Gaughan Survived Martinsville with Ninth-Place Finish

Mooresville, NC (04-03-2011) Brendan Gaughan steered the No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino Tundra to a ninth-place finish after starting deep in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series field in Saturday afternoon’s Kroger 250. Gaughan qualified 31st, led seven laps and earned his third top-ten finish at the low-banked but high-action Martinsville Speedway. 

“The only time I ever have a good finish is if I start behind 30th-place. All my top-10s at Martinsville have come from 30th or worse in qualifying and it really drives me nuts because Germain Racing is giving me great Toyotas and this Tundra was very good,” said Gaughan, who correctly stated his results – both of his previous top-ten’s at Martinsville came from starting spots in the back of the field.

Gaughan loves to hate the Virginia track because the style of racing is frustrating for a driver who cut his teeth off-road – not on short, tight ovals. He admits that Martinsville got the better of him after qualifying on Saturday morning.

“I was mad in qualifying because I kept saying that the South Point Hotel & Casino Tundra was a good race truck and I just feel or I get all flustered here at Martinsville. I don’t feel like I’m good at it, but when the race comes, I’m fine,” explained the Las Vegas native.

After the completion of the 250 lap event, Gaughan and his crew wondered if he passed more vehicles than any one else out there on route to his ninth-place finish. According to NASCAR’s Loop Data, Gaughan ranked seventh. He passed 63 trucks under green flag conditions. The racer that passed the most actually overtook 80 race trucks under the green flag.

“Germain Racing gave me good stuff. I think we definitely got the deal for passing the most vehicles today because I know I went back to 25th at least three times,” exclaimed Gaughan, who had no complaints about the tires that many others were questioning. “I like the Goodyear tires. This reminded me of the old school tire where the tires wear out and that’s where I won my race is when you had tires that were old and worn out and sliding.”

All in all, Gaughan enjoyed his 250-lap Martinsville adventure. The ninth-place effort boosted him eight places to 13th in the Truck Series standings.

“Had a great time, had a great Martinsville race and came out of here with a top-10. This is what we needed to get ourselves back on track and I can’t believe I did it at Martinsville,” smiled Gaughan.

The next race for the No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino Tundra is Nashville on April 22nd.

Gaughan holds eight Truck Series victories to go along with his two K&N Pro Series West championship titles. Follow Gaughan at www.BrendanGaughan.com or on Twitter @Brendan62.

Germain Racing has earned two championship titles in the Truck Series. The Toyota team owns 22 victories and 9 pole awards in the series that continues to grow ratings on SPEED. For more information on Germain Racing, visit www.GermainRacing.com or follow the team on Twitter @GermainRacing.

About South Point…The South Point (http://www.SouthPointCasino.com) is a 2,200-room resort in Las Vegas, Nevada providing affordable luxury while catering to visitors and locals alike. This casino destination features a world-class spa, bowling center, eight restaurants, showroom, equestrian arena, convention center, exhibit hall, bingo and all of the casino games that made Las Vegas famous. The South Point opened in December 2005.

Bodine and Germain.com Crew Made Most of Martinsville Weekend

Mooresville, NC (04-04-2011) – Short track victories remain elusive for Germain Racing after another NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race weekend was completed at Martinsville Speedway. Todd Bodine qualified 15th in the No. 30 Germain.com Tundra and finished 14th, on the lead lap, with a Toyota that bore plenty of battle scars to tell the story of a rough and rugged day of half-mile racing.

“We had a good truck for Saturday’s race, but we got into the back of the 5 at the beginning of the race. That contact put the splitter up in the air, messed up cambers and killed the downforce on our Germain.com Tundra. If things had gone the right way, we were a top-five truck,” said Bodine, who finished 14th, on the lead lap, in the Kroger 250.

Bodine credits his team’s work for his respectable result, despite the significant damage to his Toyota Tundra.

“Pit strategy. Pit stops. Hard work by everyone and at times we got lucky. Some times we had better tires than some of the guys. A little of everything went into our finish, but mostly team work from this number 30 Germain Racing team,” said Bodine.

