Bodines' Travelogue

The Camping World Truck Series has hit its seven-race stretch run, beginning this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and Todd Bodine -- even with a 261-point lead over closest pursuer Aric Almirola -- has made some big decisions.

For the past couple of months, Bodine has mixed attempts to qualify independent team owner Larry Gunselman's Toyota for some Sprint Cup races along with racing his primary ride, Germain Racing's No. 30 Toyota, in the Truck Series.

Todd Bodine

2010 Cup stats

Site	St.	Fin.	Laps	Status
Daytona*	DNQ
Darlington	37	39	47	brakes
Dover	DNQ
Charlotte	29	40	41	trans
Michigan	41	42	20	rear gear
Loudon	43	40	31	trans
Daytona	DNQ
Chicago	DNQ
Indy	39	37	59	rear gear
Pocono	43	37	49	electrical
Bristol	36	41	47	rear gear
Atlanta	DNQ
Richmond	DNQ

* In No. 27 of Kirk Shelmerdine Motorsports; rest in No. 64 of Gunselman Motorsports

But no more. After an abortive attempt to qualify Gunselman's No. 64 at Richmond, which drastically affected his and wife, Janet's, short-term itinerary on the way to New England, Bodine says he'll concentrate on the Truck Series for the rest of the season.

In the fifth week of the Bodines' Travelogue, we ride along as Todd explains how he and Janet will get to New England, what their lodging options are and how he's looking at the balance of the season.

What doesn't qualify

Q: How much of a disruption was not qualifying the Cup car at Richmond, to what you guys were planning to do, to get to New England?

Todd Bodine: It totally disrupted it. I had driven the coach up to Richmond myself, because we tested with Larry's team at Caraway Speedway for half a day on Thursday. After that I stopped by my mom's and visited for about an hour and a half and then drove up to Richmond, and got there about 7 o'clock Thursday evening, settled in and watched some football.

But then, Friday didn't go so well. We struggled and didn't make the race. But I wanted to stay for the Nationwide race to watch my teammate, Michael Annett, and our buddy Brendan Gaughan. So I did that, stayed over and then drove the coach home to North Carolina on Saturday, because Janet was waiting to see if we made the race, before she came up on Saturday morning.

That completely changed our plans, because we were gonna drive the coach up to Pennsylvania and visit family there before we drove the rest of the way to New England by car. So it definitely changed that.

Q: So what do you usually do when you fly to New Hampshire, where do you go and what's it all based on?

Todd Bodine: We're flying up to New Hampshire on Thursday afternoon on the ETA plane, from North Carolina with a bunch of other team members from different race teams. I'm not sure if it's going to Manchester or Concord -- but I'd have to believe it's Manchester, because it's a big plane and they only fly into bigger commercial airports.

When we're up there we typically stay a good bit away from the track, at the Inn Seasons Resort in the White Mountains. A friend of mine owns it and it's an absolutely beautiful resort. It's about an hour from the track, but I love it up there. But this time we're actually staying just south of Concord, in Bow.

Q: Do you use the back roads to get to the track or are you on all the highways?

Todd Bodine: If I was racing the Cup race and racing the whole race, I'd use the dirt roads, because I know the back way out of there. With the Trucks, it's not bad getting out of there, so we just use the highway to get back to the airport.

Q: Is that something you guys pay attention to everywhere you go -- escape routes, not only off the race track's property but also the quickest way to get away from the area?

Todd Bodine: We all look at that stuff. Anything to beat the traffic out, because the last thing you want to deal with, after running 300 miles at New Hampshire, is to fight traffic and have to be sitting there in traffic, going nowhere. You just want to get on your plane and get out of there, so everybody tries to find the escape routes.

And the race tracks are usually pretty good about helping the competitors with that. (Continued)