Todd Bodine continued to zero in on his possible second Truck Series championship when he scored a win at Kentucky that wasn't contentious until Bodine got to Victory Lane and said Kyle Busch's driving tactics enabled him to win.

That opened an interesting 24-hour span in which Bodine received a visit from Busch in Victory Lane, flew to Atlanta Motor Speedway and failed to qualify for the Cup Series race. All of these events were punctuated by a big Notre Dame football win on opening day, and a hurried trip home.

In week four of the Bodines' Travelogue, we ride along for a hectic zig-zag around the lower East Coast, with plenty of planning for the near-future thrown in.

Kentucky rattle-and-roll

Todd Bodine: The win in Kentucky was awesome, and like I said in Victory Lane that night -- the Kentucky fans are awesome -- so thanks to them for being there and everyone who watches our series on TV.

Janet Bodine: The best part of going to Victory Lane, I think, is to get to see the guys and Todd celebrate together, because they put so much into this.

Todd Bodine: The way my guys dig in and perform -- that's every week. I say it every time we get into Victory Lane, but these guys are incredible -- just awesome. They do a great job in the shop and they do a great job on pit road every week. That's what makes a great championship team is consistency. They don't make mistakes and that's what you have to do, not make mistakes to compete for championships.

Janet Bodine: It's too bad what went on in Victory Lane. We had a great Kyle Busch story to share. ... We bought him and Samantha, his fiancée, dinner at the Belterra Casino, where we all stayed on Thursday before the race. We love both of them.

Todd Bodine: We have to move on from that whole thing in Victory Lane to this week and trying to qualify for the Richmond Cup race.

Janet Bodine: Obviously, I've had a ton of phone calls about Kyle's trip into Victory Lane. I think the biggest thing that people didn't understand is that we were going to the same place -- Tara Field behind Atlanta Motor Speedway -- but not on the same plane.

Todd Bodine: Like I said that night in Kentucky, Kyle wasn't happy that I called him out on TV. It's a shame; he's such a good kid. When you get him away from this racing atmosphere and he's off just being Kyle, he's a good kid and he's a lot of fun. I've been there with him.

Janet Bodine: We landed at Tara at 3 a.m. Rambo -- our buddy Tony Liberati -- had the coach all prepared for our arrival, which is perfect.

Todd Bodine: Rambo is awesome.

Janet Bodine: Yes, he is but "Shortbus" would've had the coffee ready. That's Bill Jeter, by the way.

Todd Bodine: I often find myself saying, 'Where is Shortbus when you need him?' -- especially when I'm doing something like detailing wheels.

Janet Bodine: Shortbus worked for Germain Racing running the Lumber Liquidators show truck program, and he drove Todd's coach. As a coach driver, he was the best in the business. No one paid attention to detail like Shortbus, but he decided to follow his dreams in Emergency Services. He's gotten his EMT and Rescue Technician certifications and he's doing well for himself.

Todd Bodine: That doesn't keep us from missing him, though -- and we do.

Janet Bodine: We had our wakeup set for 9:30 a.m., which was much better than the 7:30 wakeup call we would've had to have if we'd stayed in a hotel.

Todd Bodine: You got that right.

Short and sweet in Atlanta

Janet Bodine: Atlanta was hectic, in what amounted to a one-day stay -- not even. But I love Atlanta Motor Speedway. You remember the watermelon that Todd exploded inside the coach in our last trip?

Todd Bodine: Of course, all of us would rather forget about that.

Janet Bodine: I ripped the whole inside of the coach apart Saturday morning -- spent it on my hands and knees scrubbing the floor. The watermelon aftermath was pretty bad.

Todd Bodine: And don't I know it?

Janet Bodine: Working on the watermelon fragments was pretty bad and a more long-term project than I thought it would be. Ugh. I found seeds under the slide-out.

Todd Bodine: They're still good eating, if you eat 'em and don't accidentally smash 'em.

Janet Bodine: I got that done and lit up some candles. Todd's favorite is vanilla and mine is cherry -- so we get cherry vanilla. I wasn't sure if he was coming over after Cup practice or not -- but I had to watch Notre Dame's opener.

Todd Bodine: Even I wouldn't get in the middle of that.

