The Championship comes down to the final race – again. There are no guarantees in Craftsman Truck Series competition but the odds are in Todd Bodine’s (#30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota) favor as the battle for the championship goes down to the final race for the 11th time in 12 seasons. Bodine holds a 112-point lead over rival Johnny Benson (#23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota) and needs to finish 28th or better at Homestead-Miami Speedway to lock up the Bodine family’s long-sought, first NASCAR national touring series crown. Only twice in series history has the leader entering the season finale failed to seal the deal. Bodine’s lead is the fourth largest with one race remaining.Two-time Ford 200 Budweiser Pole winner David Reutimann (#17 Team Tundra Toyota) stands third, 183 points back, but will be eliminated when the green flag falls. Bodine, 42, is taking nothing for granted – perhaps recalling the wild finish of the 2003 Ford 200 in which four different drivers held the standings’ lead at one point and Travis Kvapil came from third to wear the crown. A year ago, Bodine’s teammate Ted Musgrave (#9 Team ASE Toyota) clinched the title with a 19th-place finish. One thing is certain: the champion will drive a Toyota for the first time in the series.
It may have been too little, too late – but it was spectacular. Nobody can accuse Benson of leaving anything on the table in his last-ditch bid to overhaul championship leader Bodine. At Phoenix, Benson won his first Budweiser Pole since 1996 but spun out on the first lap of the Casino Arizona 150 and restarted 35th on the field. Benson’s comeback wasn’t unprecedented but come back he did, passing Mark Martin (#6 Scotts Ford) on the 121st lap to regain the lead and drive to his fifth victory of the season. Benson, who went 0-for-59 before scoring his first win in his native Michigan in June, posted his fifth victory of the season and matched Martin’s series-leading total. Benson could only wonder what might have been and look ahead to 2007. “This team has proven to be a championship caliber squad. We have done all we can do and that is all I can ask,” he said. “Two mechanical failures late in the season have hurt our chances at the championship.” “(Crew chief) Rick Ren and all the guys should hold their heads high knowing we have had a great season. I am already looking forward to next year and seeing if we can vie for the championship again.”
Ford 200 News & Notes – Part II:
And Musgrave’s Pick For His Successor?…No surprise here, it’s Germain Racing teammate Bodine. “Todd’s in a really good position compared to where I was last year (with a lead of 58 points entering the final race). I don’t think there’s going to be much pressure on him other than he’ll probably be a little nervous just being in that position to be a champion.” Every Pass Could Be For Position Just 114 points is the spread between fourth and 10th in the championship point standings going into the Ford 200. Musgrave, hoping to extend his current streak of five top-five finishes, is fourth by 41 over David Starr (#11 Red Horse Racing Toyota). Terry Cook (#10 Ford Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford) holds 10th – the final spot on stage at next month’s Champion’s Awards Banquet in Orlando – by a margin of 48 on Mike Bliss (#16 strutmasters.com Chevy), the series’ 2002 champion. Martin will compete in his 14th race of the season hoping to retain position #10. Martin would be only the second fulltime Nextel Cup Series driver to finish in the top 20. Geoffrey Bodine was 20th in 1995, the series’ inaugural season. Qualifying Has Meant A Lot As The Season Winds DownAlthough the Budweiser Pole winner has won the Ford 200 just once – Bobby Hamilton in 2003 – the #1 starter has gone to Victory Lane six times in the last eight races and nine times overall. The latter number is one short of the record set in 2000. Martin and six other competitors share the record for the most wins from the pole – three – in a single season. Kurt Busch and Joe Ruttman were the previous most recent “three-timers” in 2000.
This Week’s Truck Series Leaders: (through 24 races of the 25-race season)
Points leader – Todd Bodine (3,566)
Winnings – Todd Bodine ($5)
Laps led – Mark Martin (604)
Miles led – Mike Skinner (870.448)
Victories – Johnny Benson, Mark Martin (5)
Budweiser Poles – Mike Skinner (7)
Top-five finishes – Johnny Benson (13)
Top-10 finishes -David Reutimann (18)
Raybestos Rookie Leader – Erik Darnell (58 over Chad McCumbee)
Races led – Mike Skinner (13)
Weeks in Top 10 – 3 drivers (24)
Raybestos Rookie Of The Year to be crowned at Homestead:
Erik Darnell (#99 Northern Tool + Equipment Ford) can point with pride to a singular achievement in his bid for Roush Racing’s fifth Raybestos Rookie of the Year award. Darnell has led Raybestos standings after 24 consecutive races beginning with the 2006 season opener at Daytona International Speedway. `The top rookie will be named this week at Homestead. Darnell carries a 58-point lead over Chad McCumbee (#08 The GPS Store/Garmin Chevy) into the finale. Darnell opened the year with a sixth-place finish. He’s posted a trio of top-five finishes and 11 times has run among the top-10 including the last four races in succession.
