San Bernadino County 200 News and Notes

Craftsman Truck Series News And Notes - California
NASCAR Media

Daytona Drought Finally Over For Todd Bodine

It required 34 tries - over 17 years as a driver and three as a crew member - for Todd Bodine (No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota) to win a race at Daytona International Speedway.

Bodine held off the final lap charges of Kyle Busch (No. 51 NOS Energy Drink Toyota) and Johnny Benson (No. 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota) to win the Feb. 15 Chevy Silverado 250 and join elder brother Geoffrey as a winner at the World Center of Racing.

Geoffrey Bodine won the 1986 Daytona 500.

"Finally to get to Victory Lane, it was incredible," said Bodine, who joins Mark Martin as the only NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers with victories at the sport's two fastest tracks - Daytona and Talladega Superspeedway.

Bodine, the 2006 series champion, has won 13 times since October 2004, the most by any competitor over the five-season span. The victory was the 13th for crew chief Mike Hillman Jr., whose five-year winning streak matches Danny Gill as second-longest in series history. Only Dennis Connor has a longer streak - six years between 1996 and 2001.

Hornaday, Skinner Start The Season In Deep Hole

Last year's down-to-the-wire championship battle between Ron Hornaday Jr. (No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet) and Mike Skinner (No. 5 Toyota Tundra Toyota) took a bit of a detour in Daytona.

Both drivers failed to finish among the top 20, Hornaday's truck felled by mechanical trouble and Skinner the victim of a lap 18 backstretch melee.

The two will have to stage comebacks of dramatic proportions if they intend to reprise their epic 2007 struggle.

Hornaday trails Bodine by 102 points while Skinner is 114 back.

History shows it can be done. Mike Bliss (No. 07 ASI Limited Chevrolet) left Daytona facing a 121-point deficit in 2002 and won the championship.

Hornaday is facing another issue, the elusive back-to-back championship. While he and Kevin Harvick Inc. teammate Jack Sprague (No. 2 RVs.com Chevrolet) have won three titles apiece, neither they nor any other competitors have been able to fashion back-to-back championships.

Hornaday is in familiar territory. Only once has a champion gone to the second race of the season with a greater deficit. That would be Hornaday, 107 back in 1997. He wound up fifth.

Doing The Double `Out West'

California Speedway hosts an historic NASCAR national series doubleheader Saturday when, for the first time, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series races are scheduled for the same day.

The NCTS event is the first of two races to be aired by FOX on broadcast television in 2008. The schedule:
NCTS San Bernardino County 2:00-3 p.m. ET FOX
NSS Stater Bros. 3:00-7:30 p.m. ET ESPN2

Kyle Busch and Mike Bliss are slated to compete in both races. Bliss won the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series' inaugural race at the track in 1997.

Ted Musgrave, `The Man' At California Speedway, Eyes Record-Matching Performance

Nobody's been any better at California Speedway than Ted Musgrave (No. 59 Team ASE/Harris Trucking Toyota).

Musgrave won the first three NASCAR Craftsman Truck races he ran at the 2.0-mile speedway from 2001 to 2003 and narrowly missed a victory the following year, finishing second to Jack Sprague.

Musgrave is perfect in one respect: He's seven-for-seven in top-five finishes in Fontana.

Last year's fifth-place performance - pretty decent by most standards - is the 51-year-old's "worst" finish.
"Winning at California isn't always about having a good truck," said Musgrave, who comes to the track with his third different team. "There is a lot of strategy with pitting and fuel mileage and a good amount of luck is involved.

"Hopefully heading into Saturday's race we will have a little on our side again."

Musgrave had no "luck" at Daytona where he was part of an 11-truck accident and finished 28th. Thus, the trip to Southern California couldn't come at a better time.

Musgrave is driving for H-T Motorsports, a team still seeking its first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory. The Jim Harris-owned team, based in Virginia, collected back-to-back second-place finishes at Bristol and Richmond in 2003.

Then driver Robert Pressley was third in that year's three-wide Daytona finish with Rick Crawford (No. 14 Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford) and Travis Kvapil.

"I believe this team is now in a position with its personnel and equipment to win," said crew chief Danny Rollins, who headed Bobby Hamilton's drive to the 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck championship. "Of course with the addition of a driver the caliber of Ted Musgrave, that enhances our chances as well."

A victory would be a first for the team. It also would allow Musgrave to match a series record for victories at a single track.

The record is held jointly by Brendan Gaughan (No. 10 International MAXX Force Diesel Ford) and Todd Bodine. Both scored four victories at Texas Motor Speedway.

