Todd Bodine Wreaks Havoc: Wrecks Half the Field But Still Gets the Win

On a beautiful 63° night, at the drop of the green flag for NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway, we saw Todd Bodine live up to a Friday the 13th edition race by wreaking havoc and wrecking half the field en-route to winning the race.

Bodine becomes the first repeat winner at Daytona in the Trucks and his fourth straight super speedway win.

The team hopes the win will land them a sponsor for the 2009 season and enable them to run the entire season. For those fans who love stats, the last unsponsored win happened 62 races ago in trucks in 2007 with Ron Hornaday winning in a unsponsored No. 33.

Colin Braun, in the No. 6 Con-Way Freight Ford F-150 truck, would start from the pole and won it by being the first truck out, something that doesn't happen often.

Matt Crafton in the No. 88 Menard's Chevrolet Silverado truck started from the outside pole position, Todd Bodine in the No. 30 Unsponsored Toyota Tundra started third and Ron Hornaday in the No. 33 Longhorn Chevrolet Silverado truck starts fourth.

Rounding out the top five starters is Mike Skinner in the No. 5 Exide Batteries Toyota Tundra starts fifth.

On the caution warm-up laps, Brian Scott in the No. 16 Albertson's Toyota Tundra truck had a issue with his steering wheel, spun out, didn't damage anything, would fix it, then catch up and get back in line.

On the lap one green flag restart, Colin Braun and Matt Crafton went into turn one in a dead heat, but coming out of turn four Braun had the lead.

On lap two, Crafton gets hung out to dry on the outside line and falls back. Bodine and Ricky Carmichael in the No. 4 Monster Energy Drink Chevrolet Silverado truck would get pass him for second and third respectively.

The first caution flag came out on lap five for Brian Scott getting loose after minor contact with T.J. Bell in the No. 11 Home4the holidays.org Toyota Tundra truck.

Scott would get into Mike Bliss in the No. 40 Key Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado truck. Scott ended up with damage on the driver side just past his window and Bliss had more damage but was knocked out of the race due to transmission issues caused during the wreck.

On Lap Eight, the pits were open and saw some action so early in the race. Kyle Busch and David Starr in the No. 24 Zachry Toyota Tundra truck, both stop for fuel. Brian Scott got four fresh tires and repair the damage to his truck.

Then Johnny Benson in the No. 11 K&N Filters Toyota Tundra truck would pit to make adjustments only due to his truck being loose.

On the Lap 10 restart, Colin Braun would take the green slowly, with Todd Bodine all over his bumper. Coming into turn one, Bodine would put his left side tires below the double yellow line passing Braun for the lead.

Colin Braun came into the turn one racing protecting the low and high-side, his line left half a truck length from the double yellow line and basically Bodine just went for the lead anyways.

Bodine made the pass, right in front of were we where sitting, and it didn't happen the way the Onion commented on post-race.

Had Bodine been more patient, he could have passed Braun coming out of turn two going down the back stretch. Since Mike Skinner was able to do, he actually was the real leader.

Braun would also fall back to 16th, after Skinner's pass.

On Lap 12, Todd Bodine slows comes to pit road for his drive through penalty for being black flagged.

On Lap 14, Mike Skinner would get passed for the lead by Matt Crafton who used the high-side to get the lead.

On Lap 15, Hornaday would let his crew chief Rick Ren know he's having trouble with keeping his truck in gear.

He basically is driving left-handed, holding the gear shifter in place with his right hand and didn't want to pit to get a bungee cord to hold it in place.

On Lap 16, Busch with drafting help from JB, would pass Crafton for the lead 

After 20 Laps, the top five was as follows: Busch leading, T.J. Bell is running in second, James Buescher in the No. 10 International Maxx Force Diesel Ford F-150 truck is running third, Terry Cook in the No. 25 Cajun Industries Toyota tundra truck is running in fourth and Crafton is running in fifth.

On Lap 21, Cook running in third, would pass Buescher for second by passing below the double yellow-line and get black flagged. 

Interesting enough, Cook's No. 10 truck chassis is ten years old, been raced at every Daytona truck race and been to victory lane three times.

After 23 Laps, it's been a blast watching the three wide action coming towards up down the front stretch into turn one.

