Bodine Wins Sam's Town 400
Special to the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

FORT WORTH, TX (June 8, 2007) - —Todd Bodine made a remarkable comeback from an early engine problem to win the Sam’s Town 400 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race Friday at Texas Motor Speedway.

Bodine started from the pole but slowed on the 35th lap and fell from third to 18th. He made several pit stops and his Germain Racing team thought it was a carburetor problem, but were never able to find it. “We think maybe some trash got in the jet,” Bodine said, “but we didn’t find it. Somehow, it cleaned itself out.”

Bodine’s Toyota had to race from the back of the field in the 1.5-mile track and steadily climbed into the top 10. He was eighth, but 15 seconds behind leader Ron Hornaday when a round of green-flag pit stops began with 20 laps to go.

Bodine, having nothing to lose, had pitted at the end of a caution period on lap 87 and had a fuel advantage over the rest of the leaders. When they pitted with 18 laps to go, Bodine took the lead.

The No. 30 team was preparing to pit when the caution came out on lap 156, with 167 scheduled. The caution flag came at a perfect time for Bodine, who took four tires and fuel on his stop.

There were only six cars on the lead lap. Travis Kvapil stayed out and took the lead; Rick Crawford, Mike Skinner, Hornaday and David Starr also pitted, took four tires, and followed Bodine out.

With less than 10 laps to go, the leaders were lined up single file for the restart on lap 163. Kvapil, on used tires, held Bodine off for a lap. As the approached Turn 1, Kvapil’s Ford tried to block Bodine on the outside. Bodine moved inside and Kvapil tried the block again.

Bodine hit him in the tailgate and Kvapil spun into the inside barrier. “I’m not happy about that, but you only get to block in one direction,” Bodine said. “I was going to the outside and I was going to give him the bottom. He blocked me and I went to the bottom. He blocked me again and I hit him.”

Kvapil’s spin brought out the race’s final caution and forced a green-white-checkered restart on lap 168.

Bodine edged away from Skinner’s Toyota and led both laps, winning by .188 of a second. Bodine’s victory was the 11th of his NCTS career and his first since this race last year. Bodine has four wins in six NCTS starts at Texas. It tied Brendan Gaughan’s series record for most wins at one track.

Skinner finished second, followed by Crawford, Hornaday, Starr and Kvapil.

Complete race results and point standings in the Related News section below...

Television Schedule

• Pre-Race: Friday, June 8 (SPEED ay 9:30 a.m./AT, 8:30 a.m./ET)
• Race: Friday, June 8 (SPEED at 10 p.m. AT, 9 p.m. ET)

Related News

6/6: Entry List (PDF)

6/7: Thursday First Practice (PDF)

6/7: Thursday Final Practice (PDF)

6/7: Qualifying Order (PDF)

6/7: Qualifying Results (PDF)

6/7: Starting Lineup (PDF)

6/8: Race Results (PDF)

6/8: Point Standings (PDF)

Green Flag Fast Facts
The Race: Sam’s Town 400
The Place: Texas Motor Speedway
The Date: June 8, 2007
The Time: 10 p.m./AT, 9 p.m./ET
TV: SPEED, 9:30 p.m./AT, 8:30 p.m./ET
Track Layout: 1.5-mile paved oval
Race Purse: $692,880
2006 Winner: Todd Bodine
2006 Pole: Mike Skinner
Schedule (local track time): Thursday–Practice 11 a.m.-12 noon.; 12:15-12:45 p.m. (rookies) and 1-2 p.m. Qualifying, 6 p.m.
Year-To-Date Standings: click here

Qualifying Notes

• Todd Bodine win his first Bud Pole of 2007 and second in his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career. His only pole came in the 2006 spring race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
• Bodine's best previous series start at Texas Motor Speedway was sixth in last year's Sam's Town 400.
• Bodine is the defending winner of the Sam's Town 400. The victory on June 9, 2006 was the defending champion's 10th and most recent win.
• Mike Skinner's streak of six consecutive Bud Poles ends tonight as he qualifies second. The streak began at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 16. It is the second longest pole streak - to Skinner's eight consecutive poles in 1995, the initial year of the series. Skinner's qualifying record in seven TMS appearances includes four poles and two starts from the outside front row.
• Skinner finished second in last year's Sam's Town 400 losing to Bodine on the final lap. He has finished second, second and third in his most recent three races at TMS
• Travis Kvapil is the No. 3 qualifier. Kvapil won TMS' fall event in 2001. He has five top-five finishes at the track.
• The top qualifying Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate is Aaron Fike. He qualified fifth.

This'N'That

• Ron Hornaday cut Mike Skinner’s (No. 5 Toyota Tundra Toyota) championship lead to 77 points with a third of the 2007 complete. The next-closest rival, Todd Bodine, is 196 points behind the leader and 119 behind Hornaday.
• Beginning in 1997 with Kenny Irwin’s victory in the Pronto Auto Parts 400, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series has visited Texas Motor Speedway 18 times – most at any track. There have been 11 different winners, five of who will compete in the Sam’s Town 400.
• Stacy Compton’s (No. 09 Zaxby’s Ford) runnerup finish at Dover International Speedway marked the team’s best performance since joining the series at the beginning of the 2006 season.
• Ron Hornaday now has three significant entries in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck record book: 300th win (at Dover), 200th win and first Bud Pole.

Photo Gallery - stay tuned

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