The second round of the Craftsman Truck Series playoffs begins Friday afternoon at NASCAR's biggest track, Talladega Superspeedway.
This race is the first time this season the Truck Series teams will compete at the 2.66-mile superspeedway and the 19th time since the inaugural event in 2006. Brett Moffitt won last season's Truck race at Talladega in his lone start for Front Row Motorsports, but he will not be back to defend the win.
The entry list features two drivers who have celebrated previous Truck wins at Talladega Superspeedway. This includes 2018 winner Spencer Boyd and 2013 winner Johnny Sauter.
While Truck Series teams will qualify and race at Talladega on Friday, Xfinity and Cup teams will be at the track. Both series will take part in technical inspections ahead of Saturday's qualifying sessions.
Talladega Superspeedway Friday forecast and schedule
Friday forecast: Cloudy skies with a slight chance of rain showers. A high of 79 degrees and a 15% chance of rain at the start of the Craftsman Truck Series race.
Friday, Oct. 4 (Eastern Time)
- 10:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. -- Xfinity Series garage hours
- 11 a.m. -- Truck Series garage hours
- 1 - 7 p.m. -- Cup Series garage hours
- 1 - 2:30 p.m. -- Truck Series qualifying (FS2)
- 4:30 p.m. -- Truck Series race (85 laps, 226.1 miles. FS1, Radio coverage on Motor Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Notable: The remaining list of championship-eligible drivers features 10 names. Corey Heim and Taylor Gray are the two remaining Toyota drivers while Ty Majeski is the lone remaining Ford driver.
The other five drivers are all in control of Chevrolet entries. This list includes Nick Sanchez, Christian Eckes, Rajah Caruth, Tyler Ankrum, and Grant Enfinger.
The reason this matters is that Toyota drivers have won 10 of the 18 Truck races at Talladega but only one in the last six races. Chevrolet drivers have won five of the previous eight Truck races at Talladega and six overall.
Ford drivers have only won two Truck races at Talladega. Mark Martin won the inaugural race in 2006 and then Moffitt won last season.