For Todd Bodine, the magic number is 54. It has not been a productive last three races for Todd Bodine (#30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota) who finished 14th, 25th and 14th at Texas, Atlanta and Martinsville. But thanks to some phenomenally bad luck suffered by closest challenger Johnny Benson (#23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota), Bodine is on the verge of winning his first NASCAR national touring series championship. With a lead of 137 points entering this week’s Casino Arizona 150 at Phoenix International Raceway, Bodine needs to add an additional 54 points to the current margin to become just the second series driver to close out the title prior to the season’s final race. Only Greg Biffle in 2000 clinched the title with one race remaining on the schedule. Bodine enters this week’s race as the track’s defending race winner while Benson’s best Phoenix finish, second, came in 1996. He was fifth last year. David Reutimann (#17 Team Tundra Toyota) remains in the title mix but trails Bodine by 165 points. Bodine is putting the championship out of his mind this week. “I’m not going to let it bother me,” he said. “I’ll be honest with you, I was antsy before Atlanta but I’m not going to worry about it anymore. “I’m planning on racing at Phoenix and Homestead to win; period.” Bodine won five times in 2005, his first full season on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and finished third in the standings 86 points behind now Germain Racing teammate Ted Musgrave (#9 Team ASE Toyota).
Phoenix International Raceway started it all. It’s old home week in a way for a number of drivers competing in this week’s Casino Arizona 150 – among them Mike Skinner (#5 Toyota Tundra Toyota), Ron Hornaday Jr. (#33 AES HR Solutions Chevy) and Jack Sprague (#60 Con-way Freight Toyota). Skinner won the series’ first race at the one-mile oval in 1995. Returning in October, the Susanville, Calif. native won again – and closed out Joe Ruttman for the inaugural season championship. Hornaday won the series’ first Budweiser Pole in the Valley of the Sun. He didn’t win the race but returned to Arizona a few weeks later and raced his Dale Earnhardt-owned Chevy to Victory Lane at Tucson Raceway Park. Sprague, meanwhile, scored the first of his 27 victories at Phoenix in April 1996 and ultimately ran the streak to three – a record for consecutive wins at one track that wasn’t broken until 2003. He’s also the track’s leading pole winner with five.
Casino Arizona 150 News & Notes – Part II:
Several streaks on the line as the 2006 season winds down…Competitors Dennis Setzer (#85 E85 FlexFuel Chevy) and Ted Musgrave (#9 Team ASE Toyota) have just two races to preserve several streaks. Setzer has won at least one race in eight consecutive seasons but none in 2006 and needs to gain two positions to add to a top-10 championship streak that began in 1999. Musgrave, meanwhile, hasn’t finished lower than third in the standings or failed to win a race since joining the series fulltime in 2001. He currently ranks fourth. Crafton, Gaughan edging toward winnings milestones…Matt Crafton (#88 Menards/Energizer Chevy) and Brendan Gaughan (#77 South Point Dodge) could become the 14th and 15th competitors to reach $2 million in career winnings. Entering the Casino Arizona 150, Crafton has won $1,975,295 while Gaughan’s total is $1,961,360. Last year’s race paid a winner’s purse of $50,850. Owner championship remains in play…Just 140 points cover first through third in the battle for the series owner championship. Bodine’s Germain Racing team is the leader with Benson’s Bill Davis Racing outfit second, 137 points behind. Jack Roush’s #6 Scotts Ford, which will be driven by Mark Martin in the season’s final two races, is 140 points out. Front row seems the place to be…Last week’s Texas race was won from the Budweiser Pole marking the sixth time in seven races that the winner has started from the front row. Eight of the year’s 23 races have been won from the #1 starting position including four of the last five. At Phoenix International Raceway, the pole winner has scored four victories – but none since Joe Ruttman in 2000.
