Bodine Makes It A Sweep At Talladega
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Todd Bodine (No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota) needs a broom. The 2006 series champion surged to the top with a little help from the No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet of Ron Hornaday Jr. to win big at Talladega last Saturday.
With his victory, Bodine, also the defending winner at Talladega, became the first driver to accomplish three straight wins on a superspeedway, thanks to his win in the 2008 season opener at Daytona.
The trio of Roush Fenway Racing Fords dominated at the drop of the green flag.
“We knew the Fords were going to be tough,” Bodine said. “We had a good truck. I knew if we could get ourselves positioned in the right spot at the end of the race, we would have a shot at it.”
Crew chief Mike Hillman Jr. was glad to have the race in the books. “Talladega’s always scary,” Hillman Jr. said. “When its all said and done, we’re sitting back here again. This is three superspeedway wins in a row. It’s great.”
Bodine was quick to acknowledge his team as he celebrated his 14th series win. “There is a lot of hard work that goes in at the race shop to get to us to this point,” he said. “I’m just the end result of a lot of hard work. What I do on the race tracks just complements what goes on at the shop.”
Bodine also might want to consider the number 20 as a lucky number. The driver has won race No. 20 in three of the last four seasons.
Is This The Pair To Beat?
Reigning series champion Ron Hornaday Jr. might have come in second to his friend Todd Bodine Saturday, but that runner-up finish sent the veteran driver to the top of the championship standings.
While Talladega Superspeedway is known for its unpredictability on the track, a shake-up in the standings is almost just as predictable. Hornaday swiped the lead from Johnny Benson (No. 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota) who went into the weekend with a single-point lead over his rival. Benson now trails Hornaday by 39 points.
Seems Hornaday and crew chief Rick Ren know how to get it done. They also could make history should the team hold off the competition. If the No. 33 is on top after the last race, Hornaday Jr. will be the first back-to-back champion in the series and the first four-time series champion.
In this final stretch, he is heading to tracks where he and his team have had success. While he hasn’t visited Victory Lane at Martinsville, in 12 starts he’s amassed four top-five and seven top-10 finishes.
The veteran driver also has wins at Atlanta, Texas, Phoenix and Homestead-Miami..
A good omen for the team — the leader following the 20th race of the season has gone on to win the championship in three of the last four seasons and nine times overall in the 13-year history of the series.
Last year, Hornaday was the leader after a seventh-place finish put him 14 points over Mike Skinner (No. 5 Toyota Tundra Toyota).
Manufacturers’ Battle
Toyota keeps the lead after the beating and banging at Talladega. Ron Hornaday Jr. fought hard but Chevrolet will have to wait until next year to try and notch a win at one of the “big tracks” on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule.
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