Crew chief Mike Hillman Jr. says the weekend wasn’t a win, but, the team and driver efforts were second to none.

“The guys did a great job on pit road repairing the damage to make the truck the best it could be after being part of three cautions. Todd and the crew did the best they could do with the damage we had to work with. We can’t be too proud of the finish, but, I’m proud of the hard work and never-give-up attitude of this team. We’re ready to go to Nashville,” said Hillman.

The highlight of the day for Hillman was watching Germain Racing’s team performance.

“We had three of our four trucks in the top ten on Saturday. With the way Justin (Lofton) ran in practice and in qualifying, he was going to be good, too. It was awesome to watch our teammates race for the lead, lead laps and to see the strength of Germain Racing,” said Hillman Jr.

Bodine enjoyed watching the youth of the Truck Series competing in the top positions.

“The kids we have in the Truck Series this year are good and they’re going to be good all year. They grew up on short tracks, so I expected them to be tough on Saturday,” said Bodine.

After three of 25 races, Bodine ranks eighth in the Truck Series points standings. Germain Racing and Todd Bodine fire up the No. 30 Tundra next at Nashville Superspeedway on April 22nd.

Follow Germain Racing on Twitter @GermainRacing or on the web at Germainracing.com or become a fan on Facebook: Facebook.com/pages/Germain-Racing/198863890135.

When shopping for your new or used car or truck, head directly to Germain.com to find the perfect vehicle or visit your local Germain dealer in Ohio, Florida, or Arkansas. Germain.com is part of Germain Motor Company, a top-25 automotive retail network with 21 dealerships and more than 60 years of experience.

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  - Bodine Leads Truck Series Championship Battle by 282-point margin

 - Has Earned Four Wins this season, 21 in his Truck Series Career

 - Germain Racing has 22 Truck Series Victories and Nine Pole Awards

October 26, 2010 (Mooresville, N.C.) - Talladega Superspeedway will be a welcome sight for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series points leader, Todd Bodine, and the No. 30 Valvoline Tundra crew of Germain Racing. Bodine cleared one of the two remaining unknowns on the 2010 Truck Series schedule as he seeks his second championship title. He and the Germain Racing team left Martinsville Speedway with a third-place finish and a 282-point lead and turned their sights on the last big variable in the championship puzzle—Talladega.

“Talladega is the last big unknown on the schedule for this Germain Racing team. We have been to victory lane at Talladega twice, we’ve sat on the pole there, but, we know that when we unload the No. 30 Valvoline Tundra at Talladega, there’s a lot about how it finishes that’s beyond our control. As a crew chief, I’ve got even less control than the man behind the wheel,” said crew chief Mike Hillman Jr.

Truck Series champion Todd Bodine, who continues to lead the 2010 standings by a record-setting margin after racking up four wins and two pole awards to add to his  NASCAR career totals, calls Talladega a wild card.

“We saw it at Daytona, how close we came to winning that race and how we missed out at the very last second. Talladega is an even bigger wild card than a Daytona or a Martinsville. It’s a track where you have to be as lucky as you are good. This No. 30 Valvoline Tundra team is really good at Talladega. We have two wins there. With the right luck this week, we’ll get our third win at that track,” said Bodine, who has finished fourth or better in each of the four Truck Series events at Talladega, including two wins and one pole award. Further, Bodine has finished fifth or better in each of the 10 superspeedway races.

While Talladega is a wild card on the schedule as far as the final result, Hillman Jr. explains that this team knows what to expect when they unload in the Alabama infield.

“The truck we are racing is the same truck we’ve used for all four of our superspeedway wins. We know this truck. We know that the No. 30 Valvoline Tundra will be one of the top trucks right off the trailer. A lot of that confidence comes from all of the hard work put into this truck by the guys in the paint shop, the fab shop, and by our team members. And, a lot of our confidence comes from the guy behind the wheel - Todd Bodine. He has a unique talent for tracks like this and it kind of makes my job from the pit box a little bit easier,” said Hillman, whose team has chosen chassis TRD-058 for Talladega duty.

