Todd Bodine celebrates his first win of the season. Credit: Nate Mecha/HSP

Bodine gets Toyota's first truck win of season

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) -- Todd Bodine withstood a series of late restarts, then pulled away from the pack in a three-lap shootout to win Saturday's Craftsman Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway.

It was the first victory of the season and third in the series for Bodine, a former Cup driver who also owns 15 Busch Series wins. It was also the first win for Toyota this year, breaking Chevrolet's five-race streak.

Credit: Nate Mecha/HSP

Results O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 Pos. Driver Make 1. Todd Bodine Toyota 2. Todd Kluever Ford 3. David Reutimann Toyota 4. Mike Skinner Toyota 5. Bill Lester Toyota Complete results, click here Standings, click here Victory LaneBodine celebrates his NCTS win at Kansas Final lapsBodine rolls to the victory at Kansas Top finisherKluever on his second-place finish at Kansas Wild rideSutton slams into Fontaine and lands on her roof Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

"My truck was so strong on restarts that I could run wide open," said Bodine, who led 81 of 170 laps of the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250. "A green-white-checker is basically two laps, and I knew I could run it wide open for two laps."

Rookie Todd Kluever won a back-and-forth battle with David Reutimann in the late laps to take second -- his best finish this year -- in a Ford. Reutimann's Toyota was third, followed in the top 10 by Mike Skinner, pole winner Bill Lester, Jimmy Spencer, Terry Cook, Brendan Gaughan, John Andretti and Rick Crawford.

Dennis Setzer, the points leader, finished 11th. He still widened his lead by 5 points -- to 38 -- over Bobby Hamilton, who finished 12th.

Kelly Sutton's record-breaking day, meanwhile, ended in a scary moment that brought out a red flag late in the race.

With 13 laps to go, Chris Fontaine's truck hit the wall and crossed back into traffic. Sutton's truck hit Fontaine and flipped onto its top, spinning and skidding down the backstretch of the 1.5-mile tri-oval before rolling back onto its wheels on the apron.

Sutton, whose 32 career starts broke the series' record for race appearances by a woman, got out of the truck on her own. Both she and Fontaine were checked and cleared at the infield medical center.

"You just hold on to the steering wheel real tight," Sutton said. "I was watching it slide across, and I saw the wall coming, and I thought, 'Oh, man, don't hit it too hard.' Then it flipped back over."

The final caution came with three laps remaining, when Matt Crafton made contact with Ted Musgrave and hit the wall. Once the green dropped again, Kluever found himself fending off Reutimann's challenge rather than chasing Bodine.

"I think as the day went on I learned more about restarts," he said. "Toward the end they weren't that good, because you had to block and protect what you have."

Jimmy Kite, the only truck racer also running in Sunday's Indy Racing League event, finished 22nd.