NASCAR Camping World Trucks Series
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TRUCKS: Bodine To Make History Times Three At Chicagoland
On Saturday, Todd Bodine will earn the distinction as the only driver with at least 200 starts in each of NASCAR’s three national series...
Megan Englehart  |  Posted July 19, 2012   Charlotte, NC
Todd Bodine is a two-time Truck Series champion. (Photo: Getty Images)
BODINE MAKES HISTORY TIMES THREE IN SATURDAY’S NCWTS RACE AT CHICAGOLAND

YOUNGEST MEMBER OF FAMED RACING FAMILY GUNNING FOR SECOND WIN OF 2012 LIVE ON SPEED

What exactly is in a number?

While success in NASCAR relies heavily on numbers and stats, for two-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Todd Bodine, the true significance of a number is found when multiplied by three.

The No. 11 Red Horse Racing driver makes history in Saturday’s Truck Series race at Chicagoland Speedway (live at 8 p.m. ET on SPEED; NCWTS Setup with Krista Voda live at 7:30 p.m. ET) because not only does he mark his 200th Truck Series start, he earns the distinction as the only driver with at least 200 starts in each of NASCAR’s three national series.

Get your calculators out because that’s 200 Truck Series starts, 241 NASCAR Sprint Cup and 325 NASCAR Nationwide Series starts for a grand total of 766, placing Bodine 20th all-time in combined NASCAR national series starts.

“You get into this sport because you love it, want to go in circles, win races and have fun, and here we are 21 years later with all these starts, and a lot of wins, good times and great friends,” Bodine said. “It seems just like yesterday I was running my first race at Stafford Springs.”

Although he fell shy of winning with a fourth-place finish in his Truck Series debut for Jack Roush at Topeka in 1995, Bodine has a bull’s eye on Victory Lane in his 200th start. The stats are in his favor too, as he owns a pair of runner-up finishes in three Truck Series starts at Chicagoland, in addition to one pole each in the Truck, Nationwide and Cup Series. Bodine, who has one win in 2012, says a win this weekend would carry a little more weight than most victories.

“While you try to win them all, it would be pretty special to win the 200th,” Bodine explained. “To have that kind of longevity in the sport and still be able to get it done, especially in a significant moment like that, definitely would make it a lot more special.”

While winning on Saturday is high on his list, Bodine, who owns 22 Truck victories, points to a moment that helped define the entire Bodine racing family as the highlight of his career.

“Winning the first (Truck) championship was pretty special for me and more special for my family being that at the time, it was the only championship we had,” recalled the youngest of NASCAR’s three Bodine brothers. “Then to come back and get another one (championship) really was validation that we didn’t luck into our first one but were good enough to do it again.”

“His championship meant the world to the Bodine family and all the fans who watched Geoff and Brett try so desperately to get one,” SPEED reporter Ray Dunlap said. “Beyond that, everyone loves working with Todd not only because of his great personality but also because of his grasp of racing and his commitment to it. He’s a joy to work with and there are some drivers you wouldn’t say that about.”

Bodine’s truck owner, Tom DeLoach, has been thoroughly pleased with his new hire for the No. 11 Red Horse Racing Toyota.

“Todd’s background lifts the bar,” DeLoach said. “He has a different insight. The organization says, ‘We’ve got to perform a little better because this guy knows what he’s looking for.’ We’ve got a senior driver who knows what the feel ought to be, and frankly, I think it has helped Timothy (Peters, teammate and series points leader) … Instead of Timothy comparing himself against a rookie in the organization, now he gets to compare himself against a two-time champion. “

When asked if there is something he has yet to accomplish that would complete his career, Bodine readily mentions the void in his Cup Series points race win column.

“I won two Winston Opens, but to not have that points-race win is pretty disappointing,” he stated. “I came close two times. We had a lot of great runs but never got it done. That’s the one thing that’s lacking.”

Perhaps a more realistic goal for the 48-year-old driver at this stage in his 26-year NASCAR career would be matching or surpassing Rick Crawford’s record of 334 all-time Truck starts. Does Bodine have another 134 starts in him?

“I’d like to have that,” the New York native said of Crawford’s numbers. “I feel like I’ve got another 10 years left … Three-hundred and thirty-four is doable.”

And when those hypothetical 10 years or so have come and gone and Bodine finally hangs up his helmet, he hopes his biggest legacy has nothing to do with a race car or truck.

“The one thing our parents instilled in us, and to me is very important, is that I was a good guy, a good person, honest, treated everybody fairly and would help anybody with anything I could help them with,” Bodine expressed.

Spoken like a true champ, both on and off the race track …
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