Record Number Of Title Holders Eye Top-10 Mark:
With four among the current top 10 and one a spot outside, it’s possible that six current or former series champions could finish among the top 10 in this year’s championship battle. The previous most champions among the top 10 is five in 2005. It’s a veteran group by any measure. The current top 10 has accrued 1,729 starts and 121 victories. Bodine has the fewest starts: 63. Rick Crawford (#14 Circle Bar Truck Corral Ford) and Jack Sprague (#60 Con-wayFreight Toyota) share the record for most starts – 245.
This Week’s Craftsman Truck Series Leaders:(through 23 races of the 25-race season)
Points leader – Todd Bodine (3,406)
Winnings – Todd Bodine ($575,045)
Laps led – Mike Skinner (553)
Miles led – Mike Skinner (836.448)
Victories – Mark Martin (5)
Budweiser Poles – Mike Skinner (7)
Top-five finishes – Johnny Benson (12)
Top-10 finishes – Johnny Benson, David Reutimann (17)
Raybestos Rookie Leader – Erik Darnell (56 over Chad McCumbee)
Races led – Mike Skinner (12)
Weeks in Top 10 – 3 drivers (23)
Bowyer Is Series’ 12th Different Winner Of 2006:
Clint Bowyer (#46 Jack Daniel’s Chevy) became the year’s 12th different winner with a Budweiser Pole to Victory Lane performance on Nov. 3. Bowyer joins two other active Nextel Cup Series drivers – Kyle Busch (#15 Freedom Grill/kylebusch.com) and Martin – as 2006 winners. This is the fifth time in series history that 12 or more drivers have won races. The record is 14 set in 1998 and matched a year ago. The victory broke a Morgan-Dollar Motorsports drought that began in August 2005. Team owner David Dollar collected his 13th win, while crew chief Eric Phillips has won seven times with three different drivers.
On The Right Track:
Six former winners in this week’s field…Six different competitors with a combined 10 Phoenix victories are expected to compete in Friday’s Casino Arizona 150. Sprague is the track’s all-time series winner with three scores. Hornaday and Skinner count two wins apiece. One-time winners include Bodine, Mike Bliss (#16 Xpress/Strutmasters Chevy) and David Starr (#11 Red Horse Racing Toyota). Sprague is king in Phoenix…Sprague has started 13 of the track’s 14 events and dominates Phoenix International Raceway statistics. In addition to his three wins and five poles, Sprague counts nine top-five and 11 top-10 finishes. He has led nine of the 13 races he’s entered. Toyota claims first NASCAR national touring title in Texas Skinner’s third-place finish in last week’s Silverado 350K at Texas Motor Speedway wrapped up the 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series manufacturer championship – the first national title for the truck maker. It was dj vu for Skinner, who clinched Chevy’s second manufacturer crown in 1996. Skinner is the first competitor to clinch championships for two different manufacturers and joins Sprague in wrapping up a pair of titles. This is the first time a race finish of lower than second has clinched a manufacturer championship. Toyota trucks have won 11 races with five different drivers – Skinner, Sprague, Benson, Bodine and Starr.
In The Loop:
Todd Bodine and Johnny Benson should compete neck-and-neck in the Casino Arizona 150 based upon last year’s Loop Data report. They ran first and second in all three key categories (below): Driver Rating, Fastest Laps Run and Average Running Position. Ron Hornaday Jr. is the only other driver to find his name on all three of the lists. Hornaday ranked third in Driver Rating, fourth in Fastest Laps Run and fourth in Average Running Position. Kyle Busch, looking for his second win of the year, ranked fifth in Driver Rating and third in Fastest Laps Run.
Fast Facts:
The Race: Casino Arizona 150
The Place: Phoenix International Raceway
The Date: Nov. 10, 2006
The Time: 8:15 pm/et
Race Distance: 150 miles/ 150 laps
TV: SPEED, 7:30 pm/et
Track Layout: 1-mile oval
Race Purse: $500,327 2005
Winner: Todd Bodine
2005 Pole: Brandon Whitt
Schedule: Thursday – Practice, 2 p.m. – 2:30 p.m., 3:20 p.m. – 3:50 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Friday – Qualifying, 10:30 a.m.(11-6-2006)
