Todd Bodine is hoping no trick will interfere with his attempt at a fifth straight superspeedway victory. Bodine has won the last two races at both Daytona and Talladega. He finished fourth the first time the series competed at Talladega in 2006.

"You have to be smart when you race at Talladega," Bodine said. "If you get too anxious or rambunctious, you end up getting in trouble."

In the '06 race, Bodine was penalized for dipping below the yellow line while battling Mark Martin for the victory in the final laps. Martin went on to win the race.

Ron Hornaday Jr. comes to Talladega with a comfortable 224-point lead. Hornaday padded his lead over Matt Crafton with a fourth-place finish at Martinsville. Timothy Peters picked up his first series win in last Saturday's race.

Hornaday has finished 10th or better in the first three races at Talladega. He finished second there last year. With four races remaining, Hornaday is looking to become the first driver in series history to win four championships.

Talladega will be a treat for one of NASCAR's most famous families. For the first time in NASCAR, a father and daughter will compete in a national touring series race. Mike Wallace and his 21-year-old daughter, Chrissy, will race against each other.

"As we have for many years, the Wallace tradition is very long-tied to NASCAR as far as my brothers -- Rusty and Kenny and myself," Mike Wallace said. "Chrissy and Steven are making a living now, and I'm just really excited about the opportunity to show up there and be part of NASCAR history."

Mike Wallace has competed in the series since its inception in 1995, while Chrissy Wallace made her truck debut in March at Martinsville.

"Racing against my dad, it's something that we've always wanted to do," Chrissy Wallace said. "It's something that means a lot to me, and I think it's a good thing for me and him both. Hopefully I'll wind up beating him."

Thirty-eight teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Mountain Dew 250.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@