Red Horse Racing
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race Report | Race 19 of 22
Martinsville Speedway | Kroger 200
Timothy Peters
No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra
Start: 1st
Finish: 7th
Point Standings: 3rd (-25)
Martinsville, VA (Oct. 28, 2012)- Returning to his home track for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway , Timothy Peters showed his strength at the .526- mile short track early in the weekend. Peters backed up the fast, consistent laps he produced in both practice sessions by claiming the pole position in qualifying and set a blistering pace from the start of the 200 lap main event. By dodging all of the typical short track trouble all afternoon, Peters held his ground in the championship battle with a seventh place finish.
Intermittent rain during Saturday’s qualifying session slowed up the session, but didn’t hinder Peters and his No. 17 Red Horse Racing Tundra as he set a new track record with his qualifying lap of 19.641 seconds. Starting the race from the pole position, Peters eased into the lead and kept a strong hold on the field through lap 58. Sliding back into the third spot in the following laps, Peters radioed to crew chief Butch Hylton that he needed minor adjustments to his Tundra on their first stop, but was confident they were still in the hunt.
An extended green flag period of racing held Peters on the track until the third caution of the day on lap 94 gave the No. 17 their first chance to make adjustments. A quick four tire stop by the Red Horse Racing crew helped Peters move up from the eighth spot to fifth on the restart. Peters remained comfortably in the top five for the next long green flag segment of the race and was reminded by crew chief Butch Hylton to be patient and save his equipment for the end.
Under the fourth caution, Peters came down pit road for the final time to get four tires and a slight adjustment, prepared to battle for the win. Restarting third with less than 50 laps remaining, Peters went to work on the leaders but soon reported the new set of tires was not to his liking. Three more cautions came in the closing laps, shuffling the No. 17 to the outside on the second to last restart. The outside lane put Peters in a tight spot as he slid outside of the top five. Despite the situation and late race scramble that unfolded around him Peters fought back and held on to a seventh place finish.
“We had a pretty good day and it’s really cool to sit on the pole and lead some laps at my home track, especially with support from Nelson Toyota, Strutmasters.com and Thunder Road Harley Davidson riding with us today. Our Tundra was really good for the first part of the race, but that last set of tires we put on just changed the setup we had on the first two runs and it went away for us a little bit,” Peters explained.
“We came home for the most part in one piece which a lot of these guys can’t say here, so we did what we had to do today to get a good finish and keep the points battle close heading into the next three races. We’ll go get ’em next week at Texas with our new Red Horse Racing chassis 007 and our Joe Gibbs Racing power under the hood. Everyone at Red Horse Racing has been working really hard on all three of our trucks and I’m really proud of what we bring to the track each and every week.”
Parker Kligerman No. 7 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra Start: 13th Finish: 9th Point Standings: 4th (-36)
Martinsville, VA (Oct. 28, 2012) — Focused on contending for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship, Parker Kligerman entered the first of four straight races to close out the 2012 season optimistic to continue his streak of solid performances at Martinsville Speedway. Suffering from a failure in the brake system in the No. 7 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra, Kligerman battled the handling, his fellow competitors, and the .526-mile short track in the Kroger 200. A well-timed strategy call made by crew chief Chad Kendrick gave Kligerman the chance to make his way back to the front after falling one lap down due to the brake issues, recovering for a ninth place finish.
A solid, consistent race setup under the No. 7 Tundra for practice propelled Kligerman to a 13th place starting position. Kligerman’s first radio transmission to crew chief Chad Kendrick and the No. 7 Red Horse Racing team 20 laps into the 200 lap event wasn’t as promising as they had hoped. Indicating the brakes in his Tundra were extinct, Kligerman began his slide backwards through the field due to the inability to run as hard as the other competitors. An uncharacteristic extended green flag run at the paperclip-shaped short track ensued and pushed Kligerman off of the lead lap, just outside the top-20 in the running order.
Remaining patient, Kligerman experimented and eventually discovered a line around the track that allowed him to maintain competitive pace with the lead pack without any brakes. The third caution of the day on lap 91 gave Kligerman his first chance to come to the attention of Kendrick and his crew. With four tires and some adjustments to aid the new line he had found, Kligerman went back into competition to fight to get back on the lead lap.
