NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: NextEra Energy Resources 250

Topics:  NextEra Energy Resources 250

Todd Bodine
Dennis Setzer
February 13, 2010

DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA

KERRY THARP: We'll roll into tonight's press conference in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Our race runner-up is Todd Bodine, driver of the No. 30 GEICO Toyota.
Todd, take us through those last couple laps there for us tonight.
TODD BODINE: Well, you know, out there in the lead, pretty much a sitting duck. I knew Timmy had a great truck, the 23 was behind him. All they had to do is team up. That's what they tried to do. I tried to block Timmy. I was gonna come back down. He got in the quarter panel which turned me up the track and got me up in the wall a little bit. That kind of took all my momentum down. I just couldn't get back to him.
We had a great truck. Dodging a lot of bullets. It was a race of survival. We had that flat tire. Fortunately we got that flat tire in three and four, was able to get to pit road, saved a lap. Get back up there and race 'em.
Had a fast truck again. We're disappointed, there's no doubt about it. But it was a great points race. Still second is nothing to sneeze at. We'll take it, go to Atlanta.
KERRY THARP: Questions for Todd Bodine.

Q. Looking back at tonight, do you look and say, Is there anything else I could have done?
TODD BODINE: Yeah, you always look at it and say it. That's part of being a competitor, being a good racer. You try to watch that stuff, see what you could have done differently.
I've seen the replay a couple times now. I don't think there's anything I could have done differently. I had to block him up high. Unfortunately he got my right rear quarter panel, and that turned me up into the wall. If he didn't get in the quarter panel, you're only talking a couple inches, I would have turned back down the track, and stayed right in front of him, beat him to the line.
But, you know, ifs and buts. That's hard racing Daytona.

Q. Was it as wild in the truck as it looked from up here? Why do you think it was so wild compared to past races?
TODD BODINE: That's a good question. They changed the rear shocks. I don't think the guys really adapted right to them. You had to do some different things to your truck to make them work. That's one thing, kind of why they were all over the place.
I don't know. You know, it's a shame to see some of the things that happened because a lot of what happened was just, you know, call it what it was, it was stupid, it was ignorant. Getting into somebody in the middle of a straightaway, you know.
You want to look at the Truck Series and you want to look at these drivers. It's easy to blame 'em, say they did the wrong things. But look at the Cup Series and the Nationwide Series, the professionals that they're supposed to be, they're doing the same things. You put a driver in a box and he's gonna do what he's got to do to get out of that box and go fast. The trucks are no different.
The one thing I say to everybody is don't just look at these drivers and say they did wrong, because your superstars in the Cup Series are doing the same thing.
KERRY THARP: Let's also hear from tonight's third-place finisher Dennis Setzer.
Dennis, your thoughts about tonight's place?
DENNIS SETZER: Just a great race. Danny Gill called me back about December, said he's putting a team together, wanted me to consider driving for him. I said, Sure, I don't have anything.
We waited actually till about two weeks ago till he decided if I could drive. If anybody could come up with the money. If anybody come up with money I totally understood to get the ride.
So didn't have a sponsor. He brought this thing here without a sponsor, two trucks, Johnny Benson and myself. Pretty impressive start. Danny and I worked together in the early 2000s with Morgan-Dollar Motorsports, won quite a few races together in the Craftsman Truck Series, now Camping World Truck Series. Just had a good time.
KERRY THARP: Questions for Todd or Dennis.

Q. Todd, obviously it's disappointing to lose on the last lap, but relative to the competition, you had a really good points night. How long does it take you to put the frustration of not winning behind you and look at it and say that you had a good points day, this is something to build on? What's the difference going to be having one race out of the schedule starting out?
TODD BODINE: Well, to get over it, you know, we're gonna be leaving the track in the motor coach in a couple hours. I say by Jacksonville, I'll be over it. It's disappointing. No doubt about it. To go for three in a row at Daytona, that would have been a dream come true. But it's racing. It's hard racing.
A kid like Timothy, he's got such a future in our sport. He's one of those kids that, with the right break, would be sitting over in a Cup garage right now. He's that good, that good a kid. That's how much I respect him. To get beat by him, that takes a little of the edge off.
But it's tough. It's hard 'cause, you know, all these guys started this race, all these guys on pit road worked hard to get their trucks ready to get out there and do their jobs.
My team's no different. We have a great truck. It's always run fast. Came up one spot short.

Q. If you would have been in his position, would you have done the same thing?
TODD BODINE: Oh, yeah, exactly. Last year, I was leading on the last lap and Kyle was behind me. I did the same thing that Timothy, that I did to Kyle. Kyle didn't know what to do. Timothy was smart enough to do the right thing. It paid off for him, you know.
He had one shot at it, and he took it, and it worked. You know, I don't think he expected to get blocked as bad as he did. But he made a crossover move and made it work. You know, hat's off to him for doing the right thing. Like I say, I got a tremendous amount of respect for Timothy.

Q. Obviously great way to start the season, but you're also in need of sponsor dollars. How does this help? What are your prospects for the rest of the season?
TODD BODINE: Well, I won't say we've signed the contracts, but we got a deal that's probably going to be signed the beginning of next week for 10 races. That will get us through the next three and a half or four months, the way our schedule works. That gives us four months to come up with another sponsor, which we've got a couple that we're talking to there, too.
Hopefully things will work out and we'll get everything signed up and we'll be good to go.
DENNIS SETZER: I have a couple pretty good teams looking for sponsorship for me to drive this year. Maybe this will open some doors for them to proceed on with this sponsorship. Right now I do have a part-time Nationwide deal, a little bit going there, maybe some truck races also in the future. Maybe Danny Gill may have some openings coming up again.

Q. Dennis, tell me how you were able to rally back from being involved in that opening lap incident to a podium finish?
DENNIS SETZER: Had a pretty good truck all night. That thing was really good for about eight laps. Started getting loose in the pack, then got loose by itself. If it was a eight lap shootout, I would have been really good. It was about 15 there at the end. A little further than I needed to go. Just felt a loose truck all night. The guys made a lot of adjustments, raised the back of the truck, just anything you could do. They made good calls. But we never could get that thing to run a long run and be real drivable.

Q. Dennis, you were in the catbird seat as everything was happening in front of you. You made a quick decision which way to go. Talk us through the decision.
DENNIS SETZER: Well, I don't see how Todd saved his truck going into three. Bad way going into three. Made a spectacular save. I thought Timothy would probably go ahead and clear him. Todd, he didn't lose a beat. He and I was racing like heck coming down the short shoot over here.
It was fun. Man, I'm excited to be able to see Todd Bodine on the white flag of a Daytona race. I'm in pretty good shape if I can see the Todd. If I can see "The Onion" on the white flag of a Daytona race, you can bet you're in pretty good shape if you can see his truck.

Q. Todd, we have a lot of polarizing figures in our garage nowadays. When I bring up the name Timothy Peters, the answer is, I really like the guy. What has this guy done that has made him so beloved in the garage area? How has he gone about things that made him earn the respect of so many people so quickly?
TODD BODINE: Well, from my perspective, it's got absolutely nothing to do with his racing. If you stand and talk to that kid for five minutes, you'll understand. He's a good Virginia boy that was raised right in the country and knows his values and treats people with respect and is polite. I mean, I really like the kid.
Then you go out and race with him, and he races hard. Man, that kid will race hard. But you know what, he races you with respect, too. That's a hard combination to find.
You put all that together, you got the kid sitting in Victory Lane.
KERRY THARP: Guys, thanks for putting on a great show for us tonight. We'll see you in Atlanta.