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Bodine Takes Truck Opener

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By MARK LONG, The Associated Press

Published: February 16, 2008

DAYTONA BEACH - It took Todd Bodine 17 years to get his first victory at Daytona International Speedway.

Bodine held off a late push from Kyle Busch and Johnny Benson to win the season-opening truck race at Daytona on Friday night.

Bodine needed 34 tries at NASCAR's most famous track to get to Victory Lane, winning the Chevy Silverado 250.

The 2006 Craftsman Truck Series champion passed Erik Darnell coming off pit road with about 13 laps to go, then stayed out front the rest of the way.

Busch was second, followed by Benson, David Starr and Rick Crawford - giving Toyota the top four spots.

Busch waited patiently to make a move on Bodine and drove high with a few hundred feet to go. Bodine blocked him up the track, which allowed Benson to get a run on the inside. It wasn't enough, though.

Bodine edged both by a bumper.

It set off a wild celebration for Bodine, whose brother, Geoff, won the 1986 Daytona 500.

"I tell you this is my 20th year coming to this speedway, three years as a crew member, 17 as a driver," Bodine said. "I've finished second and third, crashed hard, burned up. Seventeen years of getting here, and we're here."

Darnell looked like he would be the guy to beat in the second half of the caution-filled race.

But Darnell lost the lead coming off pit road - Bodine simply drove by him - then lost any chance he had of winning a few seconds later.

Believing he had a loose wheel, Darnell slowed down coming off Turn 4 to head back to pit road and got hit from behind by Justin Marks.

The final accident of the night certainly made it easier for Bodine.

There were several early wrecks, hardly uncommon for a truck race at Daytona.

The biggest and most dramatic of the bunch came on Lap 20, when Busch, Mike Skinner and Brendan Gaughan started a nine-truck crash that ended with P.J. Jones jumping out of his enflamed Ford.

Gaughan nudged Skinner on the backstretch, turning Skinner into Busch, who was diving from the top to the bottom of the track.

Andy Lally, Jon Wood, Chad Chaffin and Matt Crafton also got caught up in the mess. Several drivers blamed Busch.

"Kyle will just say, 'I'll race tomorrow,'" Gaughan said. "He doesn't care about this. It's just fun time."

Afterward, Busch said he apologized "if I was to blame for that."

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