"We're looking for win No. 4 this time," said Musgrave. "We have a great truck that the guys have been working really hard on to get ready. We want to get out there and have a good performance and be in the position to challenge for the win at the end."

This Week's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Leaders
(Through one races of the 25-race season)

* Points leader - Todd Bodine (195)
* Driver Rating - Todd Bodine (130.2)
* Winnings - Todd Bodine ($96,850)
* Laps led - Todd Bodine (49)
* Victories - Todd Bodine (1)
* Keystone Light Poles - Erik Darnell (1)
* Top-five finishes - Five drivers with one
* Top-10 finishes - Ten drivers with one
* Raybestos Rookie Leader - Justin Marks (2 points over Brian Scott)
* Races led - Mike Skinner (18)
* Weeks in Top 10 - Nine drivers tied with 19

Toyota Sweeps Daytona

Todd Bodine wasn't the only Toyota driver celebrating at Daytona. In fact, the 2006-07 manufacturers' champion put a Tundra truck in the four top finishing positions.

That's the best Toyota has finished at Daytona since joining the series in 2004. A Toyota also won the Chevy Silverado 250 last year.

With the victory, Toyota takes a three-point lead in the 2008 Manufacturers' Championship. Ford is second followed by Dodge and Chevrolet.

Toyota is the defending winner at California Speedway with two victories in the past four races. Dodge counts four wins and could break a victory drought that extends to the early part of the 2005 season.

2008 Raybestos Rookie Class Off To Fast Start

It's rare when rookies excel at a track like Daytona International Speedway but this year's class of Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidates were solid performers in last week's Chevy Silverado 250.

Two drivers - Justin Marks (No. 9 Construct Corps Toyota) and Brian Scott (No. 15 Shark Energy Drink/Albertsons Chevrolet - finished eighth and 10th.

Five of the six entered freshman candidates finished 13th or higher, completing all 100 laps of the 250-mile race.

Marks is the first week standings leader by two points over Scott.

"My initial excitement came from just finishing the race," said Scott, a 20-year-old native of Boise, Idaho. "We did exactly what we wanted to do and it was great to finish in the top 10.

"It was exhilarating over the final laps. My feelings might be different if we had gotten tangled up in something but we didn't and we got a great finish. I couldn't be happier how things turned out."

Looking forward to this week, there's good news and bad for the freshman class. Kurt Busch won as a rookie in 2000 but a Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate hasn't posted a top-five finish since.

The most recent best finish, sixth, was turned in by David Reutimann in 2004.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
2008 Manufacturers' Championship Point Standings

Toyota 9
Ford 6
Dodge 4
Chevrolet 3

In The Loop:

There were quite a few first-race jitters for some of the regular NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series front-runners. Reigning champion Ron Hornaday Jr., Mike Skinner and Ted Musgrave all failed to finish in the top 20.

This Saturday's race at California Speedway may provide an opportunity to right the leaky ship - all three have solid statistics at the 2-mile track.

In seven starts there, Musgrave has never finished outside the top five. He won three consecutive races there from 2001-03. Since 2005, he has a Driver Rating of 108.0, an Average Running Position of 8.0, 17 Fastest Laps Run and a series-high 277 Laps in the Top 15 (90.5 percent). Musgrave will look to improve on a 28th-place finish at Daytona.

Skinner, who finished 29th at Daytona, usually fares well at the intermediate tracks - he had a perfect Driver Rating of 150.0 at Kentucky Speedway last season. Last season, Skinner won at California and since 2005 has a Driver Rating of 106.4, an Average Running Position of 7.6, 28 Fastest Laps Run and 248 Laps in the Top 15.

Another eye-opening finish was the 25th-place result by 2007 series champion Ron Hornaday Jr. Hornaday looks to rebound with another solid finish at California - he finished second last season and has placed in the top 10 in five of six starts there.

Since 2005, Hornaday has an average Driver Rating of 95.1, an Average Running Position of 13.2 and 203 Laps in the Top 15 (66.3 percent).

300 Just A Number

Roush Fenway Racing made its 300th consecutive start on Feb. 15 at Daytona International Speedway.
The number proved to be just a number - without magic.

Although pole starter Erik Darnell led 45 laps and appeared to have the truck to beat, he was consigned to a DNF along with the team's other two trucks.

It has been six races since the series' most successful team has scored a top-10 finish.

NCTS: Etc.

