The field comes to the green flag with teammates Bill Lester and pole winner Mike Skinner leading the field. (Steve Snoddy/High Sierra Photo)

Most competitors, particularly those from the old school, will disagree that racing owes them anything. But Todd Bodine, in a reflective mood after winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway made some good points about the sport giving something back.

"For what the family's gone through … this is very special for us," said Bodine of long years of struggle by the three brothers from Chemung, N.Y., Geoffrey, Brett and Todd. "Maybe it will change people's mindset about our family."

The Bodines, who made their first appearance on NASCAR's national landscape in 1979 when Geoffrey made his first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup start, always have been known as tough racers - a trait that hasn't always endeared them to some fans.

Bodine hopes this year's accomplishment may change some minds.

"The average Joe doesn't understand that we have given everything (to the sport)," he said. "All three of us have given it marriages. Brett's race team went broke. Geoff almost gave it his life.

"This cements the fact we're champions - no ifs, ands and buts about it."

Ford 200 winner Mark Martin agreed that the family has earned a championship.

"I think it's great for Todd," he said. "I raced against all three of them and all three of them are fierce competitors. Coming from a guy who's never won one, I would have to say that they don't need a title to make them great.

"Geoff Bodine did tremendous things in this sport as well as Brett. Todd has been phenomenal this year."

Martin made his last start in owner Jack Roush's No. 6 Scott Ford and nearly stripped the owner's championship away from Germain Racing. The latter team prevailed in the owner standings by just 30 points.

And the team did it with four different drivers - Martin, David Ragan, Auggie Vidovich and Peter Shepherd.

It almost didn't happen.

"I remember back in January testing (and) I had no plans at all of running Daytona and we made the deal that if (Scotts) would sponsor us I'd run Daytona," Martin said. "We got the pole and won the race so that was a pretty good way to start it off."

Martin finished 19th in the driver standings - best by a current NASCAR NEXTEL Cup driver - and did it with just 14 starts. His final log lists six wins, 11 top fives and 12 top 10s.

Roush observed, "To win (the team's) first race with the F-150, to win the last race with the F-150 and to win six races with the No. 6 truck, there's some kind of karma there. I'm not sure what it means but it's pretty special."
 
As for Martin's Roush career coming to an end after 19 years, he added, "It's been a great run. I'm not going to get a tear tonight but certainly I can tear up. It's been real special and it's been sad."

Martin is the first driver to lead the series in wins and fail to finish among the top 10 in the championship standings. He also led in both laps and miles led categories. Martin led 661 laps to Skinner's 597 and 885.792 miles led to Skinner's 885.448.

Bodine, conversely, ranked sixth in laps led and fourth in miles led.

For Mike Skinner it was a season of chicken or feathers. On Friday, he posted his eighth Budweiser Pole of the year and led his 14th race.

From there, however, it was all downhill as he wrecked his Toyota Tundra Toyota on the frontstretch on lap 14 while battling David Reutimann for the lead. Skinner suffered his fifth DNF of the season - the most of any driver finishing among the final top 10.

Roush Racing may have struck gold with 21-year-old Erik Darnell, who scored a runaway victory in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year competition. Darnell opened the year with a top-10 finish at Daytona and closed out the season with five consecutive top 10s including Friday's third-place run.

Darnell, grandson of Midwest racing legend Bay Darnell, rolled over Raybestos runnerup Chad McCumbee by a 254 to 188 tally. His best finish was second at Memphis Motorsports Park; he ranked 12th in overall championship standings.

Like two former Roush series top rookies Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards, Darnell will get another year of seasoning in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He'll be paired with 2003 champion Travis Kvapil, who gave rival Toyota its first series victory in 2004.

Darnell will stay with the No. 99 Northern Tool + Equipment team headed by John Quinn while Kvapil slides into the seat of the No. 6 prepped by crew chief Mike Beam.

Roush driver Danny O'Quinn also won NASCAR Busch Series Raybestos rookie honors.

Dodge failed to win in the series for the first time since 1996 but scored a pair of top-five finishes at Homestead - something that hasn't happened since the Las Vegas race in September 2005. The truck maker scored second place manufacturer points for only the second time in 2006 and wound up a distant fourth in manufacturer standings, 85 points behind champion Toyota.

The irony is that runnerup finisher Brendan Gaughan may move to another manufacturer next season and fourth-place Bobby Hamilton Jr. returns to the NASCAR Busch Series. Bobby Hamilton Racing is expected to announce the latter driver's replacement in early December with odds favoring a current veteran in the series.

It remains unclear when 2004 champion Bobby Hamilton will return to the driver's seat as he continues his recovery from head and neck cancer that removed him from the No. 18 Fastenal Dodge in late March. The elder Hamilton had hoped to return to competition at Homestead.

Where Terry Cook and his sponsor Ford Power Stroke Diesel by International wind up isn't settled. His current owner, Greg Pollex, is shuttering his ppc truck operation after three seasons.

"There's a lot of uncertainty and Monday morning's coming and I basically don't have a job," said Cook. "We'll be looking and hopefully I find something soon."

Cook holds the continuing record for consecutive series starts at 222 dating to the beginning of the 1998 season. His crew chief, Dennis Connor, leads the circuit with 26 victories.

Two streaks ended Friday with the conclusion of the 2006 season. Dennis Setzer failed to add to his record of victories in eight consecutive seasons and defending champion Ted Musgrave, who suffered early engine failure, fell to sixth in the final points to end a five-year run in which he'd never placed worse than third in the standings.

Setzer had been tied with Jack Sprague for most seasons with a victory. Sprague, with wins at Memphis and Martinsville, stands alone at nine.

Joe Nemechek had the look of a winner in the early going as he led twice aboard Morgan-Dollar's No. 46 Chevrolet - the same truck Clint Bowyer took to Victory Lane two weeks earlier in Texas.

A lot of competitors were rooting for the former NASCAR Busch Series champion, whose brother, John, succumbed to injuries incurred in a Turn 1 accident during the 1997 running of the race.

Homestead was blessed with warm - and dry - weather unlike 2005 when rain washed the Ford 200 over to a Saturday morning start. A crowd estimated at 35,000 was on hand for the championship-deciding event.