From where Todd Bodine sits atop the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series point standings for the ninth consecutive race, all must seem right with the world.

No argument there, although Bodine might do well to brush up on series history before thinking about writing any acceptance speeches.

Not only are his rivals making up ground but mid-season point leaders haven't fared well in the final accounting. In fact, only three times in 11 seasons - most recently in 2000 - has the mid-season leader gone on to become champion.

Greg Biffle is the last to lead at both junctures. Ron Hornaday Jr. (1996) and Jack Sprague (1999) are the others.

Bodine held a 178 point cushion over David Reutimann as recently as June 23. The margin has shrunk by a third with Johnny Benson showing 112 points arrears in the runnerup spot. Benson and fifth-place Rick Crawford are the biggest movers of late.

Benson was 239 points behind Bodine and in sixth place after May's race at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Crawford has carved 95 points from a post-Michigan deficit of 332 aided by back-to-back second-place finishes among six consecutive runs in the top 10 that have brought the 10-year veteran from a low of 14th in mid-May.

For Bodine, Satchel Paige's advice of, "Don't look back, something might be gaining on you," is altogether appropriate.

Marcos Ambrose and Michel Jourdain Jr. made NASCAR Craftsman Truck history Saturday night when the latter driver took second place from David Ragan on the 13th lap of the Built Ford Tough 225.

With Australian Ambrose leading and Mexico's Jourdain in pursuit it marked the first time that foreign-born competitors had run one-two in a series race.

Ultimately, neither got the finish he wanted. Ambrose led a race-high 49 laps before fading to 19th. Jourdain was 28th after a late spin on the frontstretch.

Ambrose, however, became the first from his country to win a Budweiser Pole in one of NASCAR's three national touring series. No foreign-born driver had been fast qualifier for a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race since Canadian Ron Fellows grabbed the pole at Watkins Glen International in 1999.

The 29-year-old Australian also became the first Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate to fast qualify since David Reutimann capped his 2004 rookie of the year season with a pole at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

"We can't be ashamed of ourselves," said Ambrose, who did a pre-race linkup with Australia's Network 10. The interview aired twice on Sunday - Down Under time. "We showed a lot of speed out there. We had a great truck to start that race and we just got too tight behind trucks around us and it's just experience. I've got to get better at racing in traffic and we've got to get better at setting the truck up for those conditions."

Hornaday is the second driver to count multiple wins in six seasons. He and fellow NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Jack Sprague now share the record.

Hornaday started 22nd surpassing Dennis Setzer's 18th-place on the grid as Kentucky Speedway's winner from deepest in the field. In fact, the top three of Hornaday, Crawford and Gaughan came from 22nd, 23rd and 20th respectively.

Terry Cook officially matched Rick Crawford's series mark of 210 consecutive starts. He's on track to break the record Saturday at Memphis Motorsports Park.

Kevin Grubb returned to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for the first time since mid-1997, taking over the Billy Ballew Motorsports Chevrolet after Kyle Krisiloff was released by the team earlier in the week. Grubb finished 21st in his 2006 debut.

Reutimann dropped a spot in the point standings after finishing 13th but won $14,940 to drive his career total to $1,011,232. He's the 32nd driver to win $1 million or more in series competition.

Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge and Toyota each claimed a top-four finishing position. The last time that occurred was on May 20, 2005 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Chevrolet won that race as well. Toyota, however, continues to hold a six-point edge over Ford in series manufacturer standings.

David Ragan's first top-five finish, meanwhile, moved Roush Racing's No. 6 Scotts Ford into the No. 3 spot in owner championship standings. The truck shared by Ragan and three-time winner Mark Martin is only seven points out of second again raising the possibility of a shared driver-owner title.

Although Kelly Sutton suffered no serious injury in her July 1 accident at Kansas Speedway, her team elected to sit the veteran driver out for a week. Brad Keselowski, who has occupied a driver consultant role with Sutton Motorsports, drove the team's Chevrolet and wound up 30th after engine failure sidelined the track after 143 laps.