DOVER, Del. (May 14, 2011) — After a three week break in the schedule the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returned to action at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. The No. 17 team had a top-10 run going until the final lap of the race when another competitor decided to take it three-wide going into turn-one taking the air off the back of the No. 17 Toyota Tundra resulting in a spin. Peters walked away from the accident, but the truck was severely damaged on the left-side and Peters’ was unable to drive the truck across the finish line resulting in a 17th-place finish.
“We had a tough weekend all the way around,” Peters said after the race. “Our truck never responded to the changes that we made. I’m really proud of the guys on this No. 17 Toyota Tundra; they thrashed all weekend long trying to make it better. We thought we were going to get out of here with a top-10 finish, but it just wasn’t meant to be.”
Staring from the 24th position, Peters began to methodically work his way toward the front of the field. The first caution of the race waved on lap six. The No. 17 team chose not to come down pit road, feeling it was too early in the race event to pit. The race restarted on lap 12 with Peters’ in the 20th position. Peters’ continued to battle for position as the lap clicked by, but was unable to make forward progress. A timely caution fell on lap 45, giving the No. 17 team an opportunity to make much needed adjustments. The team came down pit road for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment. A solid pit stop by the No. 17 team moved Peters’ up to the 17th position for the restart on lap 50. Cautions breed cautions and four laps later the yellow flag was displayed again for another on-track incident. The changes to the truck improved the handling slightly but not enough to help Peters’ gain significant track position.
Peters was scored in the 19th position when the fourth caution flag waved on lap 71 for a hard crash in turn-four. The No. 17’s Red Horse Racing teammate Miguel Paludo was involved and sustained heavy left-front damage. The impact was enough to end Paludo’s day. Under the caution period Peters reported to the team that he was way too free. Crew chief Butch Hylton called Peters to pit road for wholesale changes to the No. 17 truck. The race restarted on lap 80 with Peters’ scored in the 18th spot. Just after the half-way point in the 200-lap event, Peters’ took over the 15th running position marking his highest placement on the track so far in the event.
Peters continued to improve his position as many of the leaders were forced to pit road under green flag conditions becoming off pit sequence with the No. 17 team. Hylton made the call to stay on the track until the No. 17 was recorded with leading a lap which occurred on lap 150. Peters then brought the No. 17 to pit road for four tires, fuel and another chassis adjustment. As the stops cycled through the No. 17 truck was scored 17th one lap down to the leader. A quick caution on lap 154 was just what the team needed. Choosing not to come to pit road, the team was allowed the “wave around” placing them back on the lead lap in the 17th position for the restart on lap 160. With few laps remaining in the event, Peters took advantage of the caution period on lap 177 to come down pit road for two tires and a chassis adjustment. The team had a good stop placing Peters’ in the 12th position for the restart on lap 182. Again the caution waved as Peters’ climbed back into the top 10 taking over ninth place. Hylton radioed to Peters telling him “they are not finished wrecking”. Hylton was correct only two laps later the field was slowed once more for an on-track incident.
Fighting for position on the final restart Peters’ slipped back to the 11th position, as the white flag waved Peters challenged to get back into the top 10, however, another competitor dove under the No. 17 truck making it three-wide into turn-one, Peters’ lost the air off the back of the No. 17 Toyota Tundra and spun into the inside retaining wall. The crash resulted in heavy left-side damage and was unable to cross the start finish line relegating the team to a 17th-place finish. Peters’ dropped three spots in the Truck Series point standings to fifth, 13 markers behind leader Matt Crafton. Next weekend the Truck Series heads home to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the N.C. Education Lottery 200 Friday May 20th at 8:00pm, EST on SPEED.
About Red Horse Racing:
Founded in 2005 by former Mobil Corporation executive Tom DeLoach and NASCAR veteran Jeff Hammond, Red Horse Racing aims to be a professional racing team that strives for excellence on and off the race track. Red Horse Racing hopes to build and maintain solid, mutal realtionships with its partners to win races and championships and to represent itself in a professional manner. The team has four victories and five poles in its brief existence. DeLoach and Hammond also own Performance Instruction Training (PIT), the number one pit crew training center in the world that also has many corporate training options that include team-building, lean manufacturing, motorsports deomonstrations and more.