* California Dreamin' ... Three California drivers have won a total of seven races at four tracks since the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series' inception in 1995. Two are entered in this week's San Bernardino County 200. Mike Skinner is a three-time winner at California Speedway, the old Mesa Marin Raceway and Infineon Raceway. Ron Hornaday Jr.'s three victories came at Mesa Marin and Infineon.
* California Add ... Four of the 1995 schedule's 20 races were held at facilities in the Golden State. The series no longer competes at Infineon Raceway. Mesa Marin and Saugus Speedway no longer exist.
Chicken Or Feathers ... Last season's top 10 elite drivers were either at the top or bottom of the finish of the 2008 opener at Daytona. Four finished among the top 10; four finished outside the top 20. Two - Johnny Benson and Rick Crawford - go to the year's second race occupying the same positions, third and fifth, in which they concluded 2007.
* This Time He's Old Enough ... The last time Kyle Busch showed up for a truck race at California Speedway, in 2001, the then-16-year-old driver was deemed too young to race because of sponsorship restrictions. If he wins, it will mark the second time that siblings have won series races at the same track. Kurt Busch won in 2000. Both Busch brothers have series wins at Dover International Speedway.
* The Daytona-California Two-Step ... Since the two tracks went back-to-back on the schedule in 2005, Mark Martin is the only driver to win both races. Martin did it in 2006 and came close to making it three wins in a row a year ago before a late race restart skirmish took the veteran driver out of contention.

Streaking Crew Chiefs

Seven crew chiefs have won races in four or more consecutive seasons.

&nbs p; No. of
Crew Chief Seasons Years
Dennis Connor 6 1996-2001
Danny Gill 5 2000-2004
Mike Hillman Jr. 5 2004-2008
Barry Dodson 4 1995-1998
Gene Nead 4 2002-2005
Fred Wanke 4 1998-2001
Richie Wauters 4 2004-2007

Quotable:

"Fontana will be the first real `race' of the season in a way; it's the first opportunity we'll have to see how the trucks perform under the new engine rules. I believe that we'll see Daytona-style racing with big packs running together." - Erik Darnell, No. 99 Northern Tool + Equipment Ford, who won the Keystone Light Pole at Daytona.

"We were probably lucky in some respects that we struggled early on as that seemed to keep us clear of the two big wrecks out there tonight." - David Starr, No. 11 Red Horse Racing Toyota, Daytona's fourth-place finisher.

"If you told me we would come out of this race with a top-five finish, I'd be the happiest guy in the world." - Johnny Benson, who convinced crew chief Trip Bruce to repair damage suffered in a final practice accident rather than roll out a backup truck. Benson, unable to qualify, started 35th, finished third and nearly won the Daytona race.

"I'm going to try not to make the same mistake I made there; we need to bring our Zaxby's F-150 home in one piece. The guys are still excited about what we accomplished in Daytona before we wrecked, and we're going to be looking to get regrouped and reorganized for going forward from here." - Joey Clanton, No. 09 Zaxby's Ford, on what he wants to accomplish in his first trip to California Speedway.

FAST FACTS

The Race: San Bernardino County 200
The Place: California Speedway
The Date: Feb. 23, 2008
The Time: 3:00 p.m. (ET)
Race Distance: 200 miles/ 100 laps
TV: FOX, 3:00 p.m. (ET)
Track Layout: 2.0-mile banked paved speedway
Race Purse: $675,476
2007 Winner: Mike Skinner
2007 Pole: Carl Edwards

2008 Point Standings

Rank Driver Points
1 T. Bodine 195
2 Kyle Busch 170
3 Johnny Benson 170
4 David Starr 160
5 R. Crawford 155
6 S. Compton 150
7 C. McCumbee 146
8 J. Marks 142
9 B. Scott 138
10 D. Setzer 134

Schedule:
Thursday - Practice, 12:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m. Final Practice 3:00 p.m.-4 p.m. Friday
Qualifying, 1:40 p.m

ENTRY LIST: San Bernadino County 200 at California Speedway

0 Butch Miller
2 Jack Sprague
4 Stacy Compton
5 Mike Skinner
6 Colin Braun
7 Andy Lally
07 Mike Bliss
08 Jason White
8 Chad McCumbee
09 Travis Kvapil
9 Justin Marks
10 Brendan Gaughan
11 David Starr
13 Shelby Howard
14 Rick Crawford
15 Marc Mitchell
16 Brian Scott
18 Dennis Setzer
20 Scott Lagasse Jr
21 Jon Wood
22 Phillip McGilton
23 Johnny Benson
29 Scott Lynch
30 Todd Bodine
33 Ron Hornaday Jr
40 Chad Chaffin
44 Morgan Shepherd
46 Erin Crocker
47 Brandon Whitt
51 Kyle Busch
59 Ted Musgrave
60 Terry Cook
71 Donny Lia
88 Matt Crafton
99 Erik Darnell

West Coast Showdown Set for Fontana

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series heads to Southern California this weekend for Saturday's San Bernardino County 200 at California Speedway, race No. 2 of 25 on the Truck schedule.

