Talladega, AL – After taking the last two weekends off, the Camping World Truck Series will resume its schedule on Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway.
Talladega is the second and final restrictor-plate race for the series this year. Johnny Sauter won the season-opener at Daytona in February.
There are five races to go. After Talladega, the series heads to Martinsville (Oct. 26), Texas (Nov. 1) and then Phoenix (Nov. 8) before the season concludes at Homestead (Nov. 15).
Matt Crafton currently holds a 41-point lead over defending series champion James Buescher. Ty Dillon is 53 points out of the lead. Crafton had finished in the top-10 in each of the first 16 races before placing 11th in the Sept. 28 event at Las Vegas.
"We've just got to keep doing what we've been doing," Crafton said. "We can't go to a points-racing mode or just riding around or anything stupid like that. We've just got to keep on doing what we've been doing, which is racing to win each and every week, being aggressive when we can be, but above all, being smart."
Crafton will leave Talladega as the points leader, regardless of where he finishes. No points leader has won at this track since the series began racing here in 2006. The closest to do that was Ron Hornaday Jr. in 2008 when he finished second. Crafton's lone win this season came in April at Kansas. His best finish in seven races at Talladega is fourth, which came in 2010.
Kyle Busch is the only Sprint Cup Series regular who is competing in this race. Busch has two truck wins at Talladega -- 2009 and '10.
Earlier this year at Daytona, Busch ran behind Sauter in second on the final lap. He was setting up to pass Sauter, but a four-truck wreck occurred on the frontstretch, which ended the race under caution.
"I think in the past you always heard people talking about wanting to be running second at a superspeedway race with one to go and then you come off Turn 4 and slingshot your way to the win," Busch said. "With all the big accidents that seem to happen on the final lap -- especially in the Truck Series where maybe the guys running these races don't have as much experience in the draft or with the tandem whichever plays out at the end of the race -- I think you are probably better off being in the lead.
"At Daytona earlier this year I thought I was right where I wanted to be, running second behind Sauter, just biding my time and waiting to make my move at the end. Then all the sudden a wreck broke out behind us, and I never got the chance to make the pass."
Thirty-eight teams are on the entry list for the Fred's 250.
Series: NASCAR Camping World. Date: Saturday, Oct. 19. Race: Fred's 250. Site: Talladega Superspeedway. Track: 2.66-mile oval. Start time: 4 p.m. ET. Laps: 94. Miles: 250. 2012 Winner: Parker Kligerman. Television: FOX Sports 1. Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio.
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