Catchfence

“Peters started from the third position and led for 57 laps before a loose condition dropped him to the fourth spot by the end of the Nashville 200″

LEBANON, TN. (Aug 7)- Timothy Peters had been looking forward to his return to Nashville Superspeedway since the spring race in April. With some unfinished business to take care of, Peters was determined to play the guitar in Victory Lane. The #17 Red Horse Racing team unloaded Peters’ favorite chassis and it looked to be the truck to beat after both practice sessions.

Peters qualified third but wasted no time getting to the lead. By lap three, the #17 was at the front of the field. Leading until a green flag pit stop on lap 60, Peters reported that his truck was getting a little too loose. Unwilling to give up, he fought the loose condition until the end, bringing home a fourth place finish, his fourth top-five finish of the season. Peters also moved up one spot in the Camping World Truck Series driver point standings, he now sits third.

The #17 Red Horse Racing team had two practice sessions on Saturday morning to prepare their truck for the changing track conditions of a night race. Peters was fastest in the first practice session and third quick overall in the final session. Confident in his truck, he was ready to get the race underway.

Peters qualified third for the 150-lap event but when the green flag dropped, he was on a mission. He passed for the second spot on lap one and set his sights on the leader. By lap three he passed for the lead and didn’t look back. The caution came out on lap three and Peters radioed his crew that the truck was pretty good. Lining up first, Peters got a great restart and gained some distance on the trucks behind him. Out in clean air, no one could catch the #17. By lap 14 he was leading the field by half a straightaway. Peters told the team his truck felt really, really good.

Another caution came out on lap 17 and Peters reported that his Toyota Tundra was just a tad loose in turn one. Restarting first, Peters got another great start and left the field in his dust. Still reporting the slight loose condition, Peters told crew chief Jeff Hensley that he didn’t want to mess with it. Just a few laps later, Peters said his truck was really loose and might have a right rear tire going down. The team looked the tire over from the pit box and told Peters the tire was fine. Still leading on lap 55, Hensley and Peters began talking about when they would hit pit road. Nearing the fuel window and no caution in sight, Peters had to pit under green flag conditions. Surrendering the lead to pit on lap 60, Peters picked up four fresh tires and fuel only.

The #17 was one of the first trucks to hit pit road so Peters had to wait out the cycle before regaining the lead. He merged back on track in the 14th spot. Just three laps later, Peters was running in the fifth spot and reporting that his truck felt even looser than before the pit stop. The caution came out on lap 64 before all the trucks had made pit stops so Peters was caught a lap down. The first truck one lap down, the #17 got the “Lucky Dog” and was able to get back on the lead lap. Just before the restart, Hensley called Peters to pit road to top off with fuel and make a quick track bar adjustment. Peters restarted fifth on lap 73.

It didn’t take long for Peters to start his charge to the front. In just seven laps, he was already in the second spot. Still fighting a loose condition, Peters couldn’t seem to catch the leader. With 50 laps to go, Hensley told his driver not to worry since all the trucks had to make another pit stop.

The caution came out on lap 107 and Peters hit pit road on lap 108. Taking four fresh tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment, the #17 restarted third.

With just 39 laps to go, Peters was determined to get back the lead. He passed for the second spot on lap 112 but reported his truck felt looser and looser each lap. Peters was still second with 30 laps to go but his truck was getter harder and harder to handle. As he was fighting with his machine each lap, two trucks were able to get by him and steal the position. Peters slipped back to fourth with 10 laps to go. He was determined to finish out the race with a top-five. The #17 crossed the start finish line in the fourth spot.

“We were good all night,” Peters said after the race. “We just got a little loose and never seemed to get better, we just got worse. We are turning our top- 10s into top-fives, so it’s a good day for us. Our Toyota Tundra was fast all race long, it’s just hard to swallow when you’re dominant like that and you finish fourth. But hey, that’s good to be mad at a fourth-place finish.”

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to Darlington, South Carolina this week. The Too Tough To Tame 200 at Darlington Raceway is scheduled for Saturday, August 14th and will be televised live on SPEED Channel at 7:30pm EDT.

- Red Horse Racing Press Release