TALLADEGA, Ala. - Mobile, Ala. native Rick Crawford maintained his 5th place position in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings, after an 8th place finish last weekend in Milwaukee. The story of the night however, was what might have been. Crawford looked to be on his way to his first win of the season midway through the race, when a pit road violation sent him to the tail end of the longest line. He rallied from 16th to 8th in the final 56 laps.

Crawford said he is excited about returning home to Alabama and competing on NASCAR's Most Competitive Track during the Mountain Dew 250 on October 4th.

"It's in my home state and knowing the excitement that it brings to the fans and the excitement that it brings to drivers, it makes you proud to be from Alabama," Crawford said. "A lot of memories and legends can be built at Talladega. It lives up to what NASCAR and Bill France tried to build. It lives up to its name."

Regardless of his position in the points when he enters Talladega, Crawford said only one thing will be on his mind…winning.

"W-I-N. The points will take care of themselves. I'm going to Talladega to win. It's going to be a close, tight race. The trucks are putting on the best shows in NASCAR, I believe. TV ratings are up, SPEED Channel is up, and Talladega is always big and bold and always produces a great race."

Race fans should make plans now to see Rick Crawford and the rest of the stars of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for the Oct. 4th Mountain Dew 250. The Mountain Dew 250 is 250 miles of the 1,000 miles of racing featured during the Oct. 3-5 AMP Energy 500 event weekend.

The AMP Energy 500 event weekend features 1,000 miles of racing at NASCAR's Most Competitive Track with the ARCA RE/MAX Series 250 on Friday, Oct. 3, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Mountain Dew 250 on Saturday, Oct. 4 and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AMP Energy 500, race number four in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, on Sunday, Oct. 5. Tickets are available at www.talladegasuperspeedway.com or 1-877-Go2-DEGA. For our hearing impaired guests, please call TDD 1-866-ISC-TRAK (1-866-472-8725). Tickets also are available in person by visiting the Talladega Superspeedway Ticket Office from 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. CDT, Monday- Friday.