2006 Series Champ joins elder brother Geoffrey on Daytona victory role of honour.
Todd Bodine claimed his first career victory at the Daytona International Speedway on Friday night as he won the opening NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race of the year at the 2.5-mile Superspeedway.
By winning Friday's Chevrolet Silverado 250 Todd, the youngest of the three racing Bodine brothers, joins eldest sibling Geoffrey, the 1986 Daytona 500 champ, on the roll of honour at
Daytona.
The first championship race at Speedweeks 2008 was a typically spectacular affair with several major pile-ups and some truly astonishing three, and four wide racing. But through it all Bodine kept the nose of his #30 Germain Racing Toyota clean and was in the perfect position to inherit the lead ahead of the final nine-lap dash to the finish.
Bodine led Cup Series frontrunner Kyle Busch and veteran Johnny Benson to the flag in a Toyota 1-2-3-4 with Truck veterans David Starr and Rick Crawford rounding out the top five.
Several accidents during the course of the 100-lap race eliminated many of the fancied runners including defending champion Ron Hornaday, who drove his patched up truck to a 25th place finish having completed just over half the race distance. Also caught up in the carnage was rookie Colin Braun, former Cup Series regulars Mike Bliss, Brendan Gaughan, Mike Skinner and Ted Musgrave and PJ Jones, who was lucky to escape unhurt after a fiery crash on lap 18.