Plus it's been pretty cool to listen to Chad McCumbee in the No. 07 AsiLimited Chevrolet Silverado truck drive by use, definitely sounds like he's down a cylinder and a couple of other early exits from the race you could smell they had engine issues.

It also was neat too watch, Dennis Setzer in the No. 21 Gunbroker.com Dodge Ram truck, then Larry Foyt in the No. 74 Blu Frog Energy Drink Dodge Ram truck and Bryan Silas in the No. 48 D.R. Horton-Americas Home Builder Chevrolet Silverado truck race together to catch back up to the lead pack of trucks.

On Lap 26, Busch leads, but has Buescher all over his bumper, with Skinner having J.R. Fitzpatrick in the No. 7 Mammoet.com Chevrolet Silverado truck attempting to pass him for third.

On Lap 27, the field had been reeling in Bodine who's been running by himself with no drafting help. But that would change when on this lap, he hooked up with Cook and together was a running a second faster with him than without him.

On Lap 31, right at pit road enterance Hornaday had minor contact with Fitzpatrick as he was pitting for tires.

I did check out the front of Horn's Longhorn truck with my binoculars and didn't see a mark on the front of his truck.

On Lap 32, the second caution comes out for debris and McCumbee got his first of four Aaron's Lucky Dog awards.

With the new pit rule, this could pay off for Fitzpatrick. Since he only needs fuel and everyone will have to pit twice.

Everybody pits, teams needs to decide either fuel or tires first, then come back in for either fuel or tires whichever they didn't take the first time.

Horn would make his two pit stops, also got a bungee cord to hold his gear shifter in place.

On Lap 37, with one to go too the restart, Scott is leading with Fitzpatrick would be running in second.

Scott is on a different schedule do to his lap five mishap that resulted in the first caution.

On the Lap 38 restart, Scott takes the green, but coming out of turn two, JB passes him easily on fresher tires.

But a lap later, Scott would battle back to the lead on the high side with drafting help from Horn.

On Lap 40, ThorSports Racing teammates, Crafton and Johnny Sauter in the No. 13 Funsand/Rodney Atkins/Curb Records Chevrolet would swap third and fourth.

On Lap 41, Braun leads with Horn in second right on his bumper.

On Lap 42, Sauter on the high side with drafting help from JB catches both Braun and Horn, takes the lead.

On Lap 45, Ron Hornaday takes the lead with James Buescher running in second.

On Lap 48, the third caution came out for a nine truck wreck caused by Bodine and happened right in front of us.

This is how I saw the wreck sitting in the stands. Buescher comes down the front stretch, moves to the high side to pass Horn the leader and besides him with his front wheel at Horn's door coming into turn one.

When Bodine decides to follow him, has contact with Buescher rear end putting him sideways sliding down the track and gets hit by Ricky Carmichael. The wreck also collected Johnny Sauter, JB, Skinner would have right front damage, Larry Foyt to his front slitter, Stacy Compton in the No. 60 Wyler.com/Melling Engine Parts Toyota Tundra truck and one other truck had damage.

While the smoke was bad, you couldn't see anything as trucks drove into the wreck. Lucky the wreck didn't involve Horn, only because it would have been a much worse wreck and clogged the speedway with wrecking trucks.

My wonderful wife, said the the Onion makes Rowdy look like a angel. Now for me, the guy just drives retarded, not the first wreck he's caused and it won't be his last. It's just that he shrugs it off like it's nothing, with that smirk on his face, but god forbid give him a piece of his own medicine and he gets all whiny crying about it.  

I thought it was a crappy move by Bodine, yes NASCAR should have parked him for rough driving for a couple of laps and he basically took out five really good trucks.

Plus bummed to see three rookies Buescher, Carmichael, and Sauter all where taken out by his stupidity and all three had great trucks. Definitely would have been their in the end for a chance to win the race and he effected the outcome of the race.

More entertaining was every time the No. 30 drove by my section , two obviously drunken fans would flip him off.

After getting home from Daytona, I did put on Speed TV on, yes the dedicated truck fan I am and watched a rebroadcast of the race.

