Getty Todd Bodine won 22 races in the Truck Series.
The Onion has made a major announcement about his return to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Todd Bodine has revealed his schedule and the team that he will join for six races.
Bodine spoke to FOX Sports reporter Bob Pockrass and provided some context for how this sponsorship deal with Camping World came about, and then he revealed that he will suit up for Halmar Friesen Racing and work as a teammate of Stewart Friesen.
According to Bodine, his first of six races will take place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He will then join Halmar Friesen Racing for trips to Darlington Raceway, Texas Motor Speedway, Sonoma Raceway, Nashville Superspeedway, and Pocono Raceway. Once he makes this sixth start, he will hit 800 for his career.
Bodine made 220 starts over 11 years, including full-time seasons from 2005-2012, and he won two Truck Series Championships. He captured his first in 2006 after holding off Johnny Benson Jr. and then he added his second in 2010 after a fierce battle with Aric Almirola.
Camping World’s CEO Set Bodine’s Return in Motion
Marcus Lemonis, the CEO and Chairman of Camping World, has made waves throughout his career with his business deals. He has sponsored a wide variety of drivers in the Truck Series on short notice, providing them with the opportunity to compete, and he led the way as Camping World became the title sponsor of both the Truck Series and Tony Stewart’s SRX Series.
The deal with Bodine is only the latest example. Lemonis started the process in September by tweeting that he needed 800 reasons from fans to set up The Onion’s return for six races. The fans responded in force with a multitude of reasons and made the deal possible.
Bodine will now make the six starts that will take him to 800 total across all three national series. He will become the 28th driver in NASCAR history to reach this mark, joining such names as Greg Biffle (836), Jeff Gordon (878), Kyle Petty (885), and Joe Nemechek (1,188).
HFR Confirmed the Partnership With a Press Release
HFR, the team behind Friesen’s No. 52 Toyota, also confirmed in a press release that The Onion will join them for six races as part of his deal with Camping World. Team owner Chris Larsen joked in the release that Bodine’s decision to pick Friesen in big races is a “kiss of death,” so the team will be excited to get him out of the FOX Sports studio.
“We started talking about the possibility of doing something like this with Marcus Lemonis (CEO and Chairman of Camping World) around this time last year,” Bodine said in a statement. “When Marcus tweeted back in October that he needed 800 reasons from the fans to make this happen, the fans responded with thousands of reasons!
“We are excited for the opportunity to reach the 800-start mark with top equipment from the team at HFR. It’s also great to be back with Toyota. We have 23 wins and two championships with Toyota, so I’m proud to achieve this milestone in a Tundra. I have already heard from several Camping World Truck Series drivers, who have never raced against me in the past, they sound as excited to race me as I am to come out of the FOX Sports Studio for these six races and race them!”
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