There have been five different winners of this event in the last five years, with Mike Skinner the defending race winner at the Fontana track. Mark Martin, Steve Park, Todd Bodine and Ted Musgrave were the prior four winners.

Bodine, who scored an emotional first victory at Daytona International Speedway last weekend, got some bad news on Wednesday, when NASCAR docked him 25 driver points and team owner Stephen Germain 25 owner points after the Lumber Liquidators No. 30 Toyota Tundra was found to have a device designed to reduce the bed panel height of the truck during pre-qualifying inspection on Feb. 14.

Worse yet for Bodine, his crew chief Mike Hillman Jr. was fined $10,000 and suspended for the next four NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events until April 30 and placed on probation until Dec. 31. Hillman's father will replace the suspended crew chief.

Bodine's penalty drops him from first in points to a third-place tie with David Starr, 10 points behind Kyle Busch and 5 markers back of second-place Johnny Benson. Bodine's points penalty was good news for last season's title protagonists, Skinner and Ron Hornaday Jr., who finished 29th and 25th, respectively at Daytona.

While Hornaday and his Kevin Harvick Inc. teammate Jack Sprague have won three titles apiece, neither they nor any other competitors have ever won back-to-back NCTS championships.

In terms of this weekend's race, California is fast 2.0-mile oval, which places a premium on both horsepower and aerodynamics - exactly the kind of track that both Skinner and Kyle "Rowdy" Busch love. Skinner, of course, is the defending race winner here and Busch became the youngest NASCAR Sprint Cup race winner in history here in 2005, when he won the Labor Day weekend race.

Historically, though, the man to beat at California Speedway has been Musgrave, driver of the No. 59 Team ASE/Harris Trucking Toyota. Musgrave won the first three NASCAR Craftsman Truck races he ran at the 2.0-mile speedway from 2001 to 2003 and narrowly missed a victory the following year, finishing second to Sprague. In seven races at California Speedway, Musgrave's worst finish came last year, when he was fifth. His average finish at the track is an impressive 2.6.

"Winning at California isn't always about having a good truck," said Musgrave. "There is a lot of strategy with pitting and fuel mileage and a good amount of luck is involved. Hopefully heading into Saturday's race we will have a little on our side again."

Musgrave will be attempting to give Virginia-based H-T Motorsports its first NCTS victory. The Jim Harris-owned team scored back-to-back second-place finishes at Bristol and Richmond in 2003 but has never been able to make it into victory lane so far. "I believe this team is now in a position with its personnel and equipment to win," said crew chief Danny Rollins, who led the late Bobby Hamilton's drive to the 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck championship. "Of course with the addition of a driver the caliber of Ted Musgrave, that enhances our chances as well."

Looking to rebound in a big way at California will be Roush Fenway Racing, which saw all three of its Ford F-150s collected in wrecks at Daytona last weekend.

"Fontana will be the first real race of the season in a way," said Erik Darnell, driver of the No. 99 Northern Tool + Equipment Ford, which won the Keystone Light Pole at Daytona and led 45 laps in the race. "It's the first opportunity we'll have to see how the trucks perform under the new engine rules. I believe that we'll see Daytona-style racing with big packs running together."

One change for the Roush Fenway squad: Former series champion Travis Kvapil will replace Joey Clanton in the No. 09 Zaxby's Ford F-150. "We are going to have Travis Kvapil run the Zaxby's Ford F-150 at California this weekend," Jack Roush said. "After that race we will re-evaluate our plans for the rest of the season. We wish Joey Clanton the best of luck in his future endeavors and we look forward to continuing our relationship with Zaxby's throughout the season."

Last but not least, fuel mileage could play a factor on Saturday now that the teams are using the smaller 17.75-gallon fuel cell NASCAR mandated for 2008.

"Last year several times the trucks made only one pit stop or even no pit stops during the races (and) that really took away the importance of pit road for the drivers, teams and the fans," said Stacy Compton, driver of the No. 4 Carl Burgers Dodge. "So, I think by making our fuel cell smaller it will only make our racing even better. Fuel mileage has always been an issue at California because it is a 2-mile oval, but throw in the smaller fuel cell and it becomes a larger issue. It should be pretty interesting on Saturday."