Watch Bodine the No. 30 Valvoline Tundra on Saturday, October 30th, at Talladega Superspeedway. You can watch the action on SPEED beginning with practice at 10:00 AM Eastern on Friday, followed by qualifying that afternoon at 4:40 PM and racing on Saturday at 3:00 PM. If you won’t be by a TV, set your DVR, and tune your radio dial to your local MRN affiliate  Follow Germain Racing on Twitter @GermainRacing or on the web at Germainracing.com or become a Facebook fan.

About Valvoline: Valvoline, a brand of Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH), has been serving American motorists longer than any other motor oil. The Valvoline family of products includes Eagle One® appearance products, Car Brite® car restoration products, Zerex® antifreeze, SynPower® performance products and MaxLife® products created for higher-mileage engines. With more than 850 locations throughout the United States, Valvoline Instant Oil Change® is a leader in serving the quick lube market.

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Mooresville, N.C. (10-25-1010) – The Germain Racing team knew Saturday’s Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway was a wild card as far as the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series standings were concerned. In the spring, they brought a top-performing race truck to the track, only to see their race day cut short by someone else’s mistake. Todd Bodine, the series points leader since May, entered the race 262 points ahead, and left with another twenty points cushion. With the help of strong performances by the No. 30 Germain.com Tundra pit crew, Bodine took the lead for 83 laps before finishing third. It was an outstanding effort by team and driver, who were reeling from the loss of Bodine’s mother on Friday evening, as well as working to overcome a tough starting position.

“This race was a little eventful for us – not a normal, typical Martinsville for us.  Starting 24th we knew we had to strategize our way to the front and (Mike Hillman) Junior (crew chief) did a great job and had a plan laid out to get track position that we needed and it worked.  We had a really, really good Toyota Tundra.  It kind of went away a little bit at the end.  I was overdriving it a little bit probably,” said Bodine, who was pleased with the third place result of the Germain.com Tundra. “This was one of the wild cards we were worried about with the points race and anything can happen like in the spring time.  A guy stopped in front of me in the middle of the back straightaway and I ran into him, popped the radiator and blew the motor.  That’s stuff that you can’t control.  To come out of here with the Germain.com Tundra in third is a great day, a good run for us.  We’ve got a lot of good runs at Martinsville – we finally led some laps and ended up leading the most laps today so that was good points wise.  I’m proud of everybody at Germain Racing for sticking with me and doing a great job every single week.”

Crew chief Mike Hillman Jr. was extremely proud of his team and driver and what they accomplished after 206 laps of Martinsville racing.

“I couldn’t ask for more from any one on this Germain.com Tundra team. We’ve all had a very long week for a variety of reasons. To come here, to a track that’s been one where we have struggled or seen our hard work end up in pieces in the garage, and to have a race like we had where we were out front, the truck to beat, for almost half the race. We are very happy with our third-place finish. It was a great reward for all that everyone has worked through this week,” said Hillman.

On Saturday, Bodine drove the race truck that went to victory lane at Darlington Raceway. He raced with a determined but heavy heart, which was very evident in his post-race interview with SPEED’s Adam Alexander.

“I’m really proud of this team. We didn’t have the fastest truck today, but we finished third. That’s because of what Junior did and the guys in the pits. This is how you win championships. We did really good. I’m proud of this Germain Racing team. It’s tough. I was good until we got on pit road and then it was pretty hard. It’s all good now. Mom and Dad were watching. They were in the grandstands in the sky rooting for me. Mom and Dad loved this race track and I know they were with me,” explained Bodine of his race, which came the day after he found out his mother, Carol June Bodine, had passed away.

