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Camping World Trucks - Peters Race Report


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HOMESTEAD, November 26, 2011: The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series teams headed for sunny Florida for the final race of the 2011 season. Timothy Peters and the No. 17 Tire Kingdom/Service Central Toyota Tundra experienced rain off and on during the duration of the day leading up to the last race of the year. The first and only practice session for the Truck Series was delayed by rain-fall earlier in the day, but was completed. Qualifying for the Truck Series was cancelled and the starting line-up was set based upon the NASCAR rule book and the trucks lined up based off their quickest practice speed.

Peters was unable to make a mock qualifying run in practice, which would have given him a faster speed, so he started deep in the field from the 22nd position. The first caution of the evening waved on lap three. Peters reported to the team the truck was a little too free, but they chose to leave the No. 17 Tire Kingdom/Service Central Toyota Tundra on track as it was too early to give up track position. Peters continued to fight a loose-handling race track until the competition caution waved on lap 20.

Under the caution period, Peters brought the No. 17 Tundra to pit road for four tires, fuel and an air-pressure adjustment. A quick stop by the No. 17 team returned Peters to the track in the 17th position for the restart on lap 23. Six laps later the caution was displayed again for a spin on the front stretch. As the caution was displayed, Peters' Red Horse Racing teammate, Miguel Paludo, experienced a mechanical issue and retired from the race early due to an internal issue.

Peters radioed to the team to inquire about Paludo's issue and to tell the team he was still a little too loose. The team did not pit under the caution and took the green flag on lap 34 from the 19th position. Peters began to make forward progress scored in the 16th position on lap 68. On lap 72, Peters hit pit road for his second scheduled pit stop of the day. Peters took on four tires, fuel and an air-pressure adjustment. As the stops cycled through, Peters was running lap times faster than the leaders. Peters was running in the 15th position when the caution waved again on lap 96. For the first time in the 134-lap event, Peters reported to the team that the truck was a little too snug. The team brought the No. 17 truck down pit road for four tires, fuel and a final air pressure adjustment.

A quick stop by the Tire Kingdom/Service Central team placed Peters back on track in the 11th position for the restart on lap 101. The adjustments the team made under the final pit stop were just what Peters needed. Within 10 laps the No. 17 Toyota Tundra took over the eighth position. The caution waved on lap 117 for rain, as a storm blew over Homestead-Miami Speedway. The down-pour resulted in NASCAR calling the event official with 17 laps remaining.

Peters finished eighth and recorded his 12th top-10 finish of 2011, clinching his career best Truck Series point standings finish of fifth, only 56 points out of the lead position. In 2011, Peters recorded one win at Lucas Oil Raceway in July, seven top-five and 12 top-10 finishes in route to his fifth-place point's finish.