While Todd Bodine won’t be back with the [#30 with Chad Chaffin] Germain/Arnold Racing Craftsman Truck Series team next year, he will return to the series in a Toyota with a different team. “He’s got a Toyota truck deal,” Geoffrey Bodine, Todd’s older brother, said Wednesday. “So, he’s happy.” Todd joined the newly formed Germain/Arnold team in September and won back-to back races, but Geoffrey said his brother couldn’t come to an agreement with them for 2005. “He tried to make it work with them, but they just wouldn’t do the things that he thought needed to be done, so he’s doing something else,” Geoffrey said. Germain/Arnold Racing announced Monday it has signed Chad Chaffin to drive the #30 truck that Bodine drove so successfully this year. Todd Bodine could not be reached for comment Wednesday. “Toyota wants him. He’s their No. 1 driver right now,” Geoffrey said. Geoffrey didn’t want Todd’s new team [Fiddleback?] to be made public until an official announcement. He did say the team has competed in the Truck Series and will be rebuilding its operation to run the Toyota. Toyota, a big player in many forms of motorsports around the world, entered NASCAR’s Truck Series for the first time in 2004.(Elmira Star Gazette)(12-25-2004)
UPDATE: Todd Bodine, who parted ways with Germain-Arnold last week, enters the 2005 season assured of a full-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series ride with the Fiddleback Racing team. The Mooresville, N.C.-based team, which competed with Fords in 2004 with driver J.R. Patton, will join the growing rank of teams switching to Japanese carmaker Toyota. “Todd has signed a contract with us and I can’t tell you how happy we are to have him on our team,” Brian Jones, team publicist for Fiddleback Racing, confirmed Wednesday from his home in Jackson, Miss. “With what we have going on, we feel we will be contenders for the championship.” Jones said the team is expanding its operation to run a pair of Toyota Tundras for Bodine and Patton. Jones also said the team will enter the Nextel Cup Series for the first time on a part-time basis, with Bodine as the driver. Jones said an official announcement is tentatively scheduled for Jan. 7. “We’ve still got a couple of pieces of the puzzle to put into place,” Jones said. Jones said the team is still finalizing its sponsorship but is committed to a full Truck Series schedule and from six to 10 Nextel Cup races. Bodine couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday.(Elmira Star Gazette)(12-30-2004)
