SPARTA, Ky. — Todd Bodine overcame a midrace spin to win the NASCAR Trucks Series race at Kentucky on Friday night, ending star Kyle Busch’s three-series winning streak at four.
Bodine, the series points leader, nearly wrecked trying to pass Busch just past the race’s halfway point. Bodine collected his car, then managed to stretch the fuel in the No. 30 Toyota to pick up his fourth win of the season.
Busch, looking to become the first driver in 37 years to win five consecutive NASCAR national series races, finished seventh after pitting with 23 laps remaining. The move handed the lead to Bodine, who managed to run the final 58 laps on one tank of gas.
Johnny Sauter was second, followed by Aric Almirola, Jason White and Ricky Carmichael.
Busch qualified fourth but was sent to the back for making unapproved changes following the final practice.
No biggie, the Sprint Cup star needed less than 60 laps to zip to the front. He led a race-high 73 laps and appeared to be poised to join Fred Lorenzen, Richard Petty, Bobby Allison and David Pearson as the only drivers to win five consecutive NASCAR events.
Bodine looked like an afterthought after he got loose trying to take the lead from Busch on lap 82. He lost control coming out of Turn 4 at the 1.5-mile oval and slid onto the infield grass. His truck stayed intact, however, and he pitted on lap 92.
The move put him off sequence, but he managed to conserve enough fuel to make it to the finish and deny Busch his 80th NASCAR victory.
“I’d like to thank Kyle for driving dirty and pushing us down,” Bodine said. “That made us get the gas.”
Bodine’s 21st career win extended his points lead to 261 over Almirola with seven races remaining.
Pole-sitter Austin Dillon finished ninth.
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