The Craftsman Truck Series races for the third time Saturday at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, a track where drafting is paramount, big-pack running the norm and multi-truck crashes the fear.

--(Cont'd From Front Page)-- "Talladega is your typical superspeedway where anything can happen and happens fast," points leader Johnny Benson said. "We just have to keep out of the big wreck and be there at the end of the race."

Ron Hornaday Jr. trails Benson's Bill Davis Racing Toyota by one point with six races remaining. It's almost the same situation the Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet driver faced a year ago entering this event.

"Last year going into Talladega, I would say we were more on the conservative side," Hornaday said. "We were only three points behind (Mike) Skinner and just needed to make it out of Talladega with a good solid finish and not try too hard and let one little mistake cause us to lose points. We have to have the same mindset this year."

Hornaday finished seventh, Skinner 13th and took the lead en route to his third CTS championship.

Todd Bodine led the final 12 laps and won by .014 seconds over Rick Crawford at Talladega in 2007. The Germain Racing Toyota driver won this season's opener at Daytona, a track with the same characteristics as Talladega, but hasn't returned to victory lane since.

"I'm excited," Bodine said. "I've always enjoyed Talladega and Daytona speedway racing. It doesn't hurt things when you've won the last two races and you're taking the same truck that's been the winning truck. But the Lumber Liquidators Tundra crew didn't just sit on the truck and wait for the next race. They've worked to make it even better."

In six combined starts at Talladega and Daytona, Bodine has finished fifth or higher in each race. Five of those races have been with Germain.

Bodine, the 2006 CTS champion, is in seventh in the points and out of contention in what has become a two-driver race for the championship. Matt Crafton, in the ThorSport Racing Chevrolet, is 164 points behind in third.

"We're not going to win the championship and we're not going to finish second, but we're only 93 points out of third and that's incredible," Bodine said. "There's five guys fighting for third, so there's kind of two points races going on and that's what we're going for."

Joey Logano will make his CTS debut in HT Motorsports' Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch will return to the series in Billy Ballew Motorsports' Toyota. Busch has three wins in 12 starts this season for Ballew.

"It's going to be interesting," said Logano, who will replace Tony Stewart next season in Gibbs' No. 20 Sprint Cup entry. "I've never driven a truck before and never drafted or anything like that. I think it'll be a good thing."

Fast facts

What: Mountain Dew 250
Where: Talladega Superspeedway
When: 4 p.m. ET Saturday
TV: Speed, 3:30 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN/Sirius Satellite Ch. 128
Track layout: 2.66 miles
Race distance: 94 laps/250 miles
2007 winner: Todd Bodine
2007 polesitter: Todd Bodine

Reader comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy

---

NOTE: I'm a one man show, not supported by anyone. If you wish to donate to help offset expense, it would be appreciated:

toolbar powered by Conduit

BACK TO FRONT PAGE<