Crawford looking forward to another shot at 'Dega

Rick Crawford's not one to dwell on the past but if he could have a "mulligan" on last year's Mountain Dew 250 at Talladega Superspeedway, the outcome might have been different.

Crawford

Crawford's last-lap challenge to Talladega winner Todd Bodine came up .014 seconds -- a fender length -- short (watch video).

But yesterday has come and gone and Crawford, who won a similarly close decision at Daytona in 2003, is looking forward.

"I'll do something different this year," he said. "I've re-run that last lap a thousand times. I [now] know what to do if that situation comes about again to win the race."

Crawford is a five-time Craftsman Truck Series winner -- but not since August 2006. So Talladega in his native state would be a fine place to end a 54-race winless streak.

"Let's talk about winning but you may not be able to fulfill that opportunity so let's not be dejected about it [if it doesn't happen]," Crawford said.

"Just being able to participate at a racetrack of [Talladega's] size and magnitude with that history means enough to me."

Crawford, ranked sixth, still has a shot at the championship but counting points isn't something he'll be doing on Saturday.

"The points will take care of themselves," he said. "I'm going to Talladega to win."

In the Loop

Bodine

On paper, Todd Bodine should win this race by about eight laps. Of course, no race is run on paper, and this is the Truck Series we're talking about -- where unpredictability is the norm.

Nonetheless, Bodine is strong at the two biggest tracks on which the series runs, winning at Daytona earlier this season and Talladega a year ago.

In the two Talladega races the series has run, Bodine has a win and a fourth-place finish. He has a combined Driver Rating of 125.2, an Average Running Position of 3.6, 183 Laps in the Top 15 (97.3 percent) and 51 laps led. All those numbers are best on the series.

His combined numbers at Daytona and Talladega (5.16 miles worth of terrain) are likewise impressive -- and trounce his competitors.

At the two tracks since 2005, Bodine has a combined Driver Rating of 121.5, an Average Running Position of 4.3 and has run 95.6 percent of the laps among the top 15. All those are also best in the series.

In other words, series-leaders Johnny Benson and Ron Hornaday -- who have combined to win eight of the past 11 races -- will have their work cut out for them if they want to make it nine of 12.

Their stats are solid, though. Benson has a Driver Rating of 104.2 and an Average Running Position of 8.1. Hornaday has a Driver Rating of 99.7 and an Average Running Position of 10.6. (Continued)