Busch Takes Ford 200, Truck Owner’s Championship; Bodine Crowned Driver Championship

In typical Kyle Busch fashion, his talent behind the wheel was showcased to the masses as he drove through the field and took the win.

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignleft” width=”300″][/media-credit]With 36 laps to go, Busch was up front and looked to have the Camping World Truck Series Owner’s Championship secured. However, contact with the wall caused Busch to have a flat tire and be stuck back in traffic. If Busch had finished where he was running at the time, he would have still became the champion, though Busch wasn’t going down that way.

“From that point on, it was about getting back to the front,” Busch said in victory lane. “I wasn’t thinking about the championship.”

The race resumed with David Mayhew as the leader as he stayed out and didn’t pit. The field was a mixed bag of drivers who stayed out, took two tires or took four tires so it was spelled out to be a dramatic finish.

With 23 to go, the dramatics hit a high as John Jackson destroyed his truck as he piled into the sand barrels at the end of pit road, bringing out the red flag to clean up the mess.

On the restart, Ron Hornaday worked his way past both Mayhew and Travis Kravil to take the lead. Hornaday stretched it out, though it was Busch who everybody had to worry about.

From 36 to go to 17 to go, Busch worked his way from 22nd to third and wasn’t done yet. Busch worked on closing in on the back of Hornaday. It was a caution for Sauter spinning out with eight to go that would bring them together however, resulting in a late race restart.

Hornaday, as per advice from car owner Kevin Harvick, took the outside on the restart and was set to pin Busch down. However, it was too no use as Busch blew past Hornaday and never looked back.

“I don’t know how he did it,” Hornaday said afterwards. “I had it wide open. He must have sidedrafted off of me.

“He just passed me like I was standing still. I just got tight at the end.”

The win gave Busch his eighth Truck win of the year and 23rd NASCAR victory this year.

“This is so cool,” Busch said in victory lane. “To come out and win in our last race in the style we did it – that definately allowed the fans to not be left without excitement.

“I’d like to thank everybody at Kyle Busch Motorsports – Rick Ren, Eric Phillips. Eric made good adjustments and kept my head on my shoulders.

“For me, it’s great to have this opportunity to race with these competitors, like Ron Hornaday and Todd Bodine. Congrats to Todd Bodine for the driver’s championship.”

The owner’s championship for Kyle Busch Motorsports came in their first year of opporation. It comes after going through a year where they didn’t know if they’d make it to Daytona or have enough sponsorship to make it the whole year.

“It happened quick and I couldn’t be prouder,” Busch said. “All the guys that do such a good job at Kyle Busch Motorsports and all the partners that we’ve had help from. All the people that we’ve had to help us. We’re trying to get enough partners together to be able to go full-time next year with some young drivers and veteran drivers, like myself, to go for another championship.

“It’s odd considering that we’ve only been together a year.”

Hornaday finished second with Johnny Sauter third.

Todd Bodine, who had locked up the Truck Series Championship already, finished fourth and was officially crowned the champion.

“I never thought I’d be a one time champion, let alone a two time champion,” Bodine said. “I just don’t know what to say. It’s all due to these guys on this stage. It’s with hard to be part of a group that cares so much about each other and I keep counting our blessings with this being our fifth year together.”

Aric Almirola rounded out the top five.

Pole sitter Austin Dillion finished 31st after making contact with the wall and cutting down a tire.

“I thought we were sitting right there with those four tires back in traffic, but got a little impatient there,” Dillion said afterwards. “The yellow stripe came out in the first race of the year and the last race of the year.”

Despite the poor finish, Dillon was officially crowed 2010 Raybestos Rookie of the Year.

The teams will have their banquet this Monday at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel to celebrate their accomplishments. The top five drivers and teams from the Camping World Truck Series will be joined by the top five drivers and teams from the NASCAR Nationwide Series for the second straight year. Those top five drivers in both series will be featured on stage, while positions sixth-10th will be recognized for their accomplishments.

Also, for the second consecutive year, SPEED personalities Rick Allen and Krista Voda will host the banquet. Additionally, comedian Tom Papa will entertain the crowed.

The banquet will air on SPEED on Friday December 3, 2010 from 7:00pm-9:00pm EST as a lead-in to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Awards Banquet, also on SPEED.

Then in 90 days, the trucks will begin the 2011 season with the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway on Friday February 18th.

Unofficial Race Results

Ford 200, Homestead-Miami Speedway

November 19, 2010 – Race 25 of 25