For 1998 Bodine found reliable sponsorship from Paychex and his Ford Taurus, although the $3 million per year deal was significantly less than that of top teams. He qualified for every race for the first time as an owner/driver, collected 11 top 20 finishes with a season's best 11th-place finish at Bristol and Talladega, and placed 25th in the final standings. Brett was running at the finish of the first 23 races of the 1998 season, tied for the longest streak to start the season. Paychex returned in 1999 but Bodine was unable to carry the momentum of the previous year and slipped to 35th in the standings with just 3 top 20 finishes, including a season's best 12th at Bristol, while failing to qualify for 2 races.