MOTOR RACING ROUNDUP : Bodine Runs at ‘Home’ in Carolina

Geoff Bodine remembers the good-natured jeers of “Yankee, go home!” when he first raced at North Wilkesboro, N.C.

Now that he’s driving for Wilkes County native Junior Johnson, Bodine, a New York state native, feels as if he’s coming home.

“It really feels good to come here as Junior’s driver,” said Bodine, who is in fifth place in Winston Cup points entering today’s First Union 400 NASCAR stock car race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

Bodine drove a lap at 117.304 m.p.h. in Friday’s qualifying to join pole sitter Mark Martin in the front row of the double-file 30-car field in the 250-mile race.

Martin, in a Ford, was clocked at 117.475 m.p.h. to edge Bodine.

Bodine, who drives a Ford, says he’s grown fond of the local fans.

“When I first started racing here, some of them would jokingly holler, ‘Yankee, go home,’ ” he said. “But now that I’m with the right team and owner, maybe they’ll be asking, ‘What’s Flossie Johnson fixin’ for supper?’ ”

Joe Amato, Jim White and Bruce Allen used track-record elapsed-time performances to emerge as top qualifiers for today’s finals of the 10th annual Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Ga.

The $1,096,550 event is the fifth stop in the 19-race, $18-million NHRA Drag Racing Series.

Amato covered the quarter-mile in 4.960 seconds at 280.11 m.p.h. for the No. 1 spot in the Top Fuel division. Gene Snow was second at 4.990 and 277.34.

White was the Funny Car leader with a time of 5.228 seconds at 263.92 m.p.h. in his Dodge Daytona. Allen used an ET of 7.260 seconds at 189.83 m.p.h. in his Chevrolet Beretta to lead in Pro Stock.

Toyota driver Drake Olson shattered the course record and claimed the pole in today’s International Motor Sports Association Camel GT Grand Prix of Palm Beach, Fla., with a speed of 103.050 m.p.h.

The previous record on the 11-turn, 1.6-mile street course was 100.917, set by Geoff Brabham’s Nissan last year.

Olson’s Toyota Eagle blew an engine Saturday morning and the crew had to scramble to install a new one in time to qualify.

Davy Jones will start outside Olson in a Jaguar XJR-10 in the front row of the three-hour event.

Robert Jeffreys’ Chevrolet charged from nearly a lap behind in the last 50 laps to overtake Jimmy Spencer and win $2,000 and the Lowe’s 150 NASCAR modified stock car race at North Wilkesboro, N.C.

Spencer, of Berwick, Pa., had led since the 38th lap.