Catchfence

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (April 2, 2011) — Timothy Peters considers Martinsville (Va.) Speedway his home track. From his back porch to the turn-four tunnel at Martinsville it is a fifteen minute commute. The Dansville, Virginia resident and hometown favorite began the Kroger 250 from the 12th starting position. An on-track incident on lap 56 left the No. 17 truck with heavy front-end damage, but quick work and perseverance paid off for the No. 17 team. Peters drove the No. 17 to the lead group for the closing laps of the fourth Truck Series event of 2011, crossing the finish line in the fifth position marking his best finish thus far this season.

“I’m really proud of my guys,” Peters said after the race. “We got in trouble early, but we never gave up and came home with a top-five finish. Our truck isn’t pretty but it did the job! It was a great race and I’m looking forward to heading to Nashville in a few weeks and continue building on the momentum we have.”

Staring from position number 12, Peters began to methodically work his way toward the front of the field around the Martinsville short-track. The first caution of the day waved on lap 18 for an accident in turn three. The driver of the No. 17 truck reported to his crew that his truck was pretty neutral and he was just trying to gain track position. For the restart on lap 23, Peters had moved up to the eighth position. Peters continued to pick off trucks when the second caution of the afternoon waved on lap 44. Due to concerns about a right rear tire possibly going down. Crew chief Butch Hylton decided to bring the No. 17 truck to pit road for the first pit stop of the day. Many of the leaders chose not to make pit stops moving Peters into the 25th position for the restart at lap 47.

Mired deep in the field Peters cautiously kept an eye on the traffic in front of him. On lap 56, another competitor became sideways in front of the No. 17 truck. A chain reaction by the trucks in front of him slowed the pack, Peters was unable to get completely slowed and hit the back of another truck. The impact caused heavy front-end damage to Peter’s machine. The No. 17 team quickly jumped into action and was able to make repairs on pit road under the third caution period of the evening. Managing not to loose a lap, the team restarted the race at the tail end of the longest line.

The No. 17 truck was not back to ideal driving condition, but Peters made the most of his handling issues and began to work his way back up through the field. At the half-way point of the race on lap 125, Peters had moved his way into the 21st position. The race was red flagged on lap 137 for a hard crash in turn three. The trucks involved spilled oil across the track requiring cleaning efforts from the NASCAR’s safety team.

Peters continued to make forward progress breaking into the top-10 as the laps wound down. The latter part of the Kroger 250 was filled with six quick cautions allowing Peters to gain positions on each of the final restarts. Peters held on to the fifth position as the checkered flag waved, marking the No. 17 teams first top-five finish of 2011. Peters currently sits third in the Truck Series championship point standings only seven markers out of the lead position.

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will head to Nashville Superspeedway for the Bully Hill Vineyards 200 on Friday April 22 at ¬8:00 pm, EST on SPEED.

- Red Horse Racing Press Release