Todd Bodine earned his second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCTS) victory of 2008 Saturday afternoon at Alabama's Talladega Superspeedway and third consecutive win on a superspeedway (Talladega - 2007, Daytona - 2008). This is the 11th win for the Toyota Tundra this season. Kyle Busch (third), Mike Wallace (fifth), Brian Scott (seventh) and Mike Skinner (ninth) also earned top-10 finishes in Talladega. Other Tundras in the field included Johnny Benson (11th), John Andretti (14th), Scott Speed (15th), David Starr (19th), Terry Cook (23rd) and Joey Logano (26th). Toyota drivers led 28 of 94 laps with Busch (14 laps), Bodine (10 laps), Andr etti (three laps) and Scott (one lap) each taking turns in front of the field. Benson fell to the second position in the unofficial NCTS points lead after Talladega. He is now 39 points behind leader, Ron Hornaday, Jr. with five races remaining to determine the championship.
TODD BODINE, No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing
Finished: 1st
What were you thinking on that final lap? "I didn't know what to think. Coming down the back straight-away I'm thinking that I would just finish second here and push Kyle (Busch) down there and try to get him the win, get a good finish and get a good points race. We come off of four and I hit him and got him sideways and I had to go to the outside. Then I had a buddy behind me, Ron Hornaday, we've been friends here and even the feud at Charlotte -- we got over it and we drink beer together, we park our coaches together and play corn hole. I knew he was back there and he came back there and pushed me and here we are -- I can't believe it."
What does it mean to win three superspeedway races in a row? "It's these guys right here -- they work their tails off on this truck. They built it and then they rebuilt it for here and these are the guys that make it run good. Everyone at Germain Racing, in the fab (fabrication) shop, everyone at TRD (Toyota Racing Development) and the motor shop. The Fords had us covered in horsepower, but a good handling truck and a good body in this Tundra. We kept with them and I have to thank all the fans that are here. We had a great crowd today and I hope it was good TV."
Did you think you could win the race on the final lap? "I just wanted to push Kyle (Busch) and try not to let Colin (Braun) get up there for the win and get that Toyota in victory lane. We were pushing really good and I could push Kyle (Busch) really well. We came off of turn four and I tried to give him another shot to get him going again and he got a little sideways so I jumped to the outside. Ron (Hornaday) was out there and he pushed me right on by for the win. It was incredible and it's great to have friends like Ron (Hornaday) that you know you can count on when you need some help and this Tundra is sitting here in victory lane."
Why were so few drivers using the high groove? "Believe it or not the speeds are so slow right now that the shortest way around is the fastest way. It's probably another 30 or 40 feet around the race track to be in the second groove and that's why you just cannot make it work. It's just too slow to do it. If you watch down the straight-aways everybody was equal, but you get to the corners and the outside groove would back up just because it's further around."
Do you consider yourself a 'master' of superspeedway races? "I don't think anybody masters these speedway races. It's about being in the right place at the right time and getting lucky breaks like I did down there. I didn't mean to hit Kyle (Busch) sideways, I tried to actually push him to make sure he would win. I got the break and got to the outside. I think there was only one master to these tracks and that was Dale (Earnhardt) Sr. and the rest of us are still learning from him."
KYLE BUSCH, No. 51 Miccosukee Resorts Toyota Tundra, Billy Ballew Motorsports
Finished: 3rd
Can you talk about the final lap? "No, really can't. It's always what Talladega brings about. I wouldn't have been in this position if it wasn't for Todd (Bodine) anyway. I have to thank him for pushing us there in the beginning and getting us up to that point and being able to get us there to finish third."
Were you worried about Colin Braun being a rookie on the outside in the final laps? "He had a fast truck -- those Fords were really fast. The 99 (Erik Darnell) had the fastest truck and the 6 (Colin Braun) was second best. The 21 (Jon Wood) was good and the 9 (Mike Wallace) was good. We all just kept shoving out the 99 (Erik Darnell) as many times as we could because he's got the front end cheated up on that thing and we all see it so we don't want to help him. The 6 (Colin Braun) is sort of the same way. I guess the 9 (Mike Wallace) didn't feel too bad about pushing him up towards the front. I don't know how it all unfolded there, but (Todd) Bodine and my truck, when Todd (Bodine) was underneath the back of me and he was bump drafting me, my rear tires were off the ground. I was just barely trying to make any movements to try to keep the thing straight and not spin out. Luckily we were able to do that and he had enough confidence in my abilities and I had enough confidence in his that we could get out in front of that 6 (Colin Braun) because any time that he was going to break the plane of the front of mine and pull down it was going to be over for all of us. The 6 (Colin Braun) would have had the win there."
