John Harrelson/Getty Images
Todd Bodine has always been a man with many words. “The Onion” has been in NASCAR since 1986 and the Camping World Truck Series since 1995.
Bodine is well respected in the NASCAR garage. Even when he is having an off weekend, he manages to keep his head held high. In his Truck Series career, Bodine has never finished worse than sixth in points, but that will change once the checkered flag is waved at Homestead on November 16.
This year has been a struggle for Bodine and his Red Horse Racing crew. As of Martinsville, he is 14th in points and if he’s lucky, which he hasn’t been throughout the entire year, he can race his way into the top ten in points. So, what’s gone wrong for the two-time Camping World Truck Series champion?
“The biggest problem has been luck. Our performance on the track has been very good at times, we’ve had some bad runs, but overall we’ve been pretty good and we just haven’t had the luck to go with it,” Bodine said. “The crew is one-hundred percent behind me and we all understand that mistakes are made sometimes. I don’t get on them when they have a bad pit stop, it’s just a part of the game and you have to realize that.”
Bodine’s luck has indeed been terrible. He only has one win which came in a rain-shortened event at Dover and since then he’s only had two top five finishes. Not only that, but he’s completed a career low 80.8% of laps run which is due to the amount of on-track issues the Chemung, NY native has faced.
Throughout the first 19 races of the season, Bodine has been involved in an accident or had a mechanical issue in ten of those races. But, even with all of the incidents, Bodine remains confident in his No. 11 team. In a matter of fact, he remains confident enough that he will stay with Red Horse Racing for the 2013 season.
“Well as of right now, I plan on staying at Red Horse Racing. It’s a great race team and Tom DeLoach is an incredible owner and he gives the team everything they need to succeed and I want to stay a part of this team for sure,” Bodine said.
Bodine has had the ability to work with young drivers this year, mentoring Timothy Peters, John King, and most recently, Parker Kligerman. His veteran experience has helped these drivers get to victory lane which Bodine has done for numerous years.
“He is polite, respectful, and he’s a really good kid and to me that’s important. We were friends before we were teammates and that definitely helps out the whole teammate thing. His abilities on the racetrack speaks for itself,” Bodine said on behalf of working with Kligerman as his newest teammate.
He made it clear that retirement wasn’t in sight as he has plenty of years remaining and believes he is still capable of competing at a high level on the racetrack.
“We never had a contract for 2012 and we won’t have a contract for 2013 either,” Bodine said about his contract status for next year. “It’s a handshake deal. We don’t need contracts to make it work.”
Bodine closed out by offering his well-wishes and prayers to those effected by Hurricane Sandy on the East coast of the United States.
Next season should be a championship contending effort for Bodine and his Red Horse Racing team as long as they have better luck as their chemistry remains solid.
Joseph Wolkin can be followed on Twitter at @JosephNASCAR.
