Bodine, Starr crews clash

By Michael Vega, Globe Staff

Too bad track officials didn't have a Secret Service detachment to police the wild pit-road donnybrook that erupted between the crews of Toyota drivers Todd Bodine and David Starr, who was rammed from behind by Bodine on the cool-down lap and then acosted by one of Bodine's crew members as he attempted to climb out of his truck, igniting a wild melee.

Todd Bodine's crew chief Mike Hillman Jr., center, talks with officials following a fight after the NASCAR New Hampshire 200 Truck Series at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., Saturday. (Globe Staff Photo/Matthew J. Lee)

The altercation stemmed from an on-track incident on Lap 195 of the 200-lap Camping World RV Rental 200, won by Chevy driver Ron Hornaday, when Starr's truck slid up into Bodine's as they entered Turn 2, causing it to spin out.

"Well, in [Turns] 3 and 4 the lap before I could see it looked like the 30 [Bodine] was real loose and I knew those guys were racing hard,'' said rookie Brian Scott, who witnessed the whole thing unfold from behind the wheel of his Chevy Silverado. "The 11 [Starr] was inside of 'em and it looked like, honestly, they both had loose-handling, just-not-right trucks. They went into the first corner and ... I mean, I didn't see anything that looked real intentional or real like, shocking, to me.

"It looked like one slid into the other and one got loose and they made contact.''

More contact, in the form of thrown punches, was made afterward on pit-road between Bodine's crew and Starr's, which twice had to be separated.

NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp indicated the matter would be reviewed and penalties would likely be meted out later in the week.