Bodine wins first Truck Series race
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) – Todd Bodine withstood a series of late restarts, then pulled away from the pack in a three-lap shootout to win Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway. The win in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 was his first of the season and third in the series for Bodine, a former Winston and Nextel Cup driver who also owns 15 Busch series wins. It was also the first win for Toyota this year, breaking Chevrolet’s five-race streak.
Rookie Todd Kluever won a back-and-forth battle with David Reutimann in the late laps to take second – his best finish this year – in a Ford.
Kelly Sutton’s record-breaking day, meanwhile, ended in a scary moment that brought out a red flag late in the race.
With 13 laps to go, Chris Fontaine’s truck hit the wall and crossed back into traffic. Sutton’s truck hit Fontaine and flipped onto its top, spinning and skidding down the backstretch of the 11/2-mile tri-oval before rolling back onto its wheels on the apron.
Sutton, whose 33rd career start broke the series’ record for race appearances by a woman, got out of the truck on her own. Both she and Fontaine were checked and cleared at the infield medical center, although Sutton said she would see a doctor Tuesday for a CAT scan.
“You just hold on to the steering wheel real tight,” Sutton said. “I was watching it slide across, and I saw the wall coming, and I thought, ‘Oh, man, don’t hit it too hard.’ Then it flipped back over.”
The final caution came with three laps remaining, when Matt Crafton made contact with Ted Musgrave and hit the wall. Once the green dropped again, Kluever found himself fending off Reutimann’s challenge rather than chasing Bodine.
“I think as the day went on I learned more about restarts,” he said. “Toward the end they weren’t that good, because you had to block and protect what you have.”
Jimmy Kite, the only truck racer also running in today’s Indy Racing League event, finished 22nd. He will start 22nd in Argent Mortgage Indy 300.
Dennis Setzer, the points leader, finished 11th. He still widened his lead by 5 points – to 38 – over Bobby Hamilton, who finished 12th.