2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
During the early stages, multiple wrecks came about, including "The Big One" on lap 20, which was started when Brendan Gaughan made contact with an extremely tight Mike Skinner, forcing him up the racetrack and into the path of Matt Crafton, who also collected Ted Musgrave, Jon Wood, Chad Chaffin, and most notably P. J. Jones whose No.
Only three laps later did the next wreck strike, with Joey Clanton getting loose and spinning, collecting outside polesitter Terry Cook, Mike Bliss, and ROTY contenders Colin Braun and Justin Marks.
After the pit stop, Bodine would not look back, holding off a hard charging Kyle Busch and Johnny Benson for his first ever win at Daytona.
NOTE: Todd Bodine suffered a 25-point penalty when an illegal part was found on his truck during pre-qualifying inspection.
After the final round of green flag pit stops, Busch regained the lead by 3.5 seconds over Bodine and never looked back, cruising to his first Truck Series win of the season.
The race would instead be dominated by "Short Track Slayer" Dennis Setzer, whose team, Bobby Hamilton Racing-Virginia, had recently moved to the Martinsville area to be more competitive.
This competitiveness showed when Setzer took the lead on lap 128 when debutant Brent Raymer spun in front of leader Kyle Busch.
Although the race went on for an extra three laps, Setzer would hang on for his first win since he won Mansfield (also on fuel mileage) with the defunct Spears Motorsports.
With a new truck and the guidance of crew chief Rick Ren, Hornaday dominated the race, leading 136 of 167 laps en route to his first win of the season.
Rookie Colin Braun rounded out the "podium" although controversially as he was involved in incidents with veterans Sprague and Matt Crafton.
On lap 104, Busch collided with defending champion Ron Hornaday Jr., sending both trucks into the turn 3 wall and out of contention to win.
Late in the race with seven laps to go, Erik Darnell was leading the field to the green on a restart when his tires spun, taking him out of contention.
On the subsequent restart, Bodine sent Hornaday spinning into turn one, handing second and third to Chad McCumbee and Brendan Gaughan, respectively.
With the downsizing in fuel cells to 18 gallons, it was deemed mathematically impossible for any driver in the field to repeat Dennis Setzer's no stop victory the previous year.
David Starr and his Red Horse Racing team had dominated the day, leading 170 laps in total.
Making only his sixth start in NASCAR competition and running on two tires, ex-Formula One driver Scott Speed lived up to his name and opened up a four-second lead on Ron Hornaday Jr.
Although Speed's lead would be cut due to Bodine crashing on lap 170, he would hold off veterans Hornaday and Jack Sprague to become the third consecutive first time winner for the 2008 season.
The other time this happened was in 1998, with Andy Houston (Loudon), Terry Cook (Flemington), and Jimmy Hensley (Music City) Did not qualify: None, only 36 entries.
As the series was on a streak of three consecutive first time winners, many looked towards Chad McCumbee, who had nearly won the fall Texas race in '07, polesitter Marks, and Plano native Colin Braun.
It was not just the young drivers seeking the win at Texas, but veterans as well, such as defending champion Ron Hornaday Jr., Mike Skinner, who started on the front row at Texas for his eighth consecutive start had never won, and Brendan Gaughan, who literally turned the track into his personal playground in both '02 and '03.
During the final lap, points leader Ron Hornaday Jr. was running fourth after starting in the back due to an engine change.
NOTE: Todd Bodine suffered a 25-point penalty for an illegal modification to his truck found in post race inspection.
• Jimmie Johnson would make his lone career Truck Series start to date, driving the #81 Lowe's/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet Silverado for Randy Moss Motorsports.
During a series of pit stops, points leader Johnny Benson decided to stay out, despite the fact his tires were old.
He would lead for 26 laps before the right front tire went flat, sending Benson Jr. into the wall and ending his bid for the win.
Townley would later be spun unintentionally by defending race winner Todd Bodine while on pit road at lap 50.
Alabama native Rick Crawford earned a speeding penalty during the series of pit stops, ending his chances at a home state victory.
However, Bodine pulled the "bump and run" on Busch, loosening him and eventually passing him for the win, with new points leader Hornaday in tow.
Top ten results: Did not qualify: Tayler Malsam (#41), Robert Bruce (#73), Russ Dugger (#89), Craig Wood (#50).
The sparks flew early on lap 2 as Travis Kvapil, attempting a three wide pass, pushed rookie Cale Gale into the left side of Crawford's truck.
