After the 1995 season, Johnson sold the team to Bodine and his wife Diane to form Brett Bodine Racing. In a unique arrangement, the Lowes sponsorship ($4.2 million) for 1996 was paid directly to Johnson to purchase the team while Brett ran the team out of his pocket for the inaugural season.  Bodine was reunited with crew chief Donnie Richeson and scored a top ten finish at Daytona in July, but failed to qualify for a late season race at Martinsville while placing 24th in the standings with 8 top 20 finishes.  Bodine's struggles as a first time owner/driver during the 1996 season were documented in the book Wide Open.