Truck champion takes Talladega win

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Oct 7, 2007

TALLADEGA, Ala. - Todd Bodine barely held off Rick Crawford and Johnny Benson in a three-wide finish Saturday in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race.

Bodine, the reigning truck champion, was out front for a restart with two laps to go on the 2.66-mile oval, with Crawford and Benson close behind in a single-file line of competitors. It stayed that way until the final corner of the 94-lap race, when Crawford drove high on the steeply banked track and Benson, a former series champion, ducked below Bodine.

That's the way they drove across the finish line, with Bodine beating Crawford by 0.014 seconds - about the length of a hood. Benson was 0.028 seconds behind the winner, with Jason Leffler a close fourth.

The wild race included several crashes, the biggest of which came on lap 74 when three-time series champion Jack Sprague had his right front tire blow while he was leading, igniting a six-truck melee.

NEXTEL UAW-FORD 500 - At Talladega, Ala., Michael Waltrip led a charge of "go-or-go-home" entries to the top of the grid Saturday in qualifying for the UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

The top 35 cars in NASCAR Nextel Cup owners points are guaranteed a spot in the 43-car field each week and it was the drivers who had to make it on speed and worked strictly on qualifying in Friday's practice who dominated in time trials for today's race, the superspeedway debut of the Car of Tomorrow.

Waltrip, who has struggled through a generally miserable season, managed to make the race lineup for the third straight week, but only the 11th time this season.

He turned a lap of 189.070 mph on the 2.66-mile oval, with Dave Blaney second at 188.838.

NHRA NATIONALS - At Dinwiddie, Va., Tony Schumacher led Top Fuel qualifying Saturday in the Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals to join three other drivers in clinching berths in the Countdown to 1, the two-race championship that marks the end of the NHRA Playoffs.

The Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals is the fourth and final race in the first round of the playoffs, which will halve the field of title contenders from eight to four. One spot remains open in Top Fuel, three in Funny Car and two in Pro Stock.

Larry Dixon and Rod Fuller also wrapped up Top Fuel spots Saturday, and Tony Pedregon clinched his position in Funny Car.

The fourth and final berth in Top Fuel will be the subject of a monster first-round matchup today between fourth-place Brandon Bernstein and fifth-place Bob Vandergriff Jr.

Bernstein enters the race with a 27-point cushion, meaning Vandergriff would have to beat him and win another round to move past Bernstein and secure the final playoff berth.

The Associated Press