 | | Mark Martin (6) and Todd Bodine (30) ran first and second in each of the first three races of the season. Credit: HSP/Nate Mecha |
By Mark Aumann, NASCAR.COM
December 5, 2006
11:12 AM EST (16:12 GMT)
Martin wins 'Dega debut With the competition crashing behind him in a furious last-lap race to the checkered, Mark Martin held the point and captured the victory in the inaugural Craftsman Truck Series race at Talladega Superspeedway. Martin, who lost a lap early on when his truck was overheating, grabbed the lead for good after Todd Bodine was penalized for passing illegally nine laps from the end. The 94-lap race on the 2.66-mile oval was just as competitive as expected, with plenty of three- and four-wide racing and the outcome in doubt until half a lap from the end when Mike Skinner, just in front of a huge pack of cars, bumped second-place Mike Wallace from behind and ignited a scary multicar crash. "We had a great motor, but I guess we were just lucky, too," Martin said. "Todd was the one who was strong enough to do something and, once he had his bad luck, that was it." Right place, right time for Benson Johnny Benson took advantage of a dustup between race leaders Todd Bodine and Mike Skinner to win a green-white-checkered shootout at Nashville Superspeedway. With Skinner leading on the final restart, Bodine faked to the outside, dropped to the inside, then nudged Skinner up the track. When Skinner returned the favor on the white flag lap, the two tangled into the wall, allowing Benson to seize the lead and get his third win of the season. "Anything goes," Benson said. "When I saw those guys go down the front stretch I said all I needed to do was hit my line and I did." Skinner and Bodine had differing opinions of their tussle. "Todd and I have always been pretty good friends and I guess we still will be but I think he went over the line today," Skinner said. "I wouldn't have wrecked him to win the race but he did so he didn't win either." "I didn't take him out, he came down and I hit him," Bodine countered. "The difference was he did wreck me, or tried to, for the win. He pushed me halfway down the front straightaway."Skinner and I are supposed to go on vacation in a few weeks. That should be interesting." Bodine survives Atlanta traffic jam A spectacular four-wide pass gave Todd Bodine the lead and the momentum to pick up the victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway and earn a meaure of revenge against Mark Martin, who had beaten Bodine in the first two races of the season. Bodine was trailing Martin again with five laps to go, but Martin caught the lapped trucks of Timothy Peters and Boston Reid on lap 126. The leader chose to pass on the low side of the 1.5-mile oval and Bodine made it four-wide, slicing between Peters and Reid.Bodine nearly lost control, sliding sideways and banging off Peters at the top of the banking, while Martin and Reid also bumped on the low side. All of them were able to keep going, though, with Bodine coming out ahead. Moments later, Peters, with a tire going down, crashed, bringing out the fourth caution flag of the race and forcing yet another green-white-checkered finish. The race, scheduled for 130 laps, restarted on lap 134 and Martin shot to the inside, moving alongside Bodine and then nosing inches ahead. But this time, Bodine was up to the challenge. He led at the finish line, then shot ahead as Martin suddenly found himself having to fend off Johnny Benson in a battle for second. Martin won that duel but was not able to mount another charge at Bodine as several trucks crashed in the pack behind them, causing the race to end under yellow. "There was no way I could let Mark Martin get outside of me on that restart," Bodine said. "My truck was so loose when somebody was out there. When he went inside, I said, `Have at it.' That was what we needed. "That's the Craftsman Truck Series at its best." Martin agreed. "We were doing some racing," he said. "The chips were on the table and we were both going for it. It got kind of tense there just for a minute."This is the best racing I've done in years. I love this stuff." | 
