Wallace Fills Out Germain Threesome... Inaugural Daytona 250 winner Mike Wallace will drive Germain Racing's No. 03 Toyota at Talladega, giving the series' 2006 championship team a one-two-three punch of Wallace, Todd Bodine and Ted Musgrave (No. 9 Team ASE Toyota).
Busch Thinks Trucks Good Warmup For Sunday.... Kyle Busch (No. 51 Flanders Beef Patties Chevrolet) believes the Mountain Dew 250 will be a great tuneup for the debut of NASCAR's new NEXTEL Cup car at Talladega Superspeedway. "The trucks, just like the COT, have more drag and they both have more power so drafting is different, but similar to the truck," said Busch. "The way both the COT and the trucks are built, the bumpers line up so I expect you'll see a lot of bump drafting in both races."

Bud Pole Can Be Important... Seven of the season's 19 winners started from the Bud Pole, giving added importance to Friday's qualifying session. Mark Martin won the Mountain Dew 250 from the No. 1 starting position a year ago; Jack Sprague won the race from the Bud Pole in January. Mike Skinner continues to pursue his tenth Bud Pole of the 2007 season, which would match his series record set in 1995.

Villeneuve Will Be Busy.... Jacques Villeneuve (No. 27 Toyota) will compete in all three events at Talladega Superspeedway beginning with Friday's ARCA RE/MAX Series race. Villeneuve finished 21st in his NASCAR Craftsman Truck debut at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Two Alabama Natives In Field.... Rick Crawford (No. 14 Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford) and Cale Gale (No. 2 Camping World Chevrolet) will represent Alabama in the Mountain Dew 250. Both hail from Mobile. Crawford finished 15th in 2006; Gale, teammate to Ron Hornaday Jr., did not compete here a year ago.

Gaughan's Best NEXTEL Cup Finish Came At Talladega.... Brendan Gaughan (No. 77 South Point Hotel Chevrolet) finished fourth in Talladega's 2004 fall race and 12th in last year's Mountain Dew 250. He's completed all 470 possible laps in three trips to the speedway.

Manufacturers' Standings: Toyota Nears '07 Title
Toyota carries a 19-point lead over Chevrolet into this week's Mountain Dew 250 but more importantly last year's Manufacturers' champion is closing in on a second consecutive crown. Two victories are all the truck maker needs to clinch the 2007 championship. Toyota has won nine of the season's first 19 races.

Manufacturers' Championship 2007 Point Standings
Toyota - 133
Chevrolet - 114
Ford - 112
Dodge - 59

Quotable: "We had the dominant truck at Daytona in February and came up just shy of pulling off the win. I think we have the truck that can finish the job here this week." - Travis Kvapil, who was first off Turn 4 but third at the finish stripe in February at Daytona International Speedway.

This Week's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Leaders
(Through 19 races of the 25-race season)
Points leader - Mike Skinner (3,064)
Driver Rating - Mike Skinner (118.7)
Winnings - Mike Skinner ($597,095)
Laps led - Mike Skinner (961)
Victories - Ron Hornaday Jr., Travis Kvapil, Mike Skinner (4)
Bud Poles - Mike Skinner (9)
Top-five finishes - Mike Skinner (14)
Top-10 finishes - Ron Hornaday Jr. (17)
Raybestos Rookie Leader - Tim Sauter (4 points over Willie Allen)
Races led - Mike Skinner (18)
Weeks in Top 10 - Nine drivers tied with 19
Raybestos Rookie of the Year Standings

Joey Clanton (No. 09 Zaxby's Ford) returns to competition after a month's absence and hopes to close the gap on the Raybestos Rookie of the Year leaders. Clanton can make up ground in a hurry since he's started only 11 races and will post full Raybestos points three more times while his rivals discard "worst" finishes.

   Driver - Points
1. Tim Sauter - 138
2. Willie Allen - 134
3. Jason White - 111
4. Blake Bjorklund - 110
5. Joey Clanton - 109

On Deck: Martinsville Speedway
The series returns to historic Martinsville Speedway for the Oct. 20 Kroger 200. Martinsville is the second of three tracks to host two races in 2007 and is one of just four tracks to stage races in all 13 seasons of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

Jack Sprague (No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota) won last year's Kroger 200 in his "lucky" 13th trip to the .526-mile paper clip-shaped track. In March, Mike Skinner won his third consecutive race of the 2007 season and first at Martinsville since 1996. Skinner was just the second series competitor to post multiple wins at Martinsville joining Dennis Setzer, whose victories came in 2002-03. Up to a half dozen former winners are expected to complete in the Kroger 200.

Fast Facts
Next Race: Mountain Dew 250
The Place: Talladega Superspeedway
The Date: Oct. 61
The Time: 4:00 p.m. (ET)
TV: SPEED 3:30 p.m. (ET)
Track Layout: 2.66-mile speedway
Race Purse: $780,490
2006 Winner: Mark Martin
2006 Pole: Mark Martin

2007 Standings:
No. Driver - Points
1. Skinner - 3,064
2. Hornaday - 3,061
3. Kvapil - 2,883
4. Bodine - 2,750
5. Benson - 2,666
6. Crawford - 2,619
7. Musgrave - 2,386
8. Darnell - 2,351
9. Crafton - 2,302
10. Sprague - 2,252

Schedule
Thursday: Practice 12:10-1:10 p.m.; Rookie practice 1:50-2:20 p.m.; Final practice 2:20-3:20 p.m. Friday: Qualifying 12:10 p.m.