Almirola beats Bodine and Busch at MIS

Almirola wins at the line
Mark Scheuern/AR1.com

Out of nowhere, with two others ready to decide the outcome, Aric Almirola decided to make it a three-way affair and all but stole the VFW 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday.

What appeared to be a shootout between points-leader Todd Bodine and Kyle Busch became a three-way battle with Almirola jumping in the middle of a tight, three-wide dice for the lead following a restart with eight laps remaining.

Almirola, not in the most enviable position of the three contenders, went for the lead, got it with seven laps left and held off the hard-charging Bodine and Busch to win for the second time this season and first at MIS.

“I didn’t think it was the greatest place to be, but I knew we were going to run wide open to the corner and we were either going to crash or make it out the other side on that last restart," Almirola said. “I knew how important clean air was and I knew it was my only shot to get out in the lead, and if I didn’t get out in the lead there was no chance of us winning the race. I went down in turn one and I knew I was going to run a shorter distance than Todd (on the outside of the three-wide situation) so I just tried to hang tight on Kyle’s door and get him loose, which I did. By the time we got off Turn 2, I was almost clear of Todd and then we went through three and four I cleared him. That was the move of the race as far as I was concerned. Our car in dirty air wasn’t as good as it needed to be and that was the key."

There was a Truck Series track record of 20 lead changes up to that point. Neither Bodine nor Busch was going to make it 21 with Almirola winning by a scant 0.111 seconds, or about one car length. Busch was another two car lengths back in third. Ron Hornaday Jr. finished fourth with rookie Austin Dillon fifth.

“We just didn’t have enough," said Bodine, who posted his fifth top-10 finish in six races at MIS. “We had a great truck. We were a little tight on exit at the end and I could role up and start to go around Aric but I just couldn‘t continue. With two to go, I rolled up and did it without lifting and I almost knocked the wall down and I thought Kyle was going to pass us."

Busch posted his fifth top-10 finish in five races at MIS, but was anything but overjoyed. He was asked what it was like racing three wide for the lead toward the end of the race.

“It’s challenging. You’re all over the place trying to get back up in there, slicing, dicing and everything. I just didn’t have enough. Unfortunately they gave me a good truck and the driver didn’t get it done. I was trying to find some way to get around those guys but I couldn’t find it," Busch said.

Tickets are still available for Sunday’s Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400, and start at $30 for general admission. Kids 12 and under are free in those sections.

Nestled in the lush Irish Hills of Southeastern Michigan, Michigan International Speedway is the Great Escape, a venerable NASCAR national park where fans can get away and enjoy the very best in racing and camaraderie. It’s the love of racing and the thrill of a great time for race fans and drivers alike.

Results

FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS
1 10 51 Aric Almirola Toyota Zyclara by Graceway Pharmaceutica-ls 190/5 100 Running
2 7 30 Todd Bodine Toyota Germain.com 180/10 100 Running
3 8 18 Kyle Busch Toyota Toyota Tundra 170/5 100 Running
4 2 33 Ron Hornaday Chevrolet Longhorn Smokeless Tobacco 165/5 100 Running
5 1 3 Austin Dillon * Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 160/5 100 Running
6 12 17 Timothy Peters Toyota Red Horse Racing 150/0 100 Running
7 16 23 Jason White Ford GunBroker.com 146/0 100 Running
8 24 81 David Starr Toyota Randy Moss Motorsports 142/0 100 Running
9 5 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet Grange Insurance 138/0 100 Running
10 14 15 Nelson Piquet Jr. Toyota ArcSight / Qualcomm 134/0 100 Running
11 9 60 Stacy Compton Chevrolet SafeAuto Insurance Co. / Melling Engine Parts 135/5 100 Running
12 19 5 Mike Skinner Toyota International Trucks / Monaco RV 127/0 100 Running
13 13 07 Donny Lia Dodge SS Green Light Racing 124/0 100 Running
14 6 13 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet EZ Grill / Curb Records 121/0 100 Running
15 11 4 Ricky Carmichael Chevrolet Monster Energy 118/0 100 Running
16 3 31 James Buescher Chevrolet Wolfpack Rentals 115/0 100 Running
17 20 84 Chris Fontaine Chevrolet Glenden Enterprises 112/0 100 Running
18 18 7 Justin Lofton * Toyota VisitPIT.com 109/0 100 Running
19 23 90 Brad Sweet Toyota Great Clips 106/0 99 Running
20 15 48 Hermie Sadler Chevrolet ShopTNA.com 108/5 99 Running
21 27 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb * Ford drivenmale.com / DriverBoutique.com 100/0 99 Running
22 25 39 Ryan Sieg Chevrolet S&W Services 102/5 99 Running
23 17 12 Mario Gosselin Chevrolet TireMonkey.com / James Carter Attorney 94/0 98 Running
24 32 47 Brett Butler * Chevrolet FuelDoctorUSA.com 91/0 97 Running
25 33 6 Donnie Neuenberger Chevrolet E-Z Slider Cylinder Liners 88/0 93 Running
26 35 01 Michael Guerity Chevrolet Koma Unwind Chillaxation Drink / IAmAFootSoldier.com 85/0 91 Running
27 4 88 Matt Crafton Chevrolet NIBCO / Menards 87/5 83 Engine
28 34 57 Norm Benning Chevrolet Norm Benning Racing 79/0 58 Engine
29 28 85 Brent Raymer Ford Ford. Drive one. 76/0 30 Vibration
30 21 21 Chad McCumbee Dodge ASI Limited 78/5 29 Fuel Pump
31 29 93 Mike Garvey Chevrolet S&W Services 70/0 24 Handling
32 36 95 Terry Jones Dodge Team Gill Racing 67/0 23 Engine
33 22 187 Chris Jones Chevrolet Copy Wizard 64/0 21 Transmission
34 30 89 Mike Harmon Ford Lafferty Performance 61/0 13 Susp.
35 26 46 Chase Austin Dodge Team Gill Racing 58/0 10 Engine
36 31 216 J C Stout Chevrolet FuelDoctorUSA.com 55/0 6 Ignition

* Denotes Rookie