Bodine's success in the part-time Busch series ride in 1985 lead to a full time opportunity in 1986, driving the No. 00 Thomas Brothers Old Country Ham Oldsmobile for Howard Thomas. Rick Hendrick was not interested in fielding a full time Busch series team but helped Brett bring an associate sponsorship from Exxon over to the 00 team. Brett scored two early-season pole positions at Rockingham and Martinsville, but 3 DNFs in the season's first 5 races left Brett 14th in points.  Brett then recorded 9 straight top 10 finishes and another pole at Dover to move to 2nd in the points standings. This streak was followed by back to back DNFs at IRP and South Boston and dropped Brett to 7th in points after the season's 16th race. Brett rallied to finish the season with 15 straight top 10 finishes including wins at Bristol and the season finale at Martinsville. After Jack Ingram was suspended for two races for driving backwards on track, the championship came down to a battle between Brett and Larry Pearson. Brett briefly lead the standings after the season's 28th race, and with three races to go (Hickory, Rockingham, and Marintsiville) trailed by 12 points. Brett qualified on the pole at Hickory but the race was cancelled because, allegedly, the promoter did not want to pay the purse and intentionally damaged the track which cost Brett the chance to gain ground on Pearson. At the season finale, Brett qualified on pole and won the race but ended up placing 2nd to Larry Pearson by just 7 points in the final standings while totaling 16 top fives and 24 top tens to go along with his series-best 8 pole positions. Brett was voted the series most popular driver at the conclusion of the season.  In addition to his full time Xfinity Series schedule, Bodine made four modified starts in 1986, winning two, both of which were NASCAR Modified National Championship events held at Martinsville. Bodine also made his Winston Cup Debut in 1986, driving the No. 2 Exxon Chevy in the Coca-Cola 600. Bodine started 32nd and finished 18th in the Rick Hendrick owned entry, earning the bonus money for being the highest finishing rookie driver.