Owner/Driver and Its Subsequent Struggles
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, 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.
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