Truckseries.com

Kyle Busch the winner in California

Kyle Busch driving the #51-Billy Ballew Motorsports Toyota was the winner of the San Bernardino County 200 at Auto Club Speedway. Busch led the most laps on the day; this is Busch's seventh win in the Truck Series. Rounding out the top ten were #30-Todd Bodine second, #23-Johnny Benson third, #60-Terry Cook fourth, #33-Ron Hornaday Jr. fifth, #59-Ted Musgrave sixth, #09-Travis Kvapil seventh, #5-Mike Skinner eighth, #6-Colin Braun ninth, #22-Phillip McGilton tenth

Jayski.com

Busch beats Bodine in California.

Fontana, CA (Sports Network) - Avenging his second-place finish in Daytona, Kyle Busch beat Todd Bodine to capture Saturday afternoon's San Bernardino County 200 at the Auto Club Speedway (formerly California Speedway). The No.51 Toyota crossed the finish line 1.415 seconds ahead of Bodine.

The victory was Busch's first of the season and seventh of his Craftsman Truck Series career. Last week in Florida it was Bodine that beat Busch to the checkered flag.

"It was a great race truck," said Busch. "These guys at Billy Ballew Motorsports did an awesome job."

Johnny Benson, Terry Cook and defending series champion Ron Hornaday Jr. completed the top-five. It was Benson's second consecutive third-place finish.

The winning pass came with 24 laps remaining and Busch would never trail Bodine over the rest of the way.

"When we were leading before the last pit stop, we were really good," said Bodine. "We started getting tight and I told Mike (Hillman) and he said 'yea the clouds came over.' Kyle got a lot better."

Hornaday Jr. brought the field to the green flag for 100 laps of high- speed racing. He led the first five laps until the first green flag for a Justin Marks spin.

But the most important news was that Mike Skinner was already talking to his pit crew about his engine not feeling right, seemingly down a cylinder. They raised the hood on the No.5 Toyota, found a plug wire off, and off he went.

Hornaday Jr. took the green flag on lap nine, with Bodine just behind him. Busch, who started the race in the 20th spot, was fourth and Skinner restarted 33rd.

By lap 12 Busch joined Hornaday Jr. and Bodine in the lead group and put some distance between themselves and Rick Crawford in fourth place. But a debris caution flag slowed the race on lap 14.

All the leader pitted and a slow stop left Hornaday Jr. in 13th place. Bodine took fuel only and inherited the lead. By lap 24, Busch's charge was complete and he took the lead for the first time.

By lap 25, Benson, who started from the back after making a post-qualifying fuel pump change, cracked the top-10. And after Skinner's early race problem he was up to 10th after 33 laps.

But Busch was dominating and his lead was up to three seconds on Bodine. The lead was still big when another debris caution slowed the race and sent the leaders down pit road.

It was Busch, Benson, Bodine and Hornaday Jr. the top-four. And a good pit stop from the No.5 crew got Skinner fifth place as they went back to green- flag racing on lap 48.

Bodine was following Busch when the No.51 got loose, gave up the bottom of the track, and Bodine took advantage by ducking underneath for the pass.

Bodine's lead was 0.789 seconds with 32 laps to go. But the young Toyota driver pulled back to Bodine's rear bumper and then on the next lap passed the 2006 series champion with 24 laps remaining in the race.

There would be one more pit stop to make adjustments and charge for the win.

Both men came in on lap 19, both took four tires and Busch beat the No.30 off pit lane. Meanwhile, Hornaday Jr.'s crew had some problems and he fell way back.

Benson was still out on the track until lap 17 when he made the big left-hand turn. He took right-side tires only and returned to the track just behind Busch and Bodine. When everyone had cycled through, they were one-two-three.

Busch stretched the lead to almost two seconds with 10 laps to go. Two laps later in was more than three seconds and he wasn't letting up. He was the fastest truck on the track.

"When I slowed down I got looser, so I had to keep going," said Busch. "I almost wrecked a couple times, that's just how loose you have to drive these things."

Busch finally began to relax with five laps remaining, allowing Bodine to cut the deficit to two and-a-half seconds, but without a caution flag, Busch was not going to be caught.

Busch cruised to the checkered flag and the truck championship lead. He led 51 of 100 laps.

The next race is scheduled for Friday, March 7th at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.