The No. 30 Valvoline Tundra races next on Saturday, October 30^th at Talladega Superspeedway, a track where Bodine and Germain Racing have combined for two victories and a pole award. You can watch the coverage on SPEED beginning with practice at 10:00 AM Eastern on Friday, followed by qualifying that afternoon at 4:40 PM and racing on Saturday at 3:00 PM. If you won’t be by a TV, set your DVR, and tune your radio dial to your local MRN affiliate.

Follow Germain Racing on Twitter @GermainRacing or on the web at Germainracing.com or become a Facebook fan.

When shopping for your new or used car or truck, head directly to Germain.com to find the perfect vehicle or visit your local Germain dealer in Ohio, Florida, or Arkansas. Germain.com is part of Germain Motor Company, a top-25 automotive retail network with 21 dealerships and more than 60 years of experience.

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 - Bodine Leads the Truck Series Championship Battle by a 262-point margin

 - No. 30 Germain.com Tundra Will Sport Special Pink Scheme for October NBCA

 - Germain Racing has 22 Truck Series Victories and Eight Pole Awards

 - Bodine Owns 21 Truck Series wins with Germain Racing and 36 NASCAR career wins

October 19, 2010 (Mooresville, N.C.) - Taking a record-setting point lead into Martinsville Speedway for Saturday’s Kroger 200 is no reason for the No. 30 Germain.com Tundra team to throw caution to the wind. Instead, driver Todd Bodine and crew chief Mike Hillman Jr. have some plans in place for how to deal with the endless variables presented by racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on one of the toughest short tracks in NASCAR.

“Martinsville is a tough little short track. Anything can happen and we know we have to come out of there with a good finish. Do we want to win? Of course we do! We are going to Martinsville with high expectations, and, at the same time, we realize what our finish needs to be,” explained Bodine, the 2010 Truck Series championship points leader, who has collected four wins behind the wheel of the No. 30 Tundra this year.

When Bodine says the Germain Racing team is heading to Martinsville Speedway to collect the team’s first short-track win, he’s serious. The team returns to the track with TRD-122, which ran at Martinsville in the spring, and has since been to Darlington’s winner’s circle. It also passed a recent testing session with flying colors.

“We tested at Little Rock and we think we have the right truck for Martinsville. I expect that the Germain.com Tundra will still be tight in the middle of the corners, but we have a game plan to fix it,” said Hillman.

Bodine further explained the philosophy behind the testing session.

“We didn’t go to Little Rock to find a chassis setup for Martinsville. We went to Little Rock to improve on our short track program and we are now going into Martinsville with a little extra optimism. We have a direction to go. We went to Little Rock to figure some other things out and we did. We should be fine,” said Bodine.

At Bodine’s insistence, the Germain Racing team took their typical effort to promote October as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month a step further. In addition to sporting pink ribbons, the No. 30 Germain.com Tundra will be very pink.

“For a lot of reasons, promoting Breast Cancer Awareness has been an important mission for Germain Racing since our first year in the Trucks. All Germain Racing vehicles have pink ribbons in October. The Germain.com Tundra will be very pink at Martinsville. Everything on the truck that would normally be red is going to be pink. It’s going to look great. I can’t wait to see it,” said Bodine.

Watch for Bodine in the pink Germain.com Tundra on Saturday, October 23, at Martinsville Speedway. SPEED will cover Truck Series practice on Friday, the 22nd, at 1:00 PM ET, and live racing on Saturday at 12:30 PM.

Follow Germain Racing on Twitter @GermainRacing or on the web at Germainracing.com or become a Facebook fan.

When shopping for your new or used car or truck, head directly to Germain.com to find the perfect vehicle or visit your local Germain dealer in Ohio, Florida, or Arkansas. Germain.com is part of Germain Motor Company, a top-25 automotive retail network with 21 dealerships and more than 60 years of experience.

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Mooresville, NC (06-08-2010) – NASCAR K&N Pro Series East rookie Zach Germain raced Sunday afternoon in the rain-shortened event at Martinsville Speedway. The Ohio native raced his way through the field to ninth-place before getting caught on pit road by the rainfall and then finishing 15^th in his fourth NASCAR career start. The weekend was a unique and intense learning experience for Germain who had what he considered to be an all-star crew.

