NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Talladega explained

The Love's RV Stop 225 is a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race that takes place at Talladega Superspeedway. The race has been in the playoffs ever since the addition of it to the Truck Series schedule and every year since then, the race has been won by a non-playoff driver. The winner has only led the last lap of the race in several recent years it has been run.

Grant Enfinger is the defending winner.

History

The race was first held on October 7, 2006, as the John Deere 250. The race was won by future NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin. The race also saw Todd Bodine receive a penalty for passing below the yellow line with less than ten laps to go. In what could have been a major moment in the championship battle, Bodine recovered from the pentaly to finish fourth and retain a 121-point lead over Johnny Benson.^[3]

In 2007, Mountain Dew would become the race sponsor and the race would be known as the Mountain Dew 250.

The 2009 running of the race would make history for multiple reasons. For the first time in NASCAR National Series event, a father-daughter combo was set to race. Mike Wallace was joined on the entry list by his daughter, Chrissy Wallace. While Chrissy had run Truck Series events in the past, this was the first time her father would be one of the competitors.^[4] The race would also mark the first time the event had gone to overtime.

With three laps to go in the 2010 race, a multi-car crash would bring out the caution. The crash saw Ron Hornaday Jr get airborne and land on its' roof as it skid back onto the backing in Turn One. When it reached the banking, the truck began to barrel roll and once again, land on its' roof. The accident brought out the red flag.

In 2020, Chevrolet became the sponsor of the event, promoting its Silverado truck. In the 2021 event, Tate Fogleman would hold off Tyler Hill to get the 25th closest finish.

In 2023, Love's RV Stop became the new title sponsor.^[5] In 2024, the race kept the same sponsor but the distance was reduced from 250 to 225 miles and was ran on a Friday afternoon. In 2024, the race would end up being the 22nd closest finish when Grant Enfinger would hold off Taylor Gray near the end of the race.

The race has been known to have many close finishes. In 2007, Todd Bodine would edge out Rick Crawford by 0.014 seconds, the 9th closest finish. In 2010, after a muli-wreck incident, Kyle Busch won by 0.002 seconds over Aric Almirola. This would be the second closest finish in series history.

Past winners

Year	Date		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Race Distance		Race Time	Average Speed (mph)	Ref
						Laps	Miles (km)
2006	October 7	6	Mark Martin	Roush Racing	Ford	94	250.04 (402.4)	1:48:33	138.207	[6]
2007	October 6	30	Todd Bodine	Germain Racing	Toyota	94	250.04 (402.4)	1:55:25	129.985	[7]
2008	October 4	30	Todd Bodine	Germain Racing	Toyota	94	250.04 (402.4)	1:43:06	145.513	[8]
2009	October 31	51	Kyle Busch	Billy Ballew Motorsports	Toyota	98*	260.68 (419.523)	2:02:21	127.837	[9]
2010	October 30	18	Kyle Busch	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Toyota	95*	252.7 (406.681)	1:48:51	139.293	[10]
2011	October 22	33	Mike Wallace	Kevin Harvick Inc.	Chevrolet	94	250.04 (402.4)	1:57:41	127.481	[11]
2012	October 6	7	Parker Kligerman	Red Horse Racing	Toyota	94	250.04 (402.4)	1:56:26	128.85	[12]
2013	October 19	98	Johnny Sauter	ThorSport Racing	Toyota	94	250.04 (402.4)	2:02:09	122.819	[13]
2014	October 18	17	Timothy Peters	Red Horse Racing	Toyota	95*	252.7 (406.681)	1:54:19	132.632	[14]
2015	October 24	17	Timothy Peters	Red Horse Racing	Toyota	98*	260.68 (419.523)	2:00:16	130.051	[15]
2016	October 22	24	Grant Enfinger	GMS Racing	Chevrolet	94	250.04 (402.4)	2:05:54	119.161	[16]
2017	October 14	75	Parker Kligerman	Henderson Motorsports	Toyota	95*	252.7 (406.681)	1:57:18	129.258	[17]
2018	October 13	25	Timothy Peters	GMS Racing	Chevrolet	94	250.04 (402.4)	1:48:47	137.911	[18]
2019	October 12	20	Spencer Boyd	Young's Motorsports	Chevrolet	98*	260.68 (419.523)	2:07:21	122.817	[19]
2020	October 3	4	Raphaël Lessard	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Toyota	94	250.04 (402.4)	1:55:55	129.424	[20]
2021	October 2	12	Tate Fogleman	Young's Motorsports	Chevrolet	99*	263.34 (423.72)	2:06:17	125.119	[21]
2022	October 1	25	Matt DiBenedetto	Rackley WAR	Chevrolet	95*	252.7 (406.681)	2:12:40	114.286	[22]
2023	September 30	34	Brett Moffitt	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	99*	263.34 (423.72)	2:26:07	108.136	[23]
2024	October 4	9	Grant Enfinger	CR7 Motorsports	Chevrolet	85	226.1 (363.9)	1:48:24	125.148	[24]

