KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? This weekend proved to be a good time for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers who recently altered their teams.

Todd Bodine – who was racing for just the second time with Germain-Arnold Racing after switching back to his former team last week in Milwaukee – won the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 Saturday at Kansas Speedway.

“My truck was so strong on restarts that I could run wide open,” said Bodine, who battled through a series of late race restarts before pulling away from the pack with three laps left.

“A green-white-checker is basically two laps, and I knew I could run it wide open for two laps.”

Bodine – who has three victories in just 10 starts for the GAR team that fueled his success last season before he switched to crew chief Tony Furr – held off rookie driver Todd Kluever, who won a back-and-forth battle for second with David Reutimann in the late laps.

“We just didn’t have quite enough for Todd,” said Kluever, who had a career-best finish despite swapping crew chiefs with Ricky Craven early in the weekend.

“I thought we were going to maybe have a shot at winning this thing when I got past (Ron) Hornaday Jr. on that restart, but Todd had other ideas.”

Todd Bodine crosses the finish line to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series O'Reilly Auto Parts 250. Bodine prevailed Saturday at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan.

But Bodine – who gave Toyota its first victory of the season, snapping Chevy’s five-race win streak – said his best decision was to return to his Germain team.

“When we parted ways before, it was more of a difference of opinion,” said Bodine, the former Cup driver who also has 15 Busch Series victories. “We’ve remained friends. In this business, you don’t burn any bridges for sure.

“We parted ways as friends. As it turns out, we both knew we made mistakes, and we were able to correct ourselves.”

¢ Close call: Kelly Sutton – who started her 32nd truck race Saturday, breaking the series record for races by a woman – survived a scare.

With 13 laps left, Chris Fontaine hit the wall in Turn No. 4 and spun back into traffic. Sutton tried to steer away but got loose herself and slammed into Fontaine, causing her truck to flip onto its top and slide down the Speedway.

“You just hold onto the steering wheel real tight,” said Sutton, who received medical clearance after being checked out at the infield medical center. “I was watching it slide across, and I saw the wall coming, and I thought, ‘Oh, man, don’t hit it too hard.’ Then it flipped back over.”

¢ Gatorade, is it on you?: ARCA REMAX/Series driver Chad Blount was dripping wet after a Gatorade shower in Victory Lane on Saturday after winning the Kansas Lottery $200 Grand.

“I can squeeze Gatorade out of my arms,” he quipped.

¢ Coolwave: Anytime the sun shines without cloud interference in July in Kansas City, there’s going to be some heat at the Kansas Speedway. But compared to years past, temperatures have been noticeably cooler this weekend.

Saturday’s temperatures topped out close to 90, almost cool considering the 100-degree heat that usually accompanies this weekend at the Speedway.

“This race is always unforgettable because every year we come here the heat adds another variable,” said Sam Hornish Jr., who celebrated his 26th birthday with his 19th consecutive top-10 start.

Temperatures in the low 90s still mean track temperatures can reach 120-135 degrees, which can change a track’s setup considerably.