Geoffrey Bodine is back in The Winston. Bodine was added to the field Wednesday when NASCAR discovered that he had been mistakenly left off the list of eligible drivers. According to the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Media Guide, Sterling Marlin is eligible for The Winston at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on May 20 for his victory at Talladega in 1996. But Geoffrey Bodine won a Winston Cup race (at Watkins Glen in August of that year) after Marlin and should have been listed as a participant. What happened? since Bodine won The Winston on 1994, he received a five-year exemption(meaning he was automatically in the Winston from 95-99). That ended last year, and he was mistakenly not put back in the previous winner’s list. Mike Allison, business manager for Bessey Motorsports, who Bodine drives for. said Bodine should be recovered from his injuries sustained in the Daytona CTS wreck in time for The Winston(Total Sports)(3-16-2000) UPDATE: However, both Bodine and Sterling Marlin are “on the bubble,” so to speak – should a driver not in the Winston already win a races held before The Winston, then both drivers would be knocked out of the field and forced to compete in the Winston Open to have a shot at running in the feature event(goracing)(3-18-2000) UPDATE 2: Ward Burton winning the race at Darlington gets him in The 2000 Winston but supposedly knocks out Marlin and Geoffrey Bodine of the All-Star race(see above story link), BUT I think they are still in as the rules state: If 20 drivers are not eligible, winners from previous seasons still active on the NASCAR Winston Cup Series become eligible for The Winston. All active drivers during that season become eligible, even if the field exceeds 20 competitors. With Burton that is 19 drivers, so I think Bodine and Marlin are in unless another driver not already in wins a race(3-19-2000)
