NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

Bodine started 14th in the No. 30 Germain Racing Toyota Tundra and quickly made his way to the front of the field before a spin on lap 81 brought him to pit road. His pit crew worked to repair the damage without losing any laps. The pit stops for repair ultimately set his team up for the race win because of fuel mileage strategy.

“That’s the way the trucks are,” said Bodine, after the race.  “If somebody runs down tight on your quarter panel, you get loose.  We got a great run on Kyle (Busch) on the restart and he ran me tight through (turns) three and four and I was just hanging on and finally just came around on me.  That’s our misfortune turned into our fortune because that’s what gave us the little extra fuel that we needed to get to the end.  I pedaled pretty hard about 20 laps to go and (Mike Hillman) Junior (crew chief) kept reminding me to pedal and about the last 10 laps I just rode around here half throttle.  We had such a big lead and he was telling me how far we had.  I just kept pedaling and going and we had enough fuel.”

Bodine credited his pit crew with consistency that put him in position to win the race. “I say it every time we get up here, but these guys are incredible,” added Bodine, from victory lane.  “We beat everyone out when we took fuel only.  That was part of what got us out front.  These guys are awesome.  They do a great job in the shop, they do a great job on pit road every week.  That’s what makes a great championship team is consistency.  They may not be the fastest, although they are, but they’re consistent.  They don’t make mistakes.  That’s what you have to do, not make mistakes.”

Aric Almirola (third), Timothy Peters (sixth), Kyle Busch (seventh) also had top-10 finishes at the 1.5-mile oval located in Sparta, Kentucky.

The win marked the second time since joining the series in 2004 that Toyota drivers have won fifth straight races. In addition to Bodine’s victory at Kentucky, he also won at Nashville (Aug. 7) and Darlington (Aug. 14) while Kyle Busch was triumphant at Bristol (Aug. 18) and Chicagoland (Aug. 27). Tundra drivers also earned five consecutive wins in 2009 with victories at Bristol, Chicagoland, Iowa, St. Louis and Loudon.

Earlier this year Bodine also won at Texas to give him four NCWTS victories in 2010. It is also Bodine’s 21st NCWTS victory in a Toyota. This was Bodine’s first triumph at Kentucky in six series starts.

Toyota has now won 11 of 18 NCWTS races in 2010 and 76 since 2004.

Tundra drivers Justin Lofton (11th), Mike Skinner (13th), David Starr (14th), Donny Lia (18th), Miguel Paludo (20th) and Steve Park (25th) were also in the field.

With his victory, Bodine extends his lead in the unofficial NCWTS standings to 261 points over Almirola following Kentucky. Peters (fourth), Skinner (eighth) and Lofton (10th) are also in the top-10 in points after 18 of 25 races.

The Camping World Truck Series returns to action at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Sept. 18.

Toyota NCWTS Driver Finishing Positions at Kentucky Speedway
1st, TODD BODINE
3rd, ARIC ALMIROLA
6th, TIMOTHY PETERS
7th, KYLE BUSCH
11th, JUSTIN LOFTON
13th, MIKE SKINNER
14th, DAVID STARR
18th, DONNY LIA
20th, MIGUEL PALUDO
25th, STEVE PARK

Toyota Drivers in NCWTS Point Standings -- following Kentucky Speedway
1st, TODD BODINE 2,898 points
2nd, ARIC ALMIROLA 2,637 points
4th, TIMOTHY PETERS 2,533 points
8th, MIKE SKINNER 2,334 points
9th, DAVID STARR 2,254 points
11th, JUSTIN LOFTON 2,107 points