Toyota Daytona Driver Quotes
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS)
Daytona Media Day – February 22, 2017
Toyota driver Timothy Peters was made available to the media at NASCAR Daytona Media Day:
TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing
What has the crew chief transition been like this season?
“It’s like we never missed a beat, to be honest with you. Obviously he’s grown and matured a lot, and I have as well. So hopefully that’s a championship combination.”
What kind of things did you do in the off season? Anything fun?
“You know, just really caught up with family time. Enjoyed being a dad, watching my kids grow. Just still try to develop that bond between both my kids, you know, try to get the coolness of the dad status up top.”
When you’re at this place, coming down to the end of the race, where do you want to be on the track? Do you want to be second car in line, at the front? Is that a trick question?
“I mean, it might be a little bit of a trick question. You know, I’ve seen this go both ways. When you’re leading, sometimes you’re a sitting duck. Or when you’re leading, you’re going to be on the receiving end of it as far as being able to get back and make the win. You know, it’s 50/50. I think that you’re probably more in control being in second because it’s that last move that you can make on the leader just with the air, depending on what kind of push or suck you get in the draft. You know what I mean? If I had to answer it right now, I would probably say I would want to come to the line second on a white flag.”
I’ve asked everybody that. Most people say that.
“Yeah?”
Because you’d rather be the chaser than the chased?
“That’s right.”
Timothy, how do you see the truck races at Martinsville unfolding under this new format? Should be pretty wild.
“It’s going to be really wild. It’s grassroots racing as it is with the Truck Series, but more so now than ever because of these valuable bonus points. It’s so important to get those early or get as many as you can because they stay with you all the way through the Playoffs, if you make it down to Homestead before the heads up. I think not only Martinsville will be exciting, I just think all the races with the segments is going to be exciting because you’re going to have guys just really fighting, digging down hard to get that bonus point.”
As far as Martinsville specifically, though, always kind of a crazy race anyway. It’s like you have two races in one.
“Yeah, last year, if you go off… At the end we really came on. Kind of had to force our way to the front, if you will. I think you’re going to see that to where you’re going to have to be more spot on. You know what I mean? But again, it doesn’t just go to Martinsville, it goes everywhere that you’re going to have to be spot on. It isn’t, If my truck isn’t doing good in the first part, we just adjust on it. Yeah, we’re still going to take that mindset. But it’s going to be even more critical to make sure you unload pretty close to what you feel is going to be a good balance. I mean, yeah, Martinsville is exciting because it is a half mile, it’s going to be beating and banging. You’ll probably see more beating and banging. I don’t just really single that one out because I think it’s going to be across the board.”
What is the mindset coming down here? It’s Daytona, you want to win, start the season off the right way, but it can be such a crapshoot where you can be walking out of here with one less truck. How do you balance that?
“I think you go back and look at our notebook for the superspeedway racing in general. Knock on wood, we’ve been able to be successful. That’s a testament to the guys back at the shop. When we unload, we know exactly what we have. There isn’t no guesswork. It makes you not arrogant but just confident, you know? I think the success that we have had, being able to win a few races at Talladega, be able to win here, run up front, it helps you get a lot of friends. So with that being said, anything can go wrong. It can go wrong up front. I’ve wrecked running up front, I’ve wrecked waiting in the back waiting to go. But now with the bonus points, I think with how hard everybody has worked at the shop, how good our speedway record is, I think we can get to the front and stay there. It’s going to be the safe zone. Again, the confidence outweighs the ‘what ifs’ in my opinion.”
Last year they threw the Chase at you guys, threw the caution flag at you guys. This year they’re changing it up again with formats and everything else. Do you like the direction that the Truck Series has been going in?