I was amazed to watch the replays of this wreck. Since all you saw in the stands was smoke as the trucks started wrecking. Especially the footage of Fitzpatrick making it through the wreck undamaged and he had great help from his spotter David Keith did an awesome job for him.

On the Lap 56 restart, Bodine took the green flag, takes the lead with Horn running in second.

After 57 laps the top five was: Bodine leads, Horn runs in second, Braun runs in third, Cook runs in fourth and Tayler Malsam in the No. 81 One-Eighty Toyota Tundra Truck runs in fifth.

On Lap 58, Bodine still leads, withe Horn running in second right in his tire tracks ready to pounce on any mistake by Bodine.

On Lap 60, Bodine still leads, with Horn running in second, but on the high side Fitzpatrick and Busch are charging to the front with three other trucks drafting behind the two.

After 64 laps the top five was: Bodine leads, Horn running in second, Braun running in third, Cook running in fourth, and Malsam running in fifth.

On Lap 67, the fourth caution came out for Brent Raymer in the No. 85 Raymer Racing Ford F-150 truck would get loose coming off of turn four right by pit road. He would slam into the outside wall, careen across the track, then with his throttle hung open came back across the track and hits the wall a second time.

Fortunately, Raymer would be ok, safety personnel did check the wall to make sure nothing was damaged on it.

On Lap 71, J.R. Fitzpatrick is leading, on the pit stop he took fuel only and saved a set of sticker Goodyear's for a late caution.

Fitzpatrick in only his fourth truck series start, first restrictor plate race and he looks impressive. He's run a great race, so far Butch Hylton his crew chief and David Keith his spotter have done a awesome job with J.R.

Even more exciting for me, was that I wrote about Fitzpatrick last season on B/R, when he came to the truck series, was rooting for him and cheering loudly every time he drove by.

On the Lap 75 restart, Fitzpatrick takes the green with Busch right behind him and ready to pounce should the rookie make a mistake.

After 77 Laps, Fitzpatrick leads, Busch is running in second, Braun is running in third, Bodine is running in fourth, and Skinner is running in fifth.

On Lap 79, Fitzpatrick is still leading, with Busch still following the rookie and just shadowing him.

The fifth caution would come out for Rick Crawford in the No. 14 Circle Bar Corral/International Ford F-150 truck, Jason White in the No. 23 Gunbroker.com and David Starr in the No. 24 Zachry Toyota Tundra Truck.

Would get together into the wall, after White's truck got loose. Both Crawford and White's days were done and Starr truck although damaged would finish on the lead lap.

On the Lap 84 restart, Fitzpatrick took the green, holds his own against Busch in second and Bodine in third.

On Lap 85, Fitzpatrick still leads, he's running on older tires and running like a veteran.

On Lap 87, Braun would pass Fitzpatrick, with drafting help from Busch and takes the lead. Bodine and Hornaday on the high side get the outside line working again as they charge back to the front.

On Lap 88, Bodine would pass Braun for the lead with drafting help from Crafton.

On Lap 89, the sixth caution came out for debris. The top five was; Bodine leading, Crafton running in second, Busch running in third, Braun running in fourth, and Cook running in fifth.

When pit road opened, Fitzpatrick was one of the few takers pitting for fresh tires and be exciting to see if it pays off.

On the Lap 91 restart, Bodine would take the green flag, pulls away from Busch who spun the tires restarting and should catch back up to Bodine.

While Fitzpatrick on fresh rubber has made it back into the top ten.

On Lap 93, Fitzpatrick has a tough time getting past Malsam and Bell. But coming out of turn four, he would get past both drivers and set his sights on Scott in eighth.

On Lap 94, it's still Bodine, leading with both Busch in second and Cook in third following along and waiting for a mistake or a final lap pass.

Fitzpatrick was involved with the best racing action as he would battle past Scott and Crafton. Coming out of turn four he would, cross the line in sixth and set his sights on Braun.

On Lap 96, the top four remained the same, but Fitzpatrick with the fresh rubber would pick off Braun to get fifth and start working on passing Horn.

On Lap 98, Bodine still leads with Busch right behind him trying to get around him, but he just gets blocked and Cook just sitting in third waiting to see what happens before he makes a move.

The best racing was Horn blocking Fitzpatrick, regardless if the Kid went high or low the wily veteran always moved to block him.

