Todd Bodine spins, wins truck race at Kentucky, then thanks Kyle Busch for 'driving dirty'
Todd Bodine celebrates his victory at Kentucky Speedway. // Streeter Lecka, Getty Images for NASCAR
SPARTA, Ky. – Todd Bodine clearly isn’t “points racing.”
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series points leader gambled on fuel mileage Friday night and won the Built Ford Tough 225 at Kentucky Speedway.
Bodine last stopped for fuel on lap 92 of the 150-lap race and ran the final 55 laps under green on the same tank of gas.
The strategy started to play out on lap 81, when Bodine tried the low side in Turn 4 to pass Kyle Busch for the lead. But Bodine’s Toyota spun in front of the field, though he escaped with just limited damage as a piece flew off the bed of the truck. Bodine was able to remain on the lead lap after pitting but restarted 25th.
When Paddy Rodenbeck spun on lap 91 to bring out the final caution, crew chief Mike Hillman Jr. brought Bodine into the pits as the top nine trucks stayed out.
Busch, who dominated the race and led a race-high 73 laps, was one of the trucks that stayed out, but as the green continued to wave, he eventually had to pit under green on lap 127. Later, leaders Austin Dillon and Justin Lofton pitted, and Bodine surged to the lead.
Bodine ended Busch’s four-race NASCAR winning streak. Busch had won the previous four races he had entered in NASCAR’s three national stock-car series.
“The first person I’ve got to thank is Kyle Busch for driving dirty, sucking me down and getting me spun out and giving us the gas. .... [We] got sucked around, got some fuel and here we are in victory lane,” Bodine said in his television interview after the race.
After Bodine made the comment on television, Busch visited him in victory lane and the two had an animated discussion.
“It’s two drivers that didn’t care what the other said or the other did, and we had words about it,” Bodine said in his postrace news conference. “That’s good, hard racing. I’ve always had a lot of respect for Kyle and slowly but surely I’m, losing it. And that’s a shame."
Johnny Sauter finished a distant second, with Aric Almirola third, Jason White fourth and Ricky Carmichael fifth. Timothy Peters, Busch, Ryan Sieg, polesitter Dillon and Matt Crafton completed the top 10.
Bodine leads Almirola by 261 points with seven races left in the 2010 season.
