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.
The race was first held on October 7, 2006, as the John Deere 250. The race was won by future NASCAR Hall of FamerMark 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.
The race was known as the Love's RV Stop 250 during the 2023 season.
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.
