TODD BODINE - 02/27/1964
an American NASCAR driver. Todd is the younger brother of former racers Geoff Bodine and Brett Bodine. Bodine is known for his bald head, which has given him the nickname 'The Onion'. Bodine would make his Xfinity Series debut in 1986, for Pistone Racing at Martinsville. He qualified and finished 27th in the 30-car field, falling out of the race early with an engine problem. He then skipped three years of racing but returned to the Xfinity series in 1990 and ran eight races. He best finish being a third at Dover. The next three years he would race full time in the Xfinity series driving all three seasons for owner Frank Cicci and sponsored Hungry Jack / Fiddle Faddle in the #34 Chevy. In 1991 he got his first Xfinity win. It would come at Dover. In 1992 he'd add three more Xfinity wins and finish third in the points battle. 1992 also saw Bodine make his first Cup start at Watkins Glen. He'd start 21st but crash out on lap 16 and finish 37th. 1993 saw make 10 more Cup starts with a best finish of 23rd; but he would visit victory lane three more times in the Xfinity series however only finish ninth in the points. 1994 and 1995 saw Bodine go full time Cup racing; while scaling back to part-time in the Xfinity Series.
Bodine would wheel the #75 Factory Stores Ford owned by Butch Mock. Bodine would post a third place finish at Atlanta in 1994 and it would be his best career Cup finish. He only ran one Xfinity race in 1994 and three in 1955. However in 1995 he would win at Rockingham. Also in 1995 Todd would make his first NASCAR Truck Series starts. He drove five races for Jack Roush and have all five finishes inside the top ten. After that he would not race in the Truck series again until 2004. From 1996-2000 Bodine would go back to racing full time in the Xfinity Series - while racing part time in the Cup Series. In 1996 he would win while driving the Cape Canaveral Cruise Chevy at South Boston, VA; and finish third in points. 1997 was pretty much a repeat of 1996 as he would win once (Fontana) and finish second in points driving the Stanley Tools Pontiac. 1998 he only raced part time; but in 1999
Cup ride 1993-1995
1999-2000 Xfinity ride & Michigan win
and 2000 he had a full time ride driving the Phillips 66 Chevy. He won at Michigan in 2000 and finished fourth in points both years. 2001-2003 found him back in the Cup series driving the #66 K-Mart Ford for Travis Carter. In 2002 he would post his final top five Cup finish at Richmond. In 2002-2003 he drove "most" of the races for owner Stanley Herzog; winning a race both seasons. The win in 2003 at Darlington would be his final Xfinity win. In 2004 he dabbled a bit in all three of NASCAR's premier series. 21 races in the Cup series; 6 in Xfinity and 10 in the Truck Series; winning two times in the Truck series. He would never run more than five races in any season in the Cup or Xfinity series. Starting in 2005 he concentrated fulling on competition in the Truck Series. 2005 saw him win five times but finish third in the points hunt driving mostly for Germain Racing. 2006 saw him return to
Germain Racing and post three wins and claim the Truck series Championship. From 2005-2010 he would win 19 times, and never finish worse in the points than fourth. He again won the Truck points Championship in 2010; all this time still driving for Germain Racing. In 2012 Bodine went to drive for Tom Deloach in his Totota Care Toyota. He'd post a win at Dover; his last of his career. His final Truck start came would come in 2013 at Pocono. He would start seventh and race hard and competitive all day. He even led 16 laps; but when the checkered flag flew; the best he could finish was 11th. It's not known if Bodine's career is over. He did race a couple races in the Xfinity series in 2015; one in 2016 and one more in 2017. After retiring; he became a TV announcer for the Truck series; and as of 2022 does the pre-race set up show for the Truck series races along with Jeff Hammond. When he retired Bodine
2006 win
2010 Kentucky win
had 794 career NASCAR starts. Late in 2021 it was announced that, thanks to overwhelming support in a social media campaign, the 57-year-old will be getting back behind the wheel for six races in the Camping World Truck Series. The sixth and final race will be at Pocono Raceway and will make Bodine the 28th driver ever to reach 800 career starts in NASCAR. Marcus Lemonis, the CEO of Camping World, kicked everything off by tweeting that he needed 800 reasons from the fans on Twitter why Bodine should return to the Truck Series and reach the important milestone. They responded in force and quickly hit the 800-tweet goal. Bodine last competed in the Truck Series in 2013. He made eight starts that season — seven with ThorSport Racing and one with Turner Scott Motorsports. His final race in the series was an 11th-place run at Pocono Raceway on August 3, 2013. But, Bodine was the "feel
good" story for 2022. After being out of a NASCAR Truck for nine years, Bodine returned to the cockpit. The farewell tour would be known as "The Onion's Last Ride". In his first race at Las Vegas, he was steady as he knocked off the rust from a nine year retirement. He ran clean; stayed on the lead lap and finished 21st. The Lady in Black was his next race. The old Darlington track has shown you have to be good to be fast; and experienced to keep it away from the walls. Bodine was competitive and even led some laps around mid-race. He ended up finishing tenth
2022 Darlington
2010 Truck Champ
Race Announcer ----->
as the handle on his truck went away late in the race. Still, it was a great showing for a well-liked driver who hadn't sat in a seat for nine years. He followed that with another strong performance at Texas. He ran around the top ten all night and eventually finished 13th. At Sonoma he had a much better truck than his final finish showed. He was competitive all day; even finishing tenth at the end of stage two. A strategy call, combined with a poorly timed yellow flag left Bonine in 20th; on the lead lap. Bodine's next to last race once again saw him as a top ten contender. He finished ninth at the end of stage two and was strong once again. But when the checkers flew he had encountered a problem in the last stage and finished 27th, two laps down. It was the first laps he had failed to complete in his 2022 season. The final start would come at Pocono. A track he liked, and had performed well at in the past. But only 12 laps into the race, another driver slid up into him and put Bodine into the wall. The crash collected five trucks in total and put Bodine out of the race. A very disappointing finish to a career. For his NASCAR career Bodine ran in 241 Cup races over a 19 year span. He only ran a full season on four occasions; and did not collect a win. In the Xfinity series he ran seven full seasons, while racing there 26 years. He had 15 wins and 90 top five finishes in 333 starts. He was second in the points in1997; and in the top five in points five times. It was in the Truck series where Bodine would shine. He raced 12 different years; but only ran eight full seasons. He garnered 22 wins in 226 starts and compiled 92 top five finishes. He was the Truck series champions on two occasions (2006 and 2010); and was in the top four in points six consecutive years. Some info from Wikipedia.
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