Janet Bodine: You know I wouldn't miss it -- not for anything. I got to watch the Irish win their season-opener with Purdue, an awesome game. And even though we left in a hurry after that, before we left we ate the sausage and peppers I'd whipped-up for dinner.

Todd Bodine: We weren't in Atlanta that long, but we had some fun with the fans.

Janet Bodine: One guy just knew the Tundra had to be fast -- if it was Todd's. He was trying to give him cash for it.

Todd Bodine: Not for sale at any price.

Janet Bodine: Todd had to get a picture with some other fans that saw the Onion license tag on the coach. Dead giveaway, so we took a break for that before Todd hooked up the coach and we got on the road.

Drive after driver

Todd Bodine: Driving home Saturday night didn't change much in the usual routine. As I'm driving I'm always thinking about what we can do to get better on the truck.

Janet Bodine: Riding down the road is a great time for Todd and I to go through our schedules and what's next on the agenda. I get a lot of calls done and try to set some sponsor meetings or get personal-service deals set up for Todd.

Todd Bodine: But there's always a lot to think about with the truck. We've won a good number of the races that are ahead of us on the schedule and it would be cool to win them again -- particularly with where we are in the championship.

Janet Bodine: That's made all the planning we're doing interesting, for sure.

Todd Bodine: And it's not all work. I spend some time thinking of what I'm going to do on my hot rod this winter.

Janet Bodine: Todd's got a 1939 Studebaker that he and my nephew Tim Brice found in Pennsylvania -- thank God, not at Spencer's Junk Yard up in Berwick.

Todd Bodine: Me and Timothy found it, put it on a roll-back and drove it to North Carolina. That's why I'm thinking about exactly what I want to do to it.

Janet Bodine: It's in mint condition -- 79,000 original miles and no rust. It was always kept in a garage.

No time for the beach

Janet Bodine: We were going to go to Virginia Beach before Richmond this weekend, but Larry Gunselman, Todd's Cup team owner, had a better idea.

Todd Bodine: Caraway Speedway is on the way up to Richmond, so we decided to stop there and test on the way up, on Thursday. It's only four hours of testing, but it's a great chance to make the car better.

Janet Bodine: It's going to be crazy since we're headed straight from Richmond to Pennsylvania to Loudon, New Hampshire in the space of one week. We're taking the coach to Pennsylvania and then leaving it there, because if Todd makes the Cup race in Loudon, it won't leave us time to get back home and then get to Las Vegas.

Todd Bodine: Having the coach is great for a trip like that but packing is the key, with the different weather patterns we'll see between the three states we'll actually be staying in.

Janet Bodine: Shopping's planned in Pennsylvania because there's no tax on clothes.

Todd Bodine: And on a side note, we've actually clinched at least a top-five finish in the Truck Series standings.

Janet Bodine: So it's time to go dress shopping. That's not my favorite thing to do. But I do need a banquet dress. My niece Lynette and Lindy Hornaday were gonna go in Atlanta -- but that didn't happen. But we've already started looking at pictures.

Todd Bodine: And I'm trying to stay busy doing other stuff.

Janet Bodine: I'm trying to coordinate my schedule with Lindy's to maybe do a shopping trip to Boston while we're in Loudon for next weekend's races.

Todd Bodine: But this weekend we'll have a lot of golf cart time because the driver/owner lot at Richmond is up behind the backstretch -- like, way behind it. So I'll be doing a lot of back-and-forth driving.

Janet Bodine: Todd always drives the cart. It's very hard to get behind a wheel when Todd's present. And the cart goes 25 mph, so how fast do you think he goes?

Todd Bodine: That's right, you guessed it.

Janet Bodine: I, on the other hand, like to find campfires, and as our coach-driving buddy Brian Allen always says, 'We like to go out after the race and thank the fans for coming.'

Todd Bodine: That's never a bad idea.

Janet Bodine: Then it's off to Vegas the Tuesday after Loudon with the Hornadays. We'll compete in Brendan Gaughan's charity bowling tournament on Thursday. Our team's name is the HornyOnions.

Todd Bodine: Doesn't that figure?

Related:
• A week on the road without the motor coach leaves a lot to be desired
• A week at Bristol with friends, family and a fan who knocks at the door
• Never a dull moment as family treks track-to-track in search of title