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[/media-credit]TOYOTA NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) Jason Leffler & Timothy Peters — Notes & Quotes Rockingham Speedway — March 6, 2012
JASON LEFFLER, No. 18 Dollar General Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports Are you happy to be back at Rockingham? “I think it’s awesome to be back here at Rockingham. There’s a lot of history here, a lot of great races from the past and on top of that, it’s just a fun track to drive. You’re slipping and sliding the whole time. It’s a multi-groove race track. Both ends of it are different, so from a driver’s standpoint it’s a really cool place to race at.”
How has testing gone this morning? “Testing has gone really smooth. I thank Goodyear for inviting us down here to do a tire test. So far the truck has run great so I’m just looking forward to coming back and seeing 35 other trucks out here racing hard to see what happens when the tires wear out and everybody gets slipping and sliding.”
What did you think when you heard the Truck Series was coming to Rockingham? “I thought it was great. They announced the Truck Series race before I actually had a ride in the Camping World Truck Series. Once we put this deal together with Dollar General and KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports), I was really excited to come here and get the chance to race again. It’s been awhile. I was here in the last Nationwide race in 2004. I’m one of few guys that will be in the field that’s actually raced here before. I look forward to it and always enjoy coming here.”
What will it take to be successful at Rockingham? “Tire management, good handling truck and staying out of trouble. The same things it takes every week. Tires are going to be really important here because the surface is so hard on tires and you would group this place and Darlington together on the way it treated tires. It makes for a lot of fun behind the wheel.”
Why are drivers excited to come back to Rockingham? “I haven’t had good finishes, but I’ve always enjoyed racing here. It’s a technical race track. It’s a driver’s race track. Your tires fall off three or four tenths of a second in 10 laps. It’s all about tire management and getting your truck to handle. It seems like a lot of drivers really enjoyed racing here — it’s a shame we don’t come here more often.”
Will it be an advantage for you to have a tire management race? “Maybe — it will be an advantage to have good equipment and I have that with KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports). The Dollar General Tundra so far has been running good. You’re going to have to have a good handling truck. We don’t go to a lot of places anymore where tire management is really important. I think it might be more important on the Cup side than it is on the Nationwide side or the Camping World Truck side because they have so much more horsepower and we’re kind of bogged down. From a driver’s standpoint, I think that’s fine.”
TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing What do you think about racing returning to Rockingham? “I like it. The last time I was here I won my first diamond ring in a go-kart in 1991. My father raced go-karts on the big track and I told him that I always wanted to race on it — here I am. It’s pretty cool to be here in our Toyota Tundra. It’s going to make for great action for the fans. The tire that they’ve given us is good and we’ve been running it through different scenarios. You’re going to see people on the bottom, middle and top. It’s going to be awesome.”
Do you enjoy races that involve tire management? “I like tracks like that and where you get the truck close and then the driver has to make up for the rest. Go back and look at our record on tracks that are like that — we have our best performances on them. I can’t wait. We unloaded and the rule of thumb is that you get your truck close and then you can just go out and run through the tires for Goodyear. Our truck was close, we hadn’t touched a wedge bolt on it and we’re fast. When we come back and it counts, hopefully it will unload the way we load up.”
Do you think fans are excited about the Truck race at Rockingham? “I’m from Danville, Virginia and have a lot of family and friends from there and everybody that I’ve talked to — they talk about a lot of stuff as far as racing goes, but the first thing they have been bringing up is the race here on April 15. There are a lot of families that are going to the beach that week and they are going to come by and check out the trucks. Very cool that the race is bringing the buzz around the area that it has been. They are going to get their money’s worth for sure.”
TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing (continued) Do you enjoy having a stand-alone Truck race? “It’s cool when we’re with the other two series because it gives us a lot of recognition, but also it states our place when we’re by ourselves and we can show the fans what we’re about. We can make a statement. I am very thankful that we have the stand-alone and that we can make that loud ruckus.”
How do you think you will characterize this race? “We were able to win a late model race in 2003 at Myrtle Beach (Speedway) and I put this in that same characteristic. You’re going to have to ride around for most of the race and know when to go. It’s definitely fun when they put it back inside the driver’s seat and try to get best out of it and treat that gas pedal like an egg shell.”
