Todd Bodine held off Kyle Busch to win the opening NASCAR truck race of the season at Daytona International Speedway on Friday.
Todd Bodine Celebrates In Victory Lane At Daytona
Bodine became the first repeat winner in the event’s 10-year history, fending off a pair of last-lap moves by Busch to take the 250-mile race by a few lengths. The victory was the fourth straight win by Bodine’s No. 30 Toyota in a restrictor-plate race.
Busch, who won three truck races while running a part-time schedule last year, tried to dip below Bodine on the final lap but couldn’t find any room to squeeze past.
Defending series champion Johnny Benson finished 26th after getting caught in a nine-truck pileup about halfway through. Ron Hornaday, a close second to Benson in the points race last year, was fifth.
Bodine came to Daytona hoping a good showing would help his financially strapped team. He celebrated afterward by shouting to his team: “we’re going to California” for the series’ next event on Feb. 21.
The race looked familiar to Busch, who tried—and failed—to slip past Bodine on the final lap in the same race a year ago.
“I guess I’m just an idiot on those last-lap passes,” Busch said. “I just can’t seem to time it right.”
Busch’s best chance came entering turn three. He got all the way to Bodine’s rear bumper in an effort to bump Bodine out of the way. All it did was give Bodine the boost he needed to win.
The crash-filled race featured six cautions for 30 laps and left nearly half the field watching the end from the garage.
The worst came near the race’s midway point when rookie James Buescher was challenging Hornaday for the lead heading into turn one.
Buescher—who won the ARCA race last Saturday—was trying to go wide when he seemed to get nudged from the side. The massive pileup that followed ended the nights of nine trucks, including Benson and former Motocross star Ricky Carmichael, who was making his truck debut for team owner Kevin Harvick.
“I thought I was in good shape and then (Carmichael) kind of came out of nowhere,” Benson said. “There was nothing I could do.”
KHI Driver Ricky Carmichael Limps Back To The Garage
Brent Raymer survived a nasty double-hit late in the race in which he smacked into the outside wall twice. He was awake and alert but remained in the track’s infield care center following the race for observation.
No Daytona winner has gone on to win the Trucks championship, with the best season finish thirds by Bodine last year and Joe Ruttman in 2001.
Bodine would love to break the streak, if he can finish the season. The future is a bit brighter after his win, but it came after the veteran became the first driver of the year to break one of the circuit’s new rules. Bodine was sent to the pits for a pass-through penalty after dipping below the double-yellow line to make a pass.
No matter. He quickly worked his way back through the field and took over late to collect his 16th career victory.
2009 NextERA Energy Resources 250 Results
| Pos | Driver | Truck # | Make | St. | Laps | Led | Points |
| 1 | Todd Bodine | 30 | Toyota | 3 | 100 | 25 | 195 |
| 2 | Kyle Busch | 51 | Toyota | 19 | 100 | 18 | 175 |
| 3 | Terry Cook | 25 | Toyota | 7 | 100 | 0 | 165 |
| 4 | J.R. Fitzpatrick | 7 | Chevrolet | 14 | 100 | 17 | 165 |
| 5 | Ron Hornaday Jr. | 33 | Chevrolet | 4 | 100 | 8 | 160 |
| 6 | Timothy Peters | 17 | Toyota | 18 | 100 | 0 | 150 |
| 7 | Mike Skinner | 5 | Toyota | 5 | 100 | 4 | 151 |
| 8 | Matt Crafton | 88 | Chevrolet | 2 | 100 | 1 | 147 |
| 9 | Colin Braun | 6 | Ford | 1 | 100 | 15 | 143 |
| 10 | Tayler Malsam | 81 | Toyota | 11 | 100 | 0 | 134 |
| 11 | T.J. Bell Jr. | 11 | Toyota | 17 | 100 | 0 | 130 |
| 12 | Brian Scott | 16 | Toyota | 12 | 100 | 4 | 132 |
| 13 | Chase Austin | 32 | Chevrolet | 22 | 100 | 0 | 124 |
| 14 | Stacy Compton | 60 | Toyota | 10 | 100 | 0 | 121 |
| 15 | Shane Sieg | 15 | Toyota | 16 | 100 | 0 | 118 |
| 16 | Bryan Silas | 48 | Chevrolet | 30 | 100 | 1 | 120 |
| 17 | David Starr | 24 | Toyota | 26 | 100 | 0 | 112 |
| 18 | Dennis Setzer | 21 | Dodge | 32 | 100 | 0 | 109 |
| 19 | Chad McCumbee | 07 | Chevrolet | 24 | 98 | 0 | 106 |
| 20 | Larry Foyt | 74 | Dodge | 34 | 85 | 0 | 103 |
| 21 | Rick Crawford | 14 | Ford | 15 | 79 | 0 | 100 |
| 22 | Jason White | 23 | Dodge | 8 | 79 | 0 | 97 |
| 23 | Brent Raymer | 85 | Ford | 20 | 67 | 3 | 99 |
| 24 | Ricky Carmichael | 4 | Chevrolet | 6 | 48 | 0 | 91 |
| 25 | James Buescher | 10 | Ford | 13 | 47 | 0 | 88 |
| 26 | Johnny Benson | 1 | Toyota | 21 | 47 | 1 | 90 |
| 27 | Johnny Sauter | 13 | Chevrolet | 9 | 47 | 3 | 87 |
| 28 | Justin Hobgood | 53 | Chevrolet | 28 | 47 | 0 | 79 |
| 29 | Mario Gosselin | 12 | Chevrolet | 31 | 14 | 0 | 76 |
| 30 | Butch Miller | 08 | Chevrolet | 35 | 13 | 0 | 73 |
| 31 | Brandon Knupp | 47 | Chevrolet | 25 | 12 | 0 | 70 |
| 32 | Johnny Chapman | 06 | Toyota | 23 | 9 | 0 | 67 |
| 33 | Mike Bliss | 40 | Chevrolet | 27 | 6 | 0 | 64 |
| 34 | J.C. Stout | 77 | Toyota | 36 | 2 | 0 | 61 |
| 35 | Lance Hooper | 44 | Chevrolet | 29 | 2 | 0 | 58 |
| 36 | Wayne Edwards | 22 | Dodge | 33 | 1 | 0 | 55 |
0 comments:
Post a Comment