On the White Flag Lap, Bodine has the lead, both Busch and Cook right their to via for the win. Horn had Fitzpatrick all over his bumper coming into turn one trying to go high and then low to pass him.

In turn three Busch would give Bodine a nudge, but Bodine's truck stayed in throttle,  just corrected it's self and gave him momentum to pull away sightly from both Busch and Cook.

Bodine coming out of turn four, would take the checkers, would win his four straight super speedway win and become the first Truck driver to repeat as a winner at Daytona. 

Fitzpatrick would pass Horn for fourth by a nose as they crossed the start/finish line side by side.

Busch would finish second, run a great race. Terry Cook was third, he had a tough truck and surprised he didn't make a move to try for the win.

Fitzpatrick was fourth, ran a great race, led 17 laps, this kids the real deal and no doubt with a few more laps he would have won with those fresh Goodyears.

Horn was fifth, he led eight laps at Daytona, looked good and recorded his best finish at the track.

Timothy Peters would finish sixth, great run for him and hope he's running full-time this season.

Mike Skinner was seventh, Matt Crafton was eighth, Colin Braun was ninth, and Tayler Malsam was tenth.

Now rather than add some quotes from Todd Bodine or comment more on his win.

I'd rather talk about the impressive 2009 Rookie class in the Truck Series. Sitting in the stands it's just awesome to see them all run well, sure James Buescher, Johnny Sauter, and Ricky Carmichael all would have been their in the end had it not been for Bodine's retarded bonehead move.

I've given Buescher the nickname, "No Fear," the Kid is just amazing watching him race around the speedway, putting his truck all over the track. The move he made to try too pass Horn, rookies aren't supposed to make veteran moves like that and he has a very bright future in Cup.

Carmichael was I believe never out of the top five through the first 47 laps, till he got caught up in the big one. he looks really good, hope those 14 races turns into a full-time ride and sure Delana already has started planting the seed for Happy to agree with the move (she runs the teams day to day).

Sauter also looks good, excited that he's in truck's, sure we'll see him have a decent season for the team and be very competitive even win some races.

Chase Austin ran a great race, to stayed out of trouble, log laps and finish the race. Austin finished 13th, sure we'll see him grow with his team and be more competitive racing.

Tayler Malsam was the big surprise for me running in his third career start, he was tough all day to pass, ran a great race and really think he'll be a great driver. Sure with Skinner as a mentor, he's going to learn a bunch of valuable knowledge, be a better driver from it and it will show up in his racing.

Last but not least, J.R. "Real Deal" Fitzpatrick, wow this Kid is going to be a huge star in the sport, he was just amazing too watch race sitting in the stands, the way he drove through the big one was amazing and Hylton made some great calls in the pits.

I could watch his pit stops through my binoculars, his pit crew did an excellent job for him, made no mistakes and David Keith his spotter also did a great job.

It was just exciting to see "Real Deal" run so well all day and definitely if the race was three laps longer would have been the winner.

Now TRG Motorsports go beg Mammoet.com to sponsor him full-time for the entire 2009 season or ask your Grand-Am sponsor to sponsor him.

This Kid could very well, if he runs full-time compete for the Championship as a rookie, he has the talent and he's that good of a driver.

"Real Deal" post race would talk about the novelty of seeing Busch—a racer he's watched on television—in his rear view mirror."

"I was going down the straight away saying 'this is sooo cool," said Fitzpatrick with a laugh. " I watched Kyle Busch, you know, all these guys, every weekend."

"That, Fitpatrick said, led to a heavy dose of nerves."

"I was really nervous on the first restart," said the native of Ontario. "But then I said if I'm going to keep being nervous, then I'm probably going to end up screwing up. I calmed myself down, focused on keeping it at the bottom."

The next race is on Feb. 21, the San Bernadino County 200 at the Auto Club Speedway on Fox at 3:00PM.

Sources: scenedaily.com, truckseries.com, nascar.com and nascar.fanhouse.com.

Photo Credit: yahoosports.com

Note to the editor—JB refers to Johnny Benson, Horn refers to Ron Hornaday, Jr., "No Fear" refers to James Buescher and "Real Deal" refers to J.R. Fitzpatrick.