Even though just eight of 25 races are down in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season, it's never too early to start padding a points lead, something Todd Bodine is keenly aware of.
Bodine, the 2006 NCWTS champion, might be on course for a second series championship. He has a 65-point lead over Aric Almirola at the moment, a lead Bodine will be looking to pad Saturday at Michigan International Speedway in the VFW 200. The race will be televised live on SPEED, with the TV coverage beginning at 1:30 p.m. ET with the "NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Setup."
Last week, Bodine scored a convincing victory at Texas Motor Speedway in his No. 30 Germain Racing Toyota Tundra, which this weekend at Michigan will carry sponsorship from Germain.com. But what might be more impressive than Bodine's speed is his consistency so far in 2010: He has seven top-five finishes in eight races.
He'll be looking to add to those numbers this weekend at MIS, a fast, 2-mile oval where he has two NASCAR Nationwide Series victories, but no finish better than fourth in a truck. He's hoping to change his fortune here this weekend.
"Racing a truck at Michigan is a lot like running a speedway," said Bodine. "The draft is huge. You really have to pay attention to it and understand it. At the same time, handling is critical because the corners are so long, the race track's worn out and the grip isn't good, so the handling of the truck has to be perfect."
"Perfect" might be a good word to describe Bodine's season to date. If you throw out his DNF at Martinsville Speedway, Bodine's record this year truly is impressive: One victory, two runner-up finishes and an average finish of 3.43. He'll be looking to get it going again this weekend at MIS.
"It takes every aspect to be perfect in order to be fast at Michigan. The way this Germain.com Tundra team is working, I'm looking forward to us having another good race weekend at Michigan," said Bodine.
Bodine raced chassis TRD-122 at Michigan last year. This year, the team is bringing chassis TRD-131, which made its Germain Racing debut at Nashville, scoring a fifth-place finish. The truck then was raced at Kansas (third-place), Dover (fifth-place), Charlotte (second-place) and Texas (win).
"We've had several race trucks over the years that have been winners and workhorses in our truck inventory," said crew chief Mike Hillman Jr. "We haven't had a clear-cut favorite chassis in the last couple seasons that's given us the consistent performances that TRD-131 has. This truck has delivered top-five performances each time it's been put on the track and we're confident it's the right truck for Michigan."
