Catchfence

Danville, VA—3.30.09- Entering the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway 9th in the points, Timothy Peters and the #17 Hayes Iron & Metal/Strutmasters.com Toyota team had high hopes entering the race and felt as though they would be contenders for their first win in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The team posted back to back Top-10 finishes in Friday’s practice sessions, posting a 4th place finish in the first practice session and a 9th place finish in the rain-shortened final practice. “We have a real solid setup here this weekend, and I know we will show what this team can do in the race,” commented Crew Chief Chad Kendrick after the final practice session. During Saturday morning’s truck series qualifying, Peters produced a solid lap of 20.150 seconds, placing him 10th in the starting grid for the race that afternoon. After qualifying, Peters commented, “I knew I could have done a little better in qualifying, but I am happy we are starting near the front of the pack, and once the green flag drops, we’ll be able to make a charge to the front.”

At the conclusion of qualifying, a steady stream of rain started falling on the track, and following a lengthy delay, the Kroger 250 was postponed until Monday morning.

Under partly cloudy skies, the Truck Series teams returned to the track Monday morning for the race, and the mission for the #17 Hayes Iron & Metal/Strutmasters.com Toyota team was clear: “Win the race!” The driver quickly showed his metal by powering through traffic in the first 15 laps to advance to the 6th position on the track. “Truck feels real good,” Peters radioed back to his team during the early portion of the race. Peters continued to maintain his position on the track until a caution at lap 95. On lap 97, the team made a last minute decision to come in the pits and take fuel, hoping this would enable the team to make it to the finish without another pit stop.

Due to many other teams employing different fueling strategies earlier in the race, the #17 Hayes Iron & Metal/Strutmasters.com Toyota truck was mired back in the 27th position for the re-start on lap 100. On the re-start, Peters made quick work of his competitors, advancing all the way to the 11th position by lap 135. As the laps continued to wind down, excitement was building in the Premier Racing pit area, and by lap 165, Peters was in 5th place. Running 6th at lap 225, the team knew that they would be close on fuel mileage, and on lap 240 their worst fears were realized. “Were out of fuel”, were the haunting words from the driver.

As a timely caution flag unfurled for debris on the track, the driver coasted to the pits for a quick splash of gas. He re-entered the race in the 26th position and managed to gain 4 spots, finishing 2 laps down at the finish. In post race comments, the disappointment on the face of the driver was visible, “I knew that we had a Top-5 finish in hand, and I was hoping that a caution flag near the end would give us a shot at the win, but we came up short,” said Peters. “I am proud of how we ran today, but I feel like we let a Top-5 finish slide right through our fingers.”

- Mercury Sports Management, Inc. Press Release