“Yeah, sure. I mean, even before that, the truck racing was always exciting. This is my 12th year being involved with the series. I think maybe two or three times a champion may have been decided at Phoenix. But the Chase last year, and now the format this year, the segment racing, it just puts that extra exciting twist on it. It puts more of a strategy on the crew chiefs. It puts more focus on me to communicate back to the crew chief to make sure that we have our Tundra dialed in to the best of our ability. In my opinion, there’s no Mulligans. There’s never really been a Mulligan, but sometimes you get lucky. I think now that’s all out the window. The old saying that 90% of your races are won at the shop. I think you go ahead and bump that up 10%. You’re going to have to be spot on because you have less practice time this year, and there’s no room for error. That goes from me behind the wheel on the racetrack making sure that I don’t do anything to jeopardize our equipment, to guys on pit road, to Chad Kendrick on the box.”
Do you like the idea of less practice or do you think the Truck Series needs it? Most people look at the Truck Series and say it’s a mix between veterans and young guys. Do you think it’s necessary with how smart these teams are, how good these trucks are?
“That’s my Catch 22. Yes, you know, as far as the guys that have been able to be in it for a long time, they don’t need the practice. That’s just an extra hour that we can dial ourselves out. The crew has to work their butts off to get it back, just like it was when we unloaded it off the hauler. Again, yes, this is the ladder series for great talent that’s coming into the sport and moving on. You look at the rookies that come in, they get in great equipment, they’re successful. William Byron is a prime example of that. These kids didn’t get here just by luck. They’re here because they earned it, and they know what’s going on. I think cutting back is a good thing.”
Shifting to the championship, you’ve been so close a few times, been so consistent. You’ve been there, but haven’t been able to get over that hump. Does that eat at you or motivate you each year to come out and get there? There has to be a part of you that has to be like, Damn, what do I have to do?
“It eats at me. I’m not going to sit here and say it doesn’t. I would be lying. Anybody that says that in this room would be lying. During the off season, Tom DeLoach has done a lot to help our program. You’ll start seeing that come Atlanta. We’ve built new trucks. Not that they have been bad in the past, but we’re just excited and more along the lines of what we feel like what we need to be competitive, more competitive. We were always competitive. Hopefully that consistency that we were last year and the past year will parlay into wins and a championship for the 17.”
How does Tom DeLoach do it in the sense of sponsorship? You have a few great supporters. How does he do it? How are you able to get out there and run this program like you do? It’s fascinating from the outside.
“That’s above my pay grade. That’s a question that Mr. Tom would have to answer.”
What does the sponsorship look like for you this year?
“I have to say they’re working very hard on it. Hopefully last year was a true testament of our team. Even though I didn’t get a race win, the organization was able to score a win with Brett at Michigan. We’re definitely capable of winning every week. Hopefully by making the championship round last year of the Playoffs, we’ll definitely attract a sponsor. Hopefully here in the next coming weeks we’ll have some news to discuss. I stay out of that. Tom and I have a great relationship. There’s a lot of things that I can probably answer, but that one would be a good one for him to answer.”
You’re not worried that you’ll never not be at the track? That’s not a concern to you? I don’t mean to put you on the spot. It’s great that he can do it. I’m wondering from a driver’s perspective, do you feel a sense of security or a lack of security not knowing?
“I have security. There’s nothing that triggers a gauge that says ‘no security’. You know what I mean? I think Tom is the type of person, if and when that day came, everybody would have way of a heads up than just a couple days before. Yes, to answer your question, I have security. Everyone has security. We’re going forward in 2017. That’s all that matters.”
Can you give me a couple of quotes on racing at Richmond and Martinsville.
“The trucks don’t go to Richmond. Martinsville is my home track. I’m literally 15, 20 minutes from the racetrack. I love short track racing. That’s how I grew up. When you get to Martinsville, with the trucks, it’s more grassroots racing. The racetrack has added lights. Hopefully one day I’ll have a chance to run under those lights.”
What is it like to be 15 to 20 minutes away? You get to stay at home, see friends more.
“Racing at home always has its benefits. One good thing is family and friends, sleeping in your own bed. I have two beautiful children, a beautiful wife. My kids come out and support me. There’s no place like home, as Dorothy says, right?”
How does that compare to racing here?
“I’ve always loved Daytona. This is my 12th year coming down here. I always had a lot of success here. I’ve won this race before. We were so close last year, but ‘so close’ doesn’t get you a win. But we’ve been consistent. That’s all that you can ask for.”
