KYLE COMES BACK TO CAPTURE OWNER’S TITLE WITH WIN AT HOMESTEAD Bodine Celebrates Truck Series Championship Following Fourth-Place Finish in Miami
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (November 19, 2010) -- Kyle Busch earned his eighth victory in 16 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) starts this year in Friday night’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Busch’s win enabled Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) to earn the NCWTS owner’s championship in its inaugural season in the series.
Fellow Tundra driver Todd Bodine celebrated his second Truck Series driver’s championship with a fourth-place result in the season-finale at the 1.5-mile oval. Bodine also earned the NCWTS driver’s title in 2006.
“I never thought that I’d be a one-time champion, let alone two-time champion,” said Bodine, following the race. “I don’t know what to say. It’s because of these guys up on the team and all the guys back at the shop. I appreciate the hard work. It’s hard in a career to be a part of a group that cares as much as this one, and is as good as this one. I’m fortunate now -- this is our fifth year together and we’re going strong and I count my blessings every day to be a part of a group that cares and wants to win and to run up front.”
Busch started second in the KBM No. 18 Traxxas Tundra and led the field six times for a race-high 57 laps (of 134) en route to victory lane.
“This is so cool,” said Busch, following the race. “To come out here and to win in our last race and to do it in the style that we did it, it wasn’t without some excitement, that’s for sure. I can’t thank these guys here enough at Kyle Busch Motorsports -- everyone like Rick Ren (competition director) and Eric Phillips (crew chief). Eric made some great race calls and kept my head on and got me back in the race. It’s fun to come out here and participate in the truck races.”
The 25-year-old Las Vegas native had to pit on lap 105 due to a tire going down after he made contact with Johnny Sauter that forced his No. 18 Tundra into the wall. Busch restarted toward the back of the field, but was able to work his way to the front to earn the victory.
“I was pretty concerned,” said Busch, about the damage to his Tundra. “I just knew that we were gonna be back in traffic and my truck wasn’t great out front. It was really loose. But back in traffic, Eric (Phillips) and these guys made another great call to tighten it up, and we were able to have a really good driving truck there at the end to come back up through there. There was a lot of trucks, man. You go out there and you try to get the win and you try to do what you can and hopefully these guys celebrate for a long time. They deserve it an awful lot.”
Toyota won 15 of 25 NCWTS races in 2010 -- the most victories in a single season since the manufacturer joined the series in 2004. Tundra drivers have earned a total of 80 wins in 175 series starts.
Bodine (fourth), Aric Almirola (fifth), Justin Lofton (seventh), Mike Skinner (eighth), Miguel Paludo (ninth) and Tayler Malsam (10th) also earned top-10 results for Toyota at Homestead.
Tundra drivers Craig Goess (12th), Timothy Peters (17th), Max Papis (18th), Johanna Long (20th) and Tom Hessert (29th) were also in the field.
Along with Bodine’s championship, Almirola (second), Peters (sixth), Skinner (eighth) and Starr (ninth) finished the season in the top-10 in the NCWTS point standings.
Toyota NCWTS Driver Finishing Positions at Homestead-Miami Speedway1st, KYLE BUSCH
4th, TODD BODINE
5th, ARIC ALMIROLA
7th, JUSTIN LOFTON
8th, MIKE SKINNER
9th, MIGUEL PALUDO
10th, TAYLER MALSAM
11th, DAVID STARR
12th, CRAIG GOESS
17th, TIMOTHY PETERS
18th, MAX PAPIS
20th, JOHANNA LONG
29th, TOM HESSERT
Toyota Drivers in NCWTS Point Standings -- following Homestead-Miami Speedway*1st, TODD BODINE: 3,937 points
2nd, ARIC ALMIROLA: 3,730 points
6th, TIMOTHY PETERS: 3,343 points
8th, MIKE SKINNER: 3,256 points
9th, DAVID STARR: 3,170 points
*unofficial point standings
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