If history means anything, Todd Bodine is the favorite to win Friday's Camping World Truck Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway.
How confident is Bodine that he can make it three straight victories at Daytona?
Despite all of his success, not confident enough to label himself the driver to beat--even though he also has won two of the last three races at Talladega Superspeedway, a track similar to Daytona and one where drafting is likewise key to success.
"There's a lot of good trucks and a lot of good race teams and drivers that can win these things any given time," said Bodine, who will be making his 116th consecutive start in Germain Racing's No. 30 Toyota. "We've been fortunate enough to get four of them and run in the top five in the other ones, but I don't think people will go out there and teams and drivers will think, 'Hey, we've got to go out and beat the 30 truck.' They know we're going to be a team to deal with, but there's a lot of other good teams they're going to have to beat along the way."
Bodine, the 2006 series champion, has been nothing short of stellar at both high-speed facilities, posting an average finish of 2.3 in his nine combined starts.
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"I'm very fortunate to have good trucks, a team that knows how to put them together and we've just been lucky," Bodine said. "You've got to have a lot of luck at Daytona. ... It doesn't really matter if it's a truck or a Nationwide car or a Cup car, I've always run well here, so it's just something I've always taken to and done well at."
A strong outing at Daytona could help Bodine secure the funding needed to run the full season. His truck will carry sponsorship from GEICO at Daytona but doesn't have primary backing going forward.
Bodine expects to run the season's second race on March 6 at Atlanta, but his schedule beyond that is uncertain.
He finished fourth in the 2009 standings and hopes to contend for the series championship.
"We've got a lot of people we're talking to, and we just have to see what happens," Bodine said of his sponsorship pursuit. "It's a tough situation to be in, but we got through it last year and came out on the other end fine, so that's what we're going to try to do: Just keep digging, try to find some sponsors and go to every race."
Fast facts
What: NextEra Energy Resources 250
Where: Daytona International Speedway; Daytona Beach, Fla.
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When: 7 p.m. Friday
TV: Speed, 6:30 p.m.
Radio: MRN/SIRIUS Satellite Ch. 128
Track layout: 2.5-mile superspeedway
Race distance: 100 laps/250 miles
Qualifying: Thursday, 6:10 p.m.
2009 winner: Todd Bodine
2009 polesitter: Colin Braun
