Daytona's truck race moving to prime time

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Building on the popularity of exciting nighttime races, the fifth annual Florida Dodge Dealers 250 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race will run for the first time under the lights at historic Daytona International Speedway.

Craftsman Truck Series  Tools of the Trade

The kickoff race for the Craftsman Truck Series will go green on Friday night, Feb. 13.

The Florida Dodge Dealers 250 is traditionally scheduled during Speedweeks on Friday during the daytime, two days before the most prestigious race on the NASCAR circuit and the most watched motorsports event -- the Daytona 500.

The inaugural nighttime running of the Florida Dodge Dealers 250 at the "World Center of Racing" will be televised live on SPEED Channel in prime time.

The Florida Dodge Dealers 250 becomes the second race during Speedweeks to move to nighttime in the last two years. During Speedweeks 2003, the Budweiser Shootout was moved to night and televised in prime time on FOX Sports, which registered its largest rating for a prime time motorsports event -- a 5.5 rating, equal to almost six million households.