NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race Report
Bristol Motor Speedway | UNOH 200 | Race 13 of 22
Timothy Peters
No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra
Start: 2nd
Finish: 1st
Point Standings: 1st
Bristol, Tenn. (Aug. 23, 2012)– For the first time since 1997, a driver in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series led all of the laps en route to the victory. Wednesday night, Timothy Peters was the driver who repeated history and made it happen in dominating style in the UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Starting from the outside of the front row and leading all 204 laps, including a green-white-checkered finish, Peters nabbed his second victory of the year.
Unloading for practice on Wednesday with a stout setup underneath their No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra, Peters and crew chief Butch Hylton made only minor adjustments during both sessions to help the balance. Peters followed up his practice comments by laying down the second quickest lap in qualifying to place him on the outside of the front row for the 200 lap shootout.
“I can’t thank you guys enough for this Tundra. You should see the view from where I’m at out here on the front row. It’s amazing,” Peters radioed to the crew during the pace laps.
His comments would preface the view he would have for the duration of the night, as he jumped ahead of the pole sitter before turn three on the first lap, quickly putting the rest of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) field in his rear view. Maintaining patience through the first green flag segment of the race with help over the radio from Hylton and spotter Tony Hirschman, Peters cleanly weaved his way through slower traffic without any issues.
Under the first caution of the night on lap 82, Hylton elected to bring his driver down pit road for four tires, fuel and a very small adjustment. The Red Horse Racing pit crew went to work and clicked off a blazing fast stop, putting Peters back on top without losing the lead. Able to make it to the rest of the way on fuel, Hylton relayed to Peters that he needed to take care of his Tundra and save his tires through the second half of the race.
With a commanding restart, Peters once again resumed his reign over the field and continued to control the restarts through the next four cautions. The minor adjustment made under the night’s lone pit stop was just enough to help the NCWTS points leader maintain a several truck-length lead over second place throughout the second half of the night and Peters was set to cruise to the finish.
A late race incident with five to go shook things up and set the field up for a green-white-checkered finish, placing Peters in the hot seat with competitors drawing up to the back bumper of his Toyota Tundra. His confidence unshaken, the Red Horse Racing driver wheeled his No. 17 machine through another great restart and held off the field to take the checkers.
“It’s an awesome feeling to go out there and lead every lap like that. These races are so hard to win anyway, and to do it in that fashion is just unbelievable,” Peters recapped after his visit to victory lane.
“This Red Horse Racing team works so hard to give me fast Toyota Tundras like I had here tonight and I can’t thank them enough. When you have a team like we do, with the work ethic and attitude that they have, it just pushes me to perform that much better. This win is a great birthday present to our owner Tom DeLoach, who gave me an awesome opportunity back in 2009 to drive for this team and the sky has been the limit ever since.
“We had great speed in our Tundra during the first practice, but a flat tire kind of got us off track a little bit during the second practice. Butch Hylton is so good about getting this team together and used his experience to calm us down and make the changes. Boy, this truck was flawless tonight.”
Hylton followed up Peters’ comments with compliments to the wheelman and his performance not only at Bristol, but throughout the season thus far.
“Timothy drove his guts out tonight. He was absolutely flawless on the restarts and that really sealed the deal for us. I know how hard he’s worked on that and on improving on everything this year. He’s really done his homework and we’ve really started to come into our own as an organization. I just feel blessed to have a race like that and work for a team like this,” Hylton said.
Parker Kligerman No. 7 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra Start: 9th Finish: 2nd Point Standings: 4th (tied)
Bristol, Tenn. (Aug. 23, 2012) — In just his second start driving under the Red Horse Racing banner in the No. 7 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra, Parker Kligerman made an impressive march through the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series field Wednesday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. From his ninth place starting position, Kligerman and crew chief Chad Kendrick improved on the handling conditions of his Tundra with just one pit stop in the UNOH 200. Keeping his equipment spotless, Kligerman maneuvered his way to his career best finish at the half-mile track, crossing the stripe in second place.
Following the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) practice sessions on Wednesday afternoon, Kendrick and Kligerman went to the drawing board to make plans for loosening up their No. 7 Tundra on the entry and exit of the turns. Finding a better balance during qualifying, Kligerman asked for just a little more help so he could keep the front end of his Toyota glued to the bottom of the track.
From his ninth place starting position, Kligerman quietly rode inside the top-10 and called out his first assessment of the truck to Kendrick after climbing into the seventh position, claiming he was now loose on entry and exit, but was worried more about getting help on exit. Under the first caution on lap 82, Kligerman had driven up to the top-five and brought his Tundra down pit road to the attention of Kendrick and the crew for the first and only pit stop of the night. The No. 7 pit crew went to work to remedy the loose handling conditions and clicked off a fast four-tire stop. A small mishap followed as Kligerman made his exit from the pit stall as he stalled out the engine, but quickly re-fired and joined the field in the seventh position.