“Our Germain.com Camry team learned and accomplished more than I could have hoped for this weekend at Martinsville Speedway. A lot of that is due to our teammates on the No. 30 Valvoline Tundra crew that came straight to Martinsville on Saturday after winning the race in Texas on Friday night. For me and my team, having them there allowed us to learn in very controlled steps throughout the practice sessions, qualifying and the race. We achieved our team goal of completing all of the laps and we really competed this weekend. It was wild. There was a lot of beating and banging but that’s Martinsville,” said Germain.

Germain received driver-coaching from Truck Series champion Todd Bodine and learned that sometimes different setups simply require different driving styles.

“At first, I had a tough time figuring out my braking and throttle points through the corners. Todd Bodine was generous enough to come out first thing after his Texas win and help me. He was very helpful when it came to a fast line around the track. Mike Hillman Jr. made great changes to the Germain.com Camry and during the last five laps of the first practice I finally figured out my style of driving around Martinsville. It was a great feeling,” explained Germain.

Mike Hillman Jr. didn’t plan to go to Martinsville Speedway to handle the crew chief role for the rookie driver and young team, but, Hillman loves being a crew chief and doing anything he can to make Germain Racing a success on the race track. Hillman explained that he used a different approach with Germain than he does with his regular driver, Bodine.

“The way I approached Saturday and Sunday was a lot different than the way I approached Thursday and Friday because then I was working with Todd Bodine, and I know by the tone of Todd’s voice what he needs changed. Working with Zach, in my first K&N Pro Series East race, I knew that it was our first race together, and I knew that what’s most important is completing all of the race laps, all of practice – every lap possible. With Zach being a rookie driver at a Cup Series facility like Martinsville, track time is extremely valuable. I listened to Zach’s feedback, made changes and listened to hear him react to and understand those changes. It worked great and we improved the car every time,” said Hillman.

Hillman and his crew members had been anxious to work a K&N Pro Series race since the season began, but Martinsville was the first time the scheduling worked out.

“I love racing. I love being a crew chief. Working with Zach and the 24 crew, and our sister team, the No. 77 Camry with Jeff (McClure) and Miguel (Paludo) in the East Series was really fun. We have two great teams competing in the K&N Series and this weekend made me even more proud to work for Germain Racing,” said Hillman.

Watch Sunday’s race on SPEED on June 10^th at 6:00 PM Eastern.

Zach Germain races the No. 24 Germain.com Camry next on Friday, June 25^th at another Sprint Cup Series track – New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Qualifying is at 3:15 PM ET on June 24th. The New Hampshire race will air on SPEED on July 1st at 6 PM ET.

Germain Racing is a championship-winning organization competing in all three of NASCAR’s national series. The team adds the K&N Pro Series East No. 24 Germain.com Camry to its lineup this year, and may add K&N Pro Series West and late model races. Sponsorship and branding opportunities are available. Visit GermainRacing.com for more information.  

When shopping for your new or used car or truck, head directly to Germain.com to find the perfect vehicle or visit your local Germain dealer in Ohio, Florida, or Arkansas. Follow Zach Germain or Germain Racing on Twitter @ZachGermain, @GermainRacing, or on the web, Germainracing.com or become a Facebook fan.

Mooresville, NC (June 7, 2010) - Germain Racing clinched its seventh Texas Motor Speedway victory on Friday night when Todd Bodine drove the No. 30 Valvoline Tundra to the winner's circle in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The win was Bodine's sixth at Texas.

Saturday was race day at Nashville Superspeedway for Michael Annett and the No. 15 Pilot Travel Centers Camry. Annett started 20th and finished 14th in the 225-lap event.

Sunday in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series  race at Pocono Raceway, Max Papis started 20th in the No. 13 GEICO Camry and finished 34th.
Also on Sunday, Zach Germain drove the Germain.com Camry to a 15th-place finish at Martinsville Speedway in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East.
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