Bodine's breakout season came in 1990 driving the No. 26 Quaker State Buick Regal for champion drag racer Kenny Bernstein and crew chief Larry McReynolds. Bodine won his first Cup Series race in the 7th race of the season at North Wilkesboro Speedway, which came under some controversy as some felt that Darrell Waltrip was robbed of the win. Brett had led 63 laps in the middle of the race and then re-took the lead on lap 318 after short pitting on a round of green flag pit stops.  When the caution came out on lap 321, the pace car mistakenly picked up Dale Earnhardt as the race leader, putting Brett almost a full lap in front of the entire field. During the ensuing confusion of a 17 lap caution flag (NASCAR did not have electronic scoring at the time) Bodine was able to make a pit stop for fresh tires without losing any positions. When NASCAR reset the lineup with Bodine as the leader, he led the final 83 laps of the race (a race-high 146 laps overall) to take the victory.  "We messed up," said Chip Williams, NASCAR's public relations director. "By throwing the caution on the second-place car, it kept Bodine in the lead. He slipped into the pits and came out without losing the lead because the pace car was keeping the second-place car back. We messed up by picking up the wrong car. It was a judgment call, and you can't overrule a judgment call." Despite the controversy, the win stood and would prove to be Bodine's only career cup series win, the final cup series win for Buick, the final win for Bernstein's team, the first oval win for Larry McReynolds, and the only oval track victory for Bernstein's team.  From Dover in 1989 through Talladega in 1990, Brett was running at the finish of 16 consecutive races, the longest streak in the Cup Series at the time.  Brett made his first appearance in the All-Star race in 1990 and won his first pole position at the fall event at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  At the conclusion of 1990 Brett was a career-best 12th in the championship standings with 5 top five finishes (both Wilksboro races, Pocono, Watkins Glen, and Martinsville) and a total of 9 top ten finishes.