Hanging on through the next long green flag run, Kligerman received his opportunity to get back in contention under the fourth caution on lap 152. Kendrick made a strategy call to stay out on the track while the leaders made pit stops, giving Kligerman the chance to take the wave around and restart at the tail end of the lead lap. This opportunity provided Kligerman the chance to make up lost ground, and another caution just six laps later allowed his Red Horse Racing crew to give their Tundra four fresh tires and additional adjustments.
Returning to green flag racing with 30 laps to go, Kligerman made the most of his renewed opportunity to race with the lead pack and moved steadily forward from the 15th position on the restart. Dodging bullets through the final two caution periods in the closing laps, Kligerman capitalized on the strategy that placed him back in contention and crossed the finish in ninth.
“We had a fast Toyota Tundra all weekend but we had an issue that we kept fighting a little bit here and there with the brakes. We didn’t want to change anything drastically before qualifying but sure enough, the problem showed up in the race and just got worse and worse. It ultimately relegated our Tundra from being a top-five truck to just hanging on the best we could. We fought back and never gave up, everyone on this No. 7 team felt we could figure something out if we could just get back on the lead lap, which we did and salvaged a good finish,” Kligerman recapped.
“Turning what could be a bad day into a decent one and keeping up the consistency is what you need to win this championship. We’re going to keep doing that and do whatever it takes to get to the front at these next three races.”
Todd Bodine No. 11 Toyota Care Toyota Tundra Start: 12th Finish: 22nd Point Standings: 14th
Martinsville, VA (Oct. 28, 2012) — Making his 775th career NASCAR national series start in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, two-time champion Todd Bodine was ready for short track battle in the No. 11 Toyota Care Tundra. After starting from the 12th position, Bodine made contact with the wall while battling inside the top-10 in the opening 20 laps of the event. A chain reaction on the following restart produced further damage to Bodine’s Tundra and ultimately left him with a 22nd place finish.
Pleased with results from a test prior to the Martinsville race weekend, Bodine and his team were confident in their chances at the Virginia-based short track. After searching for the right balance and enough drive off of the corner during both practice sessions on Friday, crew chief Rick Gay made changes for qualifying to Bodine’s Tundra that helped him secure the 12th starting position.
“The Onion” wasted no time after the green flag dropped as he carefully picked off the competitors in front of him one by one. Shortly after moving inside the top-10 after 20 laps of racing, Bodine pushed up into the outside wall coming off of turn four, causing right side damage to his Toyota Care Tundra. The yellow flag waved shortly following the incident, and Gay elected to bring Bodine down pit road to assess and repair the damage. After the pit stop, Bodine restarted just outside the top-25 due to the amount of trucks ahead of him that chose to stay out instead of coming to pit road.
Just after retaking the green flag, Bodine fell victim to a typical short-track domino effect as some competitors bunched up as they took off around him. While some had the chance to slow down in time, those around Bodine did not and the No. 11 Tundra was hit from behind and pushed into the truck in front of it as well. Thankfully, another caution period came just a few laps later and gave the Toyota Care crew a chance to repair the extensive damage. Both incidents seemed to change the handling for Bodine and though they occurred within the first 35 laps of the event, he was unable to regain the speed he had prior to the damage. Despite the handling conditions he battled with for the remainder of the afternoon, Bodine steered clear of any further trouble to bring home a 22nd place finish.
“Typical Martinsville short track racing gave us trouble early today and contact with the wall and a jam up on a restart gave our Tundra some damage. This Toyota Care crew did a great job making repairs to the damage we did receive and that’s the difference between finishing where we did and much further back. We just couldn’t make enough adjustments to put us back where we were in the opening laps and get a better finish,” Bodine said.
Championship Points Update:The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship battle is heating up heading into the final three races of the 2012 season, with Timothy Peters staying strong in the third spot, 25 points out of the lead and only 4 points behind second place. Teammate Parker Kligerman follows closely behind as the fourth place driver, now 36 markers out of first.
Next on the Schedule:The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to the Lone Star State for the WinStar World Casino 250 next Friday night, November 2, at Texas Motor Speedway. Coverage begins at 7:30 PM EST with the NCWTS Setup on SPEED.
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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 10 victories and nine 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.