• 2009–10, 2014–2015, 2017, 2019, and 2021-2023: The race was extended due to a NASCAR Overtime finish.

Multiple winners (drivers)

Wins	Driver	Years Won
3	Timothy Peters	2014, 2015, 2018
2	Todd Bodine	2007, 2008
	Kyle Busch	2009, 2010
	Parker Kligerman	2012, 2017
	Grant Enfinger	2016, 2024

Multiple winners (teams)

Wins	Team	Years Won
3	Red Horse Racing	2012, 2014, 2015
2	Germain Racing	2007, 2008
	GMS Racing	2016, 2018
	Kyle Busch Motorsports	2010, 2020
	Young's Motorsports	2019, 2021

Manufacturer wins

Wins	Make	Years Won
10	Toyota	2007-2010, 2012-2015, 2017, 2020
7	Chevrolet	2011, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2024
2	Ford	2006, 2023

Notes and References

1. Web site: Going, going, gone! Talladega Superspeedway welcomes back Freight Auctions for the Fr8Auctions 250. Catchfence. October 5, 2018. October 7, 2018.
2. Web site: NASCAR, Talladega enter partnership with Sugarlands . . October 12, 2018 . October 13, 2018.
3. Web site: Tracking the Trucks: 2006 John Deere 250 at Talladega. Lunkenheimer. Beth. 8 October 2006 . Frontstretch . 20 October 2024.
4. Web site: NASCAR’s First Father-Daughter Duo To Compete At Talladega. Pace. Doug. 12 October 2009 . The Spokesman-Review. 20 October 2024.
5. Web site: February 7, 2023 . Love’s RV Stops to sponsor NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Talladega Superspeedway . October 25, 2024 . Jayski's Silly Season Site.
6. Web site: 2006 John Deere 250. Racing-Reference. December 31, 2021.
7. Web site: 2007 Mountain Dew 250. Racing-Reference. December 31, 2021.
8. Web site: 2008 Mountain Dew 250 Fueled by Winn-Dixie. Racing-Reference. December 31, 2021.
9. Web site: 2009 Mountain Dew 250 Fueled by Fred's. Racing-Reference. December 31, 2021.
10. Web site: 2010 Mountain Dew 250 Fueled by Fred's. Racing-Reference. December 31, 2021.
11. Web site: 2011 Coca-Cola 250 Powered by Fred's. Racing-Reference. December 31, 2021.
12. Web site: 2012 Fred's 250 Powered by Coca-Cola. Racing-Reference. December 31, 2021.
13. Web site: 2013 Fred's 250 Powered by Coca-Cola. Racing-Reference. December 31, 2021.
14. Web site: 2014 Fred's 250 Powered by Coca-Cola. Racing-Reference. December 31, 2021.
15. Web site: 2015 Fred's 250. Racing-Reference. December 31, 2021.
16. Web site: 2016 Fred's 250. Racing-Reference. December 31, 2021.
17. Web site: 2017 Fred's 250 Powered by Coca-Cola. Racing-Reference. December 31, 2021.
18. Web site: 2018 Fr8Auctions 250. Racing-Reference. December 31, 2021.
19. Web site: 2019 Sugarlands Shine 250. Racing-Reference. December 31, 2021.
20. Web site: 2020 Chevrolet Silverado 250. Racing-Reference. December 31, 2021.
21. Web site: 2021 Chevy Silverado 250. Racing-Reference. December 31, 2021.
22. Web site: 2022 Chevrolet Silverado 250. Racing-Reference. October 1, 2022.
23. Web site: 2023 Love's RV Stop 250. Racing-Reference. September 30, 2023.
24. Web site: 2024 Love's RV Stop 225. Racing-Reference. October 4, 2024.