Johnny Benson and Ron Hornaday Jr. are in a virtual dead heat in the 2008 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series points race heading into Saturday's Mountain Dew 250 at the always-treacherous Talladega Superspeedway in central Alabama.

Through the first 19 races on the 25-race season, Benson leads Hornaday by a single point, with Matt Crafton third, 164 markers back. No one else is within 200 points of the lead duo and truth is, it will take a streak of remarkably bad luck for anyone other than Benson, Hornaday or Crafton to win the title — and Crafton is an extreme long shot.

Then again, remarkably bad luck is a common commodity at Talladega Superspeedway, where a simple mistake making a pass can turn into a 10-truck pile-up. On the other hand, the 2.66-mile track does make for some thrilling finishes, as last year's three-way fight among Todd Bodine, Rick Crawford and Benson showed.

Here are the top-10 storylines going into Saturday's race:

CAN BENSON BOUNCE BACK - It sounds crazy to talk about Benson bouncing back from his 27th-place finish at Las Vegas two weeks ago. After all, in the previous six races, he had three victories and not a single finish worse than fourth. And yet, Hornaday's relentless consistency has all but erased the points lead Benson built up in his Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Tundra. Benson needs to reassert himself this weekend. Last year, he finished third here, so he definitely can get it done.

"Talladega is your typical superspeedway where anything can happen and happens fast," said Benson. "We just have keep out of the big wreck and be there at the end of the race."

WILL HORNADAY KEEP THE HEAT ON? - Hornaday has been the hunter in his Kevin Harvick Inc.-owned Camping World Chevrolet Silverado in recent weeks, as he's wiped out Benson's points lead on the strength of two victories and a fifth-place finish in the last three races. If he wants to win a second consecutive - and fourth overall - NCTS title, Hornaday can't let up this weekend. "Last year going into Talladega, I would say we were more on the conservative side," he said. We were only three points behind (Mike) Skinner and we just needed to make it out of Talladega with a good, solid finish and not try too hard and let one little mistake cause us to lose points. We need to have the same mindset this year."

One factor working against him: A Chevrolet has never won a Truck race at Talladega or Daytona. In fact, no Silverados finished in the top five here last year or at Daytona in February.

FEAR THE ONION - Todd Bodine, driver of the No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota Tundra loves Talladega, where he won last year's race and was fourth in 2006. He's the only driver in the field with top-five finishes in both Talladega Truck races, while he, Benson and Hornaday are the only three to finish in the top 10 both times here. Bodine has always loved fast tracks and he comes in the favorite here.

"I love Talladega and I'm telling you the Lumber Liquidators crew put in a lot of work in to make the No. 30 Tundra even better for this race," said Bodine. "I've always enjoyed Talladega and Daytona speedway racing. It doesn't hurt things when you've won the last two races and you're taking the same truck that's been the winning truck."

ALABAMA SLAMMER - No one wants to win at Talladega more than Alabama native Rick Crawford, driver of the Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford F-150. Crawford, who will be looking to break a 54-race winless streak on Saturday, lost to Bodine last year by a mere .014 seconds and will be looking to extract revenge this year. "I'll do something different this year," said Crawford. "I've re-run that last lap a thousand times. I know what to do if that situation comes about again to win the race."

ROWDY'S RAGE - Kyle Busch is mad as hell and isn't going to take it anymore. After torching the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series all year long, his first three races in the Chase for the Sprint Cup have been dismal failures and he's now out of title contention. Which means when he buckles into the seat of the No. 51 Miccosukee Resorts Toyota Tundra in Saturday's Truck race, he'll be looking to put an old-fashioned butt-kicking on the field. And the Rowdy one certainly could do it.

CAN CRAFTON STAY IN? - Matt Crafton has had the best year of his career in the No. 88 Menards Chevrolet Silverado, but he needs a big weekend to further cut the points gap to Benson and Hornaday. He made up some ground two weeks ago at Vegas, where his third-place finish broke a string of four consecutive finishes outside the top 10.

IS SKINNER BACK IN THE GAME? - After a hugely disappointing start of the season, Mike Skinner finally put his Toyota Tundra-sponsored truck into victory lane at Las Vegas two weeks ago, with crew chief Doug Richert looking on from the SPEED broadcast booth. Now that the Bill Davis Racing squad has rediscovered the path to victory, Skinner will be awfully tough down the stretch.

WILL SLICED BREAD CUT IT? - Joey Logano will make his first NCTS start in the No. 59 Team ASE/Harris Trucking Toyota recently vacated by Ted Musgrave. It'll be interesting to see if a change in drivers also will bring the team a change in fortunes.

CAN TEAMMATES GET IT DONE? - Roush Fenway Racing won the first Talladega Truck race in 2006, with veteran Mark Martin behind the wheel. This time, the team hopes its young drivers, Erik Darnell (No. 99 Northern Tool + Equipment Ford) and rookie Colin Braun (No. 6 Conway Freight Ford) can work together to bring home another victory.

WHO GETS CAUGHT IN THE BIG ONE? - You can pretty well count on the fact that there will be a big, multi-truck pile-up at some point in the Mountain Dew 250. Who avoids it not only will determine who wins on Saturday, it could determine the 2008 NCTS champion.

Tom Jensen is the Senior NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com.  He is the author of "Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED," and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the President of the National Motorsports Press Association.  Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing.