Todd Bodine won his second-straight race -- and third of the 2010 season -- in Saturday night's NASCAR Camping
World Truck Series event at Darlington Raceway.
Bodine, who won last week at Nashville and at Texas Motor Speedway in June, led once for the final 47 (of 147) laps at
the 1.366-mile South Carolina oval en route to victory lane.
It was Bodine's 20th career victory in a Toyota, and the 73rd for the manufacturer since 2004.
Tundra drivers Timothy Peters (second) and Aric Almirola (ninth) also recorded top-10 finishes, while David Starr
(12th), Justin Lofton (20th), Brian Ickler (21st) and Mike Skinner (22nd) were also in the field.
TODD BODINE, No. 30 Germain.com Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
How does it feel to win at Darlington?
"It's awesome. The history behind Darlington and the great drivers that have raced here. I walked the garage area and got
the Darlington stripes. The list of drivers of incredible and to be part of that and to be able to be in victory lane -- I was
fortunate to get one in Nationwide -- and now we got one in trucks. It's incredible. It's a great feeling to be able to win at
Darlington, for sure."
Is this championship fight over?
"Absolutely not. There's just too many variables in racing. Too many things that you can't control that can take you out of
it. We concentrate on controlling our own fate of what happens within our grasp. You can't control everybody else's truck
and where you are on the track if you get caught up in somebody else's mess. It's never over. We're not going to approach
it that way. I say this every week, there's just too many good race teams. Fortunately for us, every week somebody is
having a problem. That's kept helping us build this points lead. Somewhere along the line it could be our week to have the
problem. We can't look back. We gotta keep doing the things we know how to do and control the things within in our
control and try to control our destiny."
How much of an advantage is experience at Darlington?
"Experience here is a huge advantage, but with that said, look at Justin Lofton. He was having a great run. I gotta stop
helping him. I told him the trick to get around here and he learned too good. Unfortunately he got caught up in a wreck. I
think these kids, and Timothy (Peters) is a great example. He did a lot of testing here but he's never raced here. To come
out here and be able to do what he did tells you what kind of driver he is. Experience of knowing the little things that make
you go fast and the little things that make you go slow, that means a lot. Timmy (Peters) had a good truck that allowed him
to go fast. Experience is definitely a big part of running well at Darlington."
What is the difference between last year and this year for your team?
"There's a lot of luck involved. Last year we did get caught up in a lot of stuff that wasn't our doing. I did make some
mistakes that I normally wouldn't make and it got us behind. When you get that far behind, you kind of start scratching and
clawing and trying to get back those points and start making more mistakes. I think it's kind of the mentality that these
guys are getting trying to keep up with us and keep getting into problems. Our performance wasn't as good as it is right
now. Junior (Mike Hillman Jr., crew chief) really has the trucks driving good. When they drive that good, it allows you to
go faster, easier. That's why we've run so good. It's just a combination of things."
MIKE HILLMAN JR., crew chief, No. 30 Germain.com Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing
Do you think this win carries your momentum?
"We talk about momentum all the time. Our guys don't need momentum. If we finish first or last, they'll be at home in the
morning just as hard as every week. That's why we can preserve and it's paying off for these guys. They can work day in,
day out, night and day and never ask, 'Hey, can we have tomorrow off? What's next? What do we need to do to get to the
point of winning races and being ready to go to the race track?' These guys work so hard and I'm just proud to be part of
the team. I'm just the guy that gets called the crew chief."
Finishing Position: 2nd
Did the tire test help your second-place finish tonight?
"Definitely running the tire test here in March helped me as a driver get up to speed when we came back when it counted. We ran a
different truck when we tire tested, but we brought a different one back -- which is my favorite truck -- so it gave me more
confidence going into it. With that said, I already knew what the track would do. Obviously, it was probably 20 degrees cooler, but
it did the same characteristics as it did today in practice. I'm very fortunate we were able to sit on the pole. I wish we could've
capped it off. We got a little behind. We took scuffs on the first stop and just got way too loose. Finally made our last adjustment,
we took stickers, but we were back in the dirty air and kind of had to use it up a little early to get back to the clean air up to the
front. By that time, I created a push in my truck. All in all, it was a good night for our Apex Tool Group Family Toyota Tundra."
Did the slower traffic impede your progress at the end?
"I had a good run on Todd (Bodine) and the 57 (Norm Benning) was right in the middle of the racing groove and I had to let off it.
With these things already 'draggy' as it is and with the plates, once you roll of the gas it just kills your momentum. I learned all
night that as long as we kept it off (turn) two down the hill, I could get a really good run down the backstretch. I wished it could be
policed just a little bit better. Nashville was bad, but here is here."
Can you talk about your recent success after struggling earlier in the season?
"When we went to Kansas, we had a strong run there and our alternator went out. Then we went to Dover and I just flat screwed up
and took us out of the race. We got back on track and then we go to Iowa. We didn't have a good truck, but after the outcome that
happened, the guys that we needed to have trouble in front of me in the points, had trouble. We were already sitting behind the wall
because of a blown engine. The Truck Series is just so competitive and everybody is pretty close to equal, you just have to do your
homework a little bit more to try to catch these guys. We've been working hard. We've been testing. Tom DeLoach (team owner)
is a great man that gives us all the resources we need. Toyota has been helping us. Jeff Hensley (crew chief), can't say enough
about him. There hasn't been a time where we've been to the race track and unloaded slow. We've unloaded really good. We've
just had some mistakes. It builds character. Hopefully we'll be back on that momentum streak again."
ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 51 Zyclara/Graceway Pharmaceuticals Toyota Tundra, Billy Ballew Motorsports
Finishing Position: 9th
DAVID STARR, No. 81 Zachry Toyota Tundra, Randy Moss Motorsports
Finishing Position: 12th
JUSTIN LOFTON, No. 7 VisitPit.com Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing
Finishing Position: 20th
BRIAN ICKLER, No. 18 Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 21st
What happened to take you out of the race?
"I got into the wall, there, racing Hornaday. It flat-sided the right side of the truck and we ended up having a fender rub and that
ended up cutting a tire heading into (turn) one and just killed it. It was definitely my fault and not how we wanted to run at
Darlington. We had a pretty good night going. We're going to pay the price in points for that one."
MIKE SKINNER, No. 5 International Trucks Toyota Tundra, Randy Moss Motorsports
Finishing Position: 22nd
What happened to take you out of the race?
"I think somebody wrecked the 7 truck (Justin Lofton) and the 7 truck came across us and got us. He was already wrecked and we
had nowhere to go. Hate it for our International Trucks/Monaco RV Tundra. Struggled a little bit but kept on working on it.
Looked like we maybe would (get) a top-five finish out of this thing, but I guess it wasn't meant to be for us tonight. Somebody
caused a wreck and we got collected up in it."