On the right track:
Ten Different Drivers Have Found Victory Lane In South Florida Homestead-Miami Speedway is one of two Craftsman Truck Series facilities to have run 10 or more races without a repeat winner. Benson became winner #11 at New Hampshire International Speedway in September to set a record that could be matched this Friday. Entered drivers who could become the first repeat winner at Homestead are Rick Crawford (#14 Circle Bar Truck Corral Ford), 1998; Mike Wallace (#15 Billy Ballew Motorsports Chevy), 1999; Musgrave, 2001; Ron Hornaday Jr. (#33 AES HR Solutions Chevy), 2002; and Bodine (2005). Musgrave needs a victory to preserve a five season winning streak. Dennis Setzer (#85 FlexFuel E85 Chevy) must win the Ford 200 to extend his eight season stretch of victories that began in 1998.
Etc:
Bodine, who tutored former Boston Red Sox outfielder Mike Greenwell prior to the latter’s two Craftsman Truck starts earlier this season, will get fishing tips from the former Major League All-Star. Greenwell will instruct Bodine on the finer points of angling for SnookJack Sprague (#60Con-way Freight Toyota) has posted the most top-five (seven) and top-10 (eight) finishes at Homestead. He’s finished second three times – most recently a year ago – and third on two other occasions. ..Defending Budweiser Pole winner and Homestead qualifying record holder Reutimann is one of two competitors to win two poles at Homestead. The other is Ruttman. Reutimann’s record lap of 173.116 mph was set a year ago in the initial test of the track’s latest configuration featuring turns banked 18-20 degreesThe Homestead-Miami Speedway will host the championship-deciding race for the fifth time. The season finale was moved from California Speedway beginning in 2002There have been 46,057 laps of NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competition at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Sprague has completed the most laps – 1,385 – of any driver. He and Crawford have the most starts – nine Dodge must add to its total of three Homestead victories to avoid its first winless season since 1996. Chevy’s five wins are the fewest in a season by the truck maker. Toyota counts the most victories in 2006 – 12 – with Ford second with seven. The latter manufacturer won Homestead’s first four races but has been shut out of Victory Lane sinceMichael Waltrip (#12 Jani King Toyota) will make his first start since 2004. Nextel Cup’s Joe Nemechek (#46 Silverado Chevy) also is entered.
In the loop:
Todd Bodine and Johnny Benson aren’t separated by much in several of Homestead’s 2005 key Loop Scoring Data categories (below): Driver Rating, Fastest Laps Run and Average Running Position. Bodine, last year’s race winner, is either first or second in all three categories topped by a Driver Rating of 143.2 (of 150.0) and Fastest Laps Run, 44. One key to Bodine’s third consecutive victory was his status as Fastest Late in a Run (166.080 mph) and Green Flag Speed, 165.713. Bodine and Benson were among four drivers who ran the Most Laps in the Top 10 – 131 of 134.
Manufacturers’ Championship Point Standings following Phoenix:
Toyota, 169
Ford, 151
Chevy, 124
Dodge, 82
Fast Facts:
The Race: Ford 200
The Place: Homestead-Miami Speedway
The Date: Nov.17, 2006
The Time: 8:05 pm/et
Race Distance: 201 miles/ 134 laps
TV: SPEED, 7:30 pm/et
Track Layout: 1.5-mile paved oval
Race Purse: $632,301
2005 Winner: Todd Bodine
2005 Pole: David Reutimann
Schedule: Friday – Practice, 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m., 9:45 a.m. -10:15 a.m. and 10:25 a.m. – 11:25 a.m. Qualifying, 5 p.m.(NASCAR PR) (11-13-2006)
