Todd Bodine and Ted Musgrave have plans to add their names to a growing list. Credit: Autostock

Bodine, Musgrave want to add names to NHIS list

There have been 10 different winners in the 10 Craftsman Truck Series races held at New Hampshire International Speedway.

Germain Racing teammates Todd Bodine and Ted Musgrave would like to make that 11 in Saturday's New Hampshire 200 (2 p.m. ET, SPEED).

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For Bodine, a victory at Loudon would allow him to put some breathing room between himself and the rest of the championship challengers. For Musgrave, a win allows him to cut into the 244-point deficit he faces as he attempts to defend his series title.

Even though neither has visited Victory Lane at NHIS, they both know the fast way around the flat 1-mile oval. And the No. 1 concern is not making mistakes.

"Loudon's a little of everything and it's a lot unforgiving," Bodine said. "There's no room for the driver to make an error of any kind."

No. 2? Track position is always critical, because passing anyone is a difficult proposition.

"Strategy plays a lot a Loudon because if you get up to the front you can pretty much stay up front," Musgrave said. "Now that the racetrack is aging a bit since they've redesigned it, it'll allow guys to make more passes."

Bodine's two trips to Loudon in a truck haven't been very impressive -- 34th and 22nd -- but that's not indicative of his ability to run up front there. He has seven top-10 finishes at New Hampshire in the Busch Series, including a runner-up performance in 2002.

"I've always loved New Hampshire International Speedway," Bodine said. "I ran the very first NASCAR sanctioned race up there. I've always enjoyed the track."

Musgrave's been close to winning -- a third, fourth, fifth and seventh in five trips to New Hampshire -- but he hasn't found the key to closing the deal.

"I'd like to be added to the list of drivers that have yet to repeat a Truck Series win there since I'm still looking for a win at New Hampshire myself," Musgrave said.

Terry Cook, Rick Crawford, Ron Hornaday, Dennis Setzer and Jack Sprague have a chance to record a second victory at New Hampshire. Three of those -- Hornaday, Setzer and eventual winner Crawford -- led a large chunk of last year's race, and expect to run up front again Saturday.

Johnny Benson, now second in the standings, 154 points behind Bodine, has had mixed success in his two truck races at Loudon. He was third in 2004 but 32nd last year.