In the 36-truck field in Wednesday night's O'Reilly 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway, there was one NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competitor that was consistently able to match pace with eventual race winner Kyle Busch. That driver was Todd Bodine in the Lumber Liquidators Tundra. He earned his best-ever Truck Series start at Bristol, rolling off the line fourth and he finished second.
"The no. 30 Toyota Tundra was awesome. The Lumber Liquidators crew did a great job. We've struggled the last month-and-a-half, running really well and getting caught up in wrecks, and just dumb things happening. Last week, we got third in Nashville and we got second tonight. So, hopefully we got this Germain race team and the luck going in the right direction again," said Bodine, who tied his career best NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series finish at Bristol.
Fans and media noticed that Bodine's signature "The Onion" wasn't above the doors of his Lumber Liquidators Tundra on Wednesday. He replaced his trademark with "Beautiful," in tribute to his friend, Steve Helwig, who recently passed away.
"I always want to put the Lumber Liquidators Tundra in victory lane, but I really wanted to win this race for 'Big Guy' (Steve Helwig). If you met 'Big Guy' he was your best friend. That's just the kind of person he was. We've got a big hole in our hearts right now. I wanted to win this for him," said Bodine. "I got 'Beautiful' up here on the truck -- that's 'Big Guy's' saying -- that's what he's known for. We tried to get a beautiful win for him but just didn't get it."
According to team General Manager Mike Hillman Sr., the team may run "Beautiful" above the door of the no. 30 Lumber Liquidators Tundra for the remainder of the season.
In chasing Kyle Busch throughout the 201 laps of Wednesday's Bristol racing action, there were many times when it appeared that Bodine had the power to get past Busch. Bodine said it probably wasn't to be.
"I could get to Kyle, but his truck would roll in the center and that's where he would beat me. We fought that problem in practice. Unfortunately, it was still there in the race. I could run with Kyle everywhere except through the middle. At Bristol, that's what you have to do -- you have to roll through the middle good," said Bodine.
Bodine has finished runner-up to a Cup Series racer at Bristol before. He followed Mark Martin across the line in 2006 and Bodine went on to capture the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship that year. Wednesday's Bristol race was a good gain in points for Bodine, but there's still work to be done to make up ground on fellow Tundra racer and points leader, Johnny Benson.
Leaving Bristol, Bodine has moved up to 4th in points, 239 behind the leader. Next up is Gateway International Raceway - a track where Bodine has a good track record, including a victory in 2006.
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