Jon Wood: MBNA 200 preview

DOVER, Del. -- Dover Downs did not get its nickname "The Monster Mile" for nothing. It is one of the most challenging tracks on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck schedule.

The "monster" bit Jon Wood during last year's race. He hit the wall on lap 14 and the team spent much of the race replacing the entire rear end of the truck. Wood returned to action, but only completed 78 laps.

"We ran so few laps last year that I feel like I don't have many laps there," Wood said. "This year will be totally different. We've got better trucks and I anticipate having a better race this time around.

"I like Dover. It is a fast track and it's fairly tricky. It is a Winston Cup racer's track. If there is anywhere that a Cup driver has been that would benefit them, this is the place. Guys like Ted Musgrave and Bobby Hamilton will definitely have an advantage based on their experience there."

Wood and the No. 50 Roush Racing team will be taking chassis No. 28 which is the same truck they raced at Darlington earlier in the year.

He was running in eighth place with 30 laps to go at Darlington until overheating problems ended his day prematurely.

"This is a good truck," Wood said. "It was running well at Darlington until we overheated. We know what the problem was there so we can avoid that in the future. Now we just need to focus on finding the right set-up. We need to qualify well so hopefully that will put us ahead of the wrecks that are inevitable at a place like Dover. When you have that many trucks going that fast, something exciting is bound to happen."

Roush Racing captured the inaugural Craftsman Truck race at Dover Downs in 2000 when Kurt Busch claimed his third victory as a rookie in the series. Series champion Greg Biffle was second in the event so Roush teams certainly have some good notes to work from for this year's race.

"It's nice to know both Kurt and Greg will be there with us on Friday," Wood said. "One of the great things about being in the Roush organization is that you can always ask any of your teammates for help and they will be there for you. I'm sure both of them would have plenty of helpful advice."