other guys because my truck hasn't tested there, but hopefully we'll get it real quick."