What is cheated up on the 99 truck that you are referring to? "In the rule book I think it states that you are supposed to keep the integrity of all the carbon nose piece as manufacturer cuts it out or punches it out. Right behind their headlights toward their front tire it's all sheet metal there and that's all supposed to be fiberglass or carbon or whatever they make it out of. They've got it all cut up so we're going to go to work and cut up ours and cheat ours up for Daytona. They did a little bit better job than we did and we commend them for that, but now we have our own work to do."
MIKE WALLACE, No. 9 Construct Corps Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing
Finished: 5th
What happened on the final lap? "Johnny (Benson) gave me just a little bit of an opening down there to get it three-wide. It was a typical plate race with the trucks. It always comes down to push, shove, this, that you know. It was pretty clean and I'm happy with a fifth place finish. Like anybody, we come to win the thing. The Toyota Tundra ran really well and I have to thank Germain and Toyota for supporting this effort here and so far the Wallace family had a ninth last night at the ARCA race and start sixth tomorrow."
How were you able to work your way to a top-five finish? "It started back at the restart and Ron (Hornaday) was in front of me and we talked and we're buddies -- he said he would go wherever and I have to get on him because he dropped his wingman out there on the back straightaway. We were running two- wide there and it was just a little bit of patience for like a micro-second and Johnny (Benson) gave me just enough of an opening to get my right-front in there and I got to his door. No disrespect to him because he is a great racer, but I knew he was points racing so I knew he would be really conservative and then everybody got jammed up. I was watching the replay and I thought it was pretty cool myself. The truck looks like it's pretty straight."
BRIAN SCOTT, No. 16 Albertsons Toyota Tundra, Xpress Motorsports
Finished: 7th
How crazy was today's race for you? "It was a good day all around. Pit stops worked out, everything worked out. We weren't always in the front, but we were always able to get there when we wanted to. We had good help out there and good pushers and we were a good pusher. It was just a lot of fun in our Albertsons Toyota today. It was exactly what you would expect at these superspeedways -- it was a lot like Daytona, just on how stuff happened. Luckily I had a good memory of the things that happened at Daytona and I just tried to capitalize on some experience and tried to get it to the front."
JOHNNY BENSON, No. 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota Tundra, Bill Davis Racing
Finished: 11th
What happened at the end of the race? "I messed up right there at the end. It got so crazy there at the end and I didn't stay tight enough and the 9 (Mike Wallace) started squeezing his way up there. That hurt our shot right there -- maybe not for a chance to win, but for a top-five. We fell back there at the end and went from fifth to 11th. That hurt us a little bit. Other than that it was a good run and we made it through with only having to rebuild half the truck. Sometimes we got banged up there a little bit, but outside that it is what it is. It wasn't a horrible day. I made a mistake there at the end with letting the 9 (Mike Wallace) get underneath me and I didn't know he was there. I knew he was pushing, but I didn't know he was there and he snuck in there and I couldn't do anything about it. A couple of the guys would just turn left and knock you into everybody else. I had that happen to me earlier in the race so I wasn't going to do that and end up upside down."
JOEY LOGANO, No. 59 Team ASE/Harris Trucking Toyota Tundra, HT Motorsports
Finished: 26th
What happened to you at the end of the race? "Well, my No. 59 Team ASE/Raybestos Tundra was pretty good. We had our side window come out early and it took the whole B-post with it. After that happened, we were five laps down and ran alright. We really had nothing to gain, so we just kept coming in to get the truck as good as possible. Then on the last lap, it was just a situation of wrong place, wrong time. The truck got a lot of damage and ended pretty much as junk. This was a very good learning experience for me and I would like to thank all of the folks at HT Motorsports for the opportunity to drive this Toyota."
MIKE SKINNER, No. 5 Toyota Tundra, Bill Davis Racing
Finished: 9th
JOHN ANDRETTI, No. 15 Ergon Toyota Tundra, Billy Ballew Motorsports
Finished: 14th
SCOTT SPEED, No. 22 Red Bull Toyota Tundra, Bill Davis Racing
Finished: 15th
DAVID STARR, No. 11 K&N Filters Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing
Finished: 19th
TERRY COOK, No. 60 Wyler.com Toyota Tundra, Wyler Racing
Finished: 23rd