Camping World Truck Series – VFW 200 6/12/10

It was a wild three wide fight for the lead Saturday afternoon at Michigan International Speedway as Aric Almirola cruised his tough truck into victory lane!

photo credit: Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR

“We struggled at the beginning of the race just being really tight,” Almirola said. “Dirty air was so bad today.  Clean air was so important and we got to the front and we got in clean air and it just was a different truck.  It drove great.  It was a little bit free where I had fought tight all day, but Richie Wauters (crew chief) and all the guys at Billy Ballew Motorsports – they work their tails off all week long and it shows man.  We had an awesome truck.  I want to thank Graceway Pharmaceuticals.  They stuck behind us and they’ve been a great supporter of ours.  I want to thank the fans. What a crowd today!  I was doing my burnout there and I seen them all cheering and waving and stuff so that’s cool.  That makes you feel good when you come and see a packed house like that.”

Almirola overtook Todd Bodine and Kyle Busch as they made it three wide for the lead with7 laps to go. Almirola just led those final seven laps, but we all know it’s the final lap that counts the most.

“We had a great Tundra today and our Germain Racing pit crew did a great job,” Todd Bodine said after posting a runner-up finish. “Aric (Almirola) was just good at the end when he needed it. We had a great race truck. Today was Camping World Truck Series racing at its finest. That’s what it’s about and that’s why people love to watch our races and come to the races. It’s hard-nosed, go get ‘em every lap racing and it’s a lot of fun.” Bodine led a race-high 33 of 100 laps.

“It’s challenging. You’re all over the place trying to get back up in there, slicing, dicing and everything,” Kyle Busch said after finishing third. “I just didn’t have enough. Unfortunately they gave me a good truck and the driver didn’t get it done. I was trying to find some way to get around those guys but I couldn’t find it.” Busch led five times for a total of 25 laps.

Ron Hornaday Jr tried to get in the mix at the end, but settled for a 4th place finish.

Austin Dillon won his second consecutive pole earlier in the day. He led three times for 18 laps and was strong throughout the day. Dillon went home 5th.

For the (unofficial) race results, click here (nascar.com)

There 5 cautions for 24 laps and 20 lead changes among 10 drivers. A. Dillon-pole, R. Hornaday Jr 1, M. Crafton 2, K. Busch 3-12, C. McCumbee 13, R. Sieg 14-18, K. Busch 19-20, A. Dillon 21-35, S. Compton 36-38, H. Sadler 39, A. Dillon 40-41, K. Busch 42-46, T. Bodine 47-55, K. Busch 56-62, T. Bodine 63-75, R. Hornaday Jr 76, A. Dillon 77, S. Compton 78-81, T. Bodine 82-92, K. Busch 93, A. Almirola 94-100

Todd Bodine hangs on to his lead in the standings by 55 points over 2nd place driver, Aric Almirola.