Todd Bodine's No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota being readied at the O'Reilly 200 at Memphis Motorsports Park. (Charles Krall/TruckSeries.com Photo)

Last Saturday's O'Reilly 200 at Memphis Motorsports Park concluded the longest stretch of the season for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competitors - nine races on consecutive weekends.

Todd Bodine (No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota) headed the standings when the grind began at Lowe's Motor Speedway and he's still the leader.

Bodine, whose lead bulged to as many as 178 points, leads 2004 Raybestos Rookie of the Year David Reutimann (No. 17 Team Tundra Toyota) by 117 as teams spend the remainder of July prepping for the Aug. 4 Power Stroke Diesel 200 by Ford and International at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.

Bodine's Germain Racing team, which also fields the No. 9 Team ASE Toyota driven by 2005 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Ted Musgrave, has been solid through the season's first half, but has shown in recent weeks that even the best can have an "off night."

The No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Crew and Todd Bodine celebrate in Victory lane at Texas Motor Speedway earlier this season. (Ronda Greer Photo)

"Up until about three weeks ago, I would have probably given us a grade of 95 (out of 100)," said Germain general manager Mike Hillman. "Everything was clicking and everything was going well. I'd say right now we are probably around a 75 or 80.

"At the beginning of the season, everything we did turned out right and we didn't make any mistakes in our decisions. Now, during the last three weeks, everything we do seems to be wrong or not work."

Bodine finished worse than third only once in his first six races. He failed to reach the top 10 in two of his most recent four events, capped by a 15th at Memphis. More troubling, Musgrave dropped from second to fifth, but believes he's due to rebound.

"Sooner or later you're going to be on top and sooner or later you're going to be on the bottom," Musgrave said. "I kind of look at it as a sock in the dryer going around and around."

2004 Raybestos Rookie of the Year David Reutimann (No. 17 Team Tundra Toyota) closes to 117 points of  Todd Bodine after Memphis. (Ronda Greer Photo)

The past two months have spotlighted a number of drivers and teams that began the season on a down cycle but are headed back to the top. Some or all may give Bodine a solid challenge during the season's final 11 races.

Two-time series champion Ron Hornaday Jr. (No. 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet) has been the hottest commodity of late, winning at Kentucky Speedway and posting top-five finishes in his past four races.

He's the biggest "mover" over the nine-race span with 12 positions gained: 18th to his current ranking of sixth.

And Hornaday is proof at age 48 that experience is a big plus in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

"I don't feel any different in the cockpit than I did a few years ago," said the Palmdale, Calif. driver, whose Kentucky victory was a career record extending 29th win. "It is easy to drive your hardest and do all you can for your team when everyone is on the same page and working as hard as they can to get the finishes and the wins.

"Some great (young) people were brought in for our team and it has just taken a little time for everyone really to jell and get the rhythm and the chemistry all moving in the same direction."