Peters Makes Valiant Come Back From Pit Road Mishap To Finish Third

LEBANNON, April 24, 2011: Timothy Peters considers Nashville Superspeedway his home away from home. A former resident of the Nashville area Peters came to Music City in hopes of bringing home the coveted Gibson guitar. After three fourth-place finishes, Peters wanted nothing more but to break the streak. A pit road mishap, a charge to the front and a late race pass did just that for the No. 17 team giving them their highest finish of 2011 crossing the finish line third. The solid finish moved Peters up to second in the Truck Series point standings only three markers away from the lead position.

"I can't thank everyone at Red Horse Racing enough," Peters said after the race. "We had a hiccup on pit road during the first green-flag stop but we were able to overcome it. Butch Hylton made a great call at the end of the race for two tires. It gained us the track position we needed to run with the leaders. It is so hard to pass here at Nashville, but this is definitely a championship quality run and I'm really proud of my guys for hanging in there and never giving up all day."

Starting from position number 12, Peters began to methodically work his way toward the front of the field around the 1.33-mile superspeedway. The race went on a long green-flag run, leading to the first round of pit stops being conducted under green. On lap 50, Peters took over the fifth position and was called to pit road by crew chief, Butch Hylton on lap 54. The team took on four tires, fuel and made an air-pressure adjustment. However, the crew released the truck before it was full of fuel. Fortunately the gas man was able to get the gas can unplugged before leaving the pit box, thereby avoiding a pass thru penalty. Luckily, the caution flag waved for the first time on lap 57. Peters gave up the sixth position to come to pit road under the yellow to fill the truck up completely with fuel. The trip to pit lane mired the No. 17 truck deep in the field restarting the race from the 15th position. Peters slowly began to work his way back up through the field.

The second caution of the evening came out on lap 74, for a disabled truck on the race track. The No. 17 team came down pit road for four tires and fuel, restarting the race on lap 79 from the 16th position. Peters continued to try and make a march back to the front of the pack. However, with multiple racing grooves at the Nashville Superspeedway, he was having a difficult time making forward progress.

The caution waved for the third time on lap 102. Hylton and crew sprang into action taking on only two right side tires and fuel gaining valuable track position on pit road. Peters restarted from the second position on lap 106. Peters mixed it up with the leaders but settled into the third position as the laps wound down. Four quick cautions at the end of the event bunched up the front of the field. Peters got as high as second place but with much older left-side tires was unable to make a run at the leader. The No. 17 inched past the No. 33 truck on the final lap to take the checkered flag in the third position. The run marked Peter's highest finish of 2011 and places him second in the Truck Series championship point standings only three points behind leader Johnny Sauter.

The Truck Series returns to action at Dover (Del.) International Speedway on May 13, 2011 at 4:45 pm, EST. The race will be broadcast on a tape delay airing on SPEED at 8:30 pm, EST.