Charlotte shakes up standings; Bodine leads

The Truck Series standings danced to the tune of shake, rattle and roll during Friday night's running of the North Carolina Education Lottery 200. A total of two points now separates the front two -- the closest points battle in series history after seven races.

Former champion Todd Bodine resembled the racer of old as he drove to a second-place finish while gaining the standings lead.

"Our Tundra was good tonight. For us, as a team, it was a great night because we've struggled all season with this new generation tire that Goodyear's got and the way our trucks have been driving with it," Bodine said.

"Tonight we ran with the leaders and it was great to have fun and be so competitive."

Despite scoring a seventh-place finish, Aric Almirola still turned over the standings lead to Bodine -- proving every position counts. Timothy Peters, who led the series standings the first five races of the season, is down but not out. He sits in third, 86 points out of the lead.

Defending Champion Ron Hornaday Jr. finished third at Charlotte and continues to make his climb back to the top spot after a slow start to the season -- just 103 points from the top position.

"I had a lot of fun racing with Todd [Bodine] and Kyle [Busch]," said Hornaday. "It's a good points day and we will take the solid finish."

Busch scores 70th victory

Kyle Busch's win Friday in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 was not only Toyota's first Truck Series victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but it was Busch's 70th NASCAR national series victory -- ninth on the all-time list.

"I have been fortunate to be surrounded by great people," said Busch during the post-race press conference.

"When they come [the wins] and you get another one, it's just another tally. I can count probably a good 20 to 30 that I've given up. The scary part is that I have 70 now."

Busch made his first Truck Series start in 2001 at the age of 16. He scored his first career win four years later at Charlotte. Ron Hornaday Jr. is the only other Truck Series driver in the top 10 on the combined win list. He sits eighth with 49 victories -- only five away from scoring his 50th victory in the series.

Three drivers who began their NASCAR national series careers in the series -- Busch, Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards -- rank first, fourth and ninth. Seven of the top 10 have won at least one Truck race.

'Tricky Triangle'

It is not every day you can get drivers to all agree on one thing but Pocono Raceway has done it.

Following the race at Dover International Speedway five teams (Germain Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Kyle Busch Motorsports, Green Light Racing and Randy Moss Motorsports) made the journey to Pocono to test out the "tricky triangle."

The good thing is everyone is in agreement -- the race is going to be one to watch.

"Pocono was not like any track I have ever driven," Austin Dillon said. "The track has characteristics of a road course. You have to be good in each corner to do well."

Though the Truck Series has never competed at Pocono, Todd Bodine has 13 starts at the track in the Cup Series.

"I have been going to Pocono my whole life and I have always ran well," Bodine said. "We learned a lot at the test."

The Truck Series will hit the track at Pocono on Saturday, July 31.

Up next: Texas

One week left till the Truck Series celebrates its silver anniversary at Texas Motor Speedway on June 4 with the running of The WinStar World Casino 400.

Texas Motor Speedway held its first Truck race in 2007. The late Kenny Irwin Jr. scored his second career victory in the inaugural event.

Current standings leader Todd Bodine is the defending race winner and the only driver to win at the track five times. Former Truck Series competitor Brendan Gaughan is the only driver to win four races in a row at Texas. He dominated the 1.5-mile oval during the 2002 and 2003 seasons. No driver has ever won in all three series at TMS.