The Frontstretch: Reunited and it feels so good: Bodine back in victory lane with Germain Arnold Motorsports by Nikki Krone -- Saturday July 2, 2005

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In his second race back in the No. 30 Germain Arnold Toyota, Todd Bodine found himself once again in Victory Lane with his win in Saturday's O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway.  David Reutimann finished second followed by rookie Tod Kluever.

For Bodine, it was his first win of the season and third of his CTS career.  Although several teams have been close, this was also the first time a Toyota has been in victory lane in 2005, breaking Chevrolet's streak of five consecutive victories.

"All the changes we made before the race worked out perfect and we had an awesome truck today," said Bodine.  "We had realoly good pit stops and my Tundra was awesome.  We were a little 'free', but that's what you need here.  It's a great day for Toyota and TRD and the Germain team."

It was also a great day for Todd Kluever, who started third and finshed second, earning his best finish of his career.

"All in all it was a really good day for us with a new crew chief in Mike Beam this week and a new engineer in Hal Ralson and a new truck chief in Steve McCain.  I've been with these guys for about a day and a half now, so to come out and hit the first pitch with new guys on your team is really cool and I'm really excited about the rest of the season now."

Reutimann's third place finish was impressive, considering the team had to make three pit stop early in the race (laps 67, 69 and 70) to fix the power steering.  Once it was fixed, Reutimann wasted no time working to the front.

"After that, my truck was just flawless," said Reutimann.  "The motor ran great and we were just 'loaded for bear.'  We kept pushing and pushing it and I was able to get back to the front.  At the end I was able to get by Todd (Kluever) for a second.  It was a great day for us and with these top-five finishes I think we're just knocking on the door."

The race was slowed nine times for caution, beginning on lap 30 when the No. 02 of Kelly Sutton spun on the track.  It wasn't the only time she was involved in an accident.  On lap 155, Sutton's truck hit the spinning truck of Chris Fontaine.  The force was hard enough that Sutton ended up upside down on the track before the truck righted itself between turns 3 and 4.  Sutton was taken to the infield care center was she was evaluated and released.  Word is she is shaken and sore, but all is well.

The other cautions involved Tracy Hines (who brought out the caution three times), Justin Llgaier, Brad Keselowski, Steve Park, and Matt Crafton.  While some of the hits looked hard, no one was injured.

John Andretti had an impressive run in his first outing in the CTS.  Driving the No. 15 for Billy Ballew, Andretti had to start at the rear of the field because of unapproved adjustments during impound.  Andretti had no trouble makes his way toward the front to end up with a ninth place finish.

  1. Todd Bodine
  2. Todd Kluever
  3. David Reutimann
  4. Mike Skinner
  5. Bill Lester
  6. Jimmy Spencer
  7. Terry Cook
  8. Brendan Gaughan
  9. John Andretti
  10. Rick Crawford
  11. Dennis Setzer
  12. Bobby Hamilton
  13. Ricky Craven
  14. Ted Musgrave
  15. Chad Chaffin
  16. Brandon Whitt
  17. Ron Hornaday
  18. Robert Huffman
  19. Tracy Hines
  20. Chase Montgomery
  21. Brad Keselowski
  22. Jimmy Kite
  23. Kevin Hamlin
  24. David Starr
  25. Clay Rogers
  26. Deborah Renshaw
  27. Matt Crafton
  28. Johnny Benson
  29. Chris Fontaine
  30. Jack Sprague
  31. Kelly Sutton
  32. Steve Park
  33. Robert Pressley
  34. Wayne Edwards
  35. Johnny Chapman
  36. Justin Allgaier

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