The adjustments gradually kicked in for Kligerman as he methodically picked his way through traffic, knocking on the door of the top-five with less than 75 laps remaining. Kendrick radioed to his driver at that time thathis Tundra was just as quick as the leaders and it was time to make his moves to the front. Not wasting any time, the Connecticut- native slid into fourth place just a few short laps later, riding right behind teammate Todd Bodine.
Following a restart with just over forty laps remaining, Kligerman took over the third position from teammate Bodine and set his sights on the top two. His chance for taking over the next position came with under ten laps to go, setting him up inside teammate and leader Timothy Peters on the final green-white-checkered restart. Not able to stay door-to-door with Peters as the green flag was displayed, Kligerman tucked in behind the No.17 Tundra and easily held off the competition for the second place finish.
“I’m just so proud to be a part of a one-two finish for Tom DeLoach, especially on his birthday,” Kligerman noted. “I got a bad restart there on the green-white-checkered and Timothy took off. I’ll beat myself up over that bad restart but I’m happy with the finish. The guys on this Red Horse Racing team never give up and have worked every day for the last three weeks to get these fast Toyota Tundras on the track. The entire organization is one whole team. They promised me I’d have the best equipment they could put together and it showed at Michigan and again here tonight. To come out of Bristol in second with a chance to win just makes me that much more excited and ready for Atlanta.”
Todd Bodine No. 11 Toyota Care Toyota Tundra Start: 3rd Finish: 31st Point Standings: 14th
Bristol, Tenn. (Aug. 23, 2012) — Starting the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series UNOH 200 race day on Wednesday at Bristol Motor Speedway with a convincing practice and qualifying effort, two-time series champion Todd Bodine looked to have put his streak of misfortune in the rear view. After starting the night from the third position, Bodine kept his No. 11 Toyota Care Tundra within the top-five, saving his equipment for the closing laps to make a run for the win. His chance contending for that victory was stolen away by another competitor with less than 40 laps remaining, as Bodine was sent spinning after contact into the turn four wall. With irreparable damage, Bodine finished 31st.
Crew chief Rick Gay and his Red Horse Racing crew helped Bodine find speed early during Wednesday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) practice sessions, adjusting on the balance of their Tundra to get Bodine turning better through the exit of the turns. “The Onion” followed up his practice efforts with a third place qualifying effort, giving him a prime spot ahead of the pack of traffic for the green flag.
Remaining quiet on the radio for the entirety of the first segment of the race, Bodine only radioed to Gay under the first caution on Lap 82 that he was a little loose in and off the corner, but needed only minor adjustments. A flawless stop by the Red Horse pit crew sent Bodine back into NCWTS competition in second behind teammate Timothy Peters, with four fresh tires, a small chassis adjustment and enough fuel to make it to the finish.
Working with Peters on the restart, Bodine settled comfortably into the runner up spot where he remained for the next sixty laps. Spotter Jimmy Kitchens worked to help Bodine search for a better line to help his Tundra through the turns, finding a suitable line just a half a truck length above the bottom lane to help him ride through the final stages of the night. Less than ten laps later, a caution on lap 148 bunched the field up once again for the restart setting up tight racing quarters for most of the field. While battling for the third position, another competitor slid up into the left side of Bodine’s Toyota Care Tundra, cutting down the left rear tire. With no control heading into the next turn, the No. 11 spun around and made contact with the outside retaining wall. Unable to repair the damage with less than forty laps remaining, Bodine and his crew ended the night with a disappointing 31st place finish.
“Unfortunately this has been the story of pretty much every race since Dover for us,” Bodine explained. “This racing is so close and so competitive, it’s hard for drivers with less experience to understand that there are a lot of times during the race that you just have to let off. A younger driver pushed up into us and cut down our left-rear tire and there was nothing I could do. I’ve got nothing against him, but there’s times where you just have to say it wasn’t the time to pass and let off the gas so you don’t wreck yourself and those around you.
“It’s really hard to look at the results from our last few races because this Toyota Care team and all of Red Horse Racing do such an amazing job building these Tundras. We had a great shot at the win today or at the very least a top-three finish. Just disappointing to send another fast Toyota Tundra home without a good finish to show for it.”
Championship Points Update: The victory in the UNOH 200 at Bristol on Wednesday helped Peters extend his NCWTS championship point lead to 17 points over second place. Teammate Parker Kligerman completed the top-two sweep by finishing in the runner-up spot, moving him into a tie for fourth place in the standings, 31 points behind Peters. Bodine’s unfortunate 31st place finish keeps him in the 14th spot in points, 63 points out of the top-10. Owner Tom DeLoach holds a 17 point lead over second place in the owner’s championship standings.
Next on the Schedule: Returning to action next Friday night, the team travels to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the NCWTS Jeff Foxworthy’s Grit Chips 200. Coverage begins live on SPEED channel at 7:30 pm EST.
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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 hopes to build and maintain solid, mutual relationships with its partners, to win championships and races and to represent itself in a professional manner. The team has eight victories and seven poles in its brief existence. DeLoach and Hammond also own Performance Instruction and Training (visitPIT.com), the number one pit crew training center in the world that also has many corporate training options that include team-building, lean manufacturing, motorsports demonstrations and more.
