Full Throttle

Mark Martin made his last race in a Roush Racing truck a memorable one, pulling away for a hard-earned victory Friday night, while Todd Bodine wrapped up the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship, the first title for any of the racing Bodine’s, with a 21^st-place finish in the Ford 200.

Martin, who will end a 19-year association with Jack Roush’s team after Sunday’s Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, won for the sixth time in 14 races this season.

Bodine, 42, fought a vibration throughout race and was never really challenged for the points lead in the season-finale. Runner-up Johnny Benson was hit by the spinning car of Chase Miller; then Benson suffered a cut tire and lost three laps while pitting under the green flag.

Benson, who entered the race trailing Bodine by 112 points, wound up 26^th in the race and 127 points behind the new champion.

“We did what we had to do, but it’s a shame we had to race that way,” Bodine said. “At the very end, the tires were vibrating so bad I couldn’t go any faster. That’s not our style, but I couldn’t go any faster.”

Martin will drive a part-time Nextel Cup schedule with MB2 Motorsports next season and a partial truck schedule with the Wood Brothers/JTG Racing team. Martin takes over the F-150 ride of Australian Marcos Ambrose who’s moving up to the Busch Series with the Woods Bros.

“It’s not like it’s getting cut way too short,” he said about leaving Roush. “If it had happened 10 years ago, then I’d be emotional. But it’s been a good long ride.”

NASCAR, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Sports, Auto Racing, Motorsports, Full Throttle