(David M. Vaughn Photo)

When the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series takes to the Talladega Superspeedway for the first time on October 7, there will be a very interesting mix of drivers that have previous experience at the track and drivers that have never before seen the 2.66-mile high banked tri-oval.  One of the drivers with more experience than most of the field is 1995 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Mike Skinner.

Skinner debuted at the high-speed Alabama oval in 1996, qualifying a strong sixth before coming home with a top-20 finish.  In the 15 total Cup Series starts Skinner has made at Talladega, he scored his best career finish - second - in 2000 as well as two other top ten finishes.  In 1998, his second full year in the Cup Series, Skinner led a race-high 74 laps on his way to a seventh-place finish in the October event.  Skinner also scored a top-five finish in his one and only Busch Series start at Talladega, coming home fifth in the 2001 event.

With over 2,500 laps of competition at Talladega under his belt, Skinner will have a leg up on the drivers coming to the track with little or no experience when he fires the engine of his potent No. 5 Toyota Tundra Toyota.  He will put all of that previous experience to the test as the Truck Series race will be just the second event to run on the newly blacktopped highbanks.

"It's going to be a blast," Skinner said.  "The biggest thing we are going to have to worry about is tire management and keeping ourselves from getting in trouble with tires. But I love those big fast racetracks, and the restrictor plate (style) of racing.  We'll just have to see how it goes."

The new pavement at Las Vegas was also applied to a newly reconfigured speedway.  Such is not the case at Talladega where the turns remain banked at 33 degrees.  But Skinner is still looking for all of the information he can get on the new surface.  Barring any inside scoop from Goodyear or any of the drivers that have done tire testing on the new track, Skinner and his crew chief Jeff Hensley will work closely with team engineers to find the proper tire combination.

"I haven't had any information from anybody," Skinner said. "That's okay.  Once we get there, Jeff and I will sit down with the TRD engineers and start to look at the best combination for us.  We'll get it all worked out, the geometry we need to run and the pressures that will work best for the new track."

Even with the new surface, Skinner expects the style of racing to remain a constant for the series that have been there before.  While exactly what will be seen once the Trucks take to the track for the first time is yet to be seen, Skinner believes it will be at least as intense as what is seen annually at Daytona.

"It wasn't too long ago that we were in Daytona and had everyone on the edge of their seats," Skinner said. "We've never run the Trucks at Talladega before, but there is no reason to believe it won't be the same thing.  I bet it's excitement, excitement, excitement from the drop of the green to the drop of the checkered at Talladega."

The John Deere 250 at Talladega Superspeedway is scheduled for 3:15 P.M. on Saturday October 7.  SPEED will have live coverage starting with an expanded pre-race show starting at 2:30 P.M. on raceday.  Motor Racing Network will have the live broadcast on select radio affiliates nationwide, and TruckSeries.com will have complete event coverage, including practice, qualifying, and race updates online at www.truckseries.com.