Hard to believe but Todd Bodine, the defending NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, has won exactly one race in the past 14 months.
That after setting the season on fire in 2005 with victories in the final three races and five overall.
While it hasn’t exactly been a lean year – Bodine is fourth in points with a win, seven top-five and 12 top-10 finishes – the 43-year-old champion is less than happy when he’s not visiting Victory Lane.
But, looking at the bright side, the defending winner of Saturday’s Missouri/Illinois Dodge Dealers Ram Tough 200, points to an increased level of competition in the series overall.
“The competition has kind of stepped it up and we are going to have to step it up and get that dominant edge again, ” said Bodine.
Six drivers who have won the past seven editions of the Ram Tough 200 are expected to compete in this week’s 10th series race at the 1.25-mile speedway.
That’s the most of any track on the schedule in 2007 – one more than the winners of six races earlier this summer at The Milwaukee Mile.
Gateway’s egg-shaped layout favors the best in the business – drivers, crew chiefs and teams. So it isn’t surprising that five Gateway winners count a combined six championships.
The past two winners of the Ram Tough 200 – Ted Musgrave and Bodine – went on to win the season’s title.
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