Crafton more than ready for first Truck Series win

For just the second time in history, the Truck Series will run on the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway in the Mountain Dew 250 (3:30 p.m. ET, SPEED), and for the second time, 36 drivers know anything is possible and so much of their success is out of their control.

"When you come through traffic at Talladega, you rely some on gut instinct, and you have to keep looking ahead, knowing what the guys ahead of you are doing," fourth-place finisher last year Todd Bodine said. "You find speed by side-drafting, and getting a hole to pulling into a draft then get back out to pass again.

By the Numbers

History shows that the races in Daytona and Talladega can help clarify the championship. In four of the last five races held at those tracks, the eventual series champion finished better than the runner-up.

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"Whoever coined the phrase that racing at Talladega is like a 'high-speed chess match' said it right. For 250 miles, you have to think way ahead and know what the other guys are thinking and try to out-think them. It's much more of a mental race than physical. It's very intense."

If practice speeds are any indication, intense may not be a strong enough word.

In Thursday's final practice session, Erik Darnell found his name on top of the speed chart with a fast lap of 191.520 mph or 50 seconds flat around the track. Thirty drivers were within eight-tenths of a second of Darnell, meaning you can expect a huge pack of cars to be battling lap-after-lap for all 94 laps to be run on Saturday.

"Talladega is just awesome, with door-to-door drafting at 190mph," said Matt Crafton, currently ninth in the points standings. "I love to go fast, and we'll be flying on Saturday."

Crafton struggled to find speed in his first practice, coming in 24th at 187.046, 1.75-seconds off of Travis Kvapil's fast lap of 193.666. In the final practice though, Crafton was right up front, posting the seventh-quickest lap at 190.249.

For the seventh-year driver, practice is crucial in finding "friends" for the race.

"During practice, you find out which of the other trucks yours seems to suck up best with in the draft, and you go from there," Crafton said. "And in the race, you have to find the groove that suits your truck."

Right now, Crafton just wants to find the groove that gets him a win.

The 31-year-old Truck Series veteran set a dubious mark this season, one he would love to get rid of as quickly as possible. Crafton has raced in a record 166 races in the Truck Series with no wins, the longest stretch for any driver in the series.

Now that's not to say he hasn't been successful. He has 13 top-fives, 74 top-10s, an average finish of 14.3 and he's never finished below 15th in the points standings. But still, a win would validate so much hard work, and Talladega would be the perfect place to get it.

"There's just so much history here, so many fine drivers who have found a way to get to Victory Circle. I'd love to be able to add my name to that list."

To do that requires perfection inside the truck and a little luck outside on the track.

Last year in the Truck Series' first race at Talladega, Crafton qualified 29th but was able to work his way up into the top 15. In the final laps though, some decisions came back to haunt him and he brought the truck home 18th. This year, he plans on learning from those mistakes.

"I was running 12th when we came to the white flag, and I pulled out of line and it cost me," Crafton said. "I could've had a top-10 finish easily if I had stayed with the pack. But you live and learn, and I won't pull out until I see the checkered flag this year."

Even if he doesn't get the win, a strong finish is just what this No. 88 ThorSport Racing team needs to end a dry spell they have recently found at the track. In the past seven races, Crafton has finished in the top 10 only once -- a ninth at Gateway -- and they have lost more than 200 points to leader Mike Skinner in that stretch.

"We were really strong in the first part of the season, and we've just had some bad things happen during the last several races," Crafton said. "A lot of the time, the trouble hasn't been of our making. Hopefully, we can turn our fortune around starting this weekend."

With six races left in the season, there's not much time to build momentum for 2008 and pressure is mounting on many teams. But this is Talladega, and despite the stresses Crafton and every other driver feels, Crafton also knows this a weekend known for some of the wildest fans NASCAR has to offer and he is looking forward to it.

"When the sun goes down all the crazies come out, and it's quite a sight to see," Crafton said. "It's a blast to just be out in the crowd, watching all the rowdy people. There's nothing like it."