NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES
Peters, Red Horse Riding Mid-Season Momentum To Title Contention
Red Horse Racing hasn’t gotten the headlines accorded NASCAR Camping World Truck Series points leader Johnny Sauter and his ThorSport Racing organization. But make no mistake – Tom DeLoach’s seven-year-old Toyota outfit is a serious championship contender in 2011.
Lead driver Timothy Peters, winner at Lucas Oil Raceway last month, is a close fourth in the standings and with his third top-five finish in his last four races, is closing fast. He trails Sauter by 12 points heading to Wednesday night’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Peters finished eighth at Bristol a year ago.
“I still feel it is too early to be thinking about the championship (but) it is always something that is on our minds,” said Peters, who finished second to Kevin Harvick in last weekend’s VFW 200 at Michigan International Speedway. “We have to race each race and let the points take care of themselves.
“Our goal is to take home the hardware in Homestead but we are just taking one race at a time.”
Since regrouping after a 16th-place finish in Kentucky, Peters and crew chief Butch Hylton have accumulated four top 10s. “Since then, we really feel like our program is going in the right direction,” said Peters.
Peters’ teammate and Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Miguel Paludo also is on a bit of a hot streak. He finished a career-best third in Michigan – Paludo’s third top five of the year – and looks forward to celebrating the one-year anniversary of his NASCAR Camping World Truck debut at Bristol.
“I think as we get to some of the tracks that I have been to before like Bristol we will be even stronger,” said Paludo.
Red Horse Racing debuted in 2005 with Brandon Whitt posting owner DeLoach’s first victory at Memphis. The team has won five times with David Starr’s 2006 fourth-place the best of three championship finishes among the top 10.
Busch, Harvick Owner Championship Dead-Heat Battle Continues At Bristol
Wednesday night’s Bristol Motor Speedway face-off between Kyle Busch Motorsports and Kevin Harvick Inc. marks the third race in succession – but likely not the deciding round – in the two organizations’ neck and neck battle for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Owners’ Championship.
Harvick got the better of Busch for the second week in a row in Michigan, a victory that allowed his No. 2 Chevrolet team to pull even in owner points with Busch’s No. 18 Toyota group. Each has scored 583 points, although KBM remains the official leader by virtue of six wins to KHI’s three.
Give the nod – at least this week – to Busch, who recently has been unbeatable in all three of NASCAR’s national series over Bristol’s 0.533-mile concrete high banks. Busch has won three consecutive truck races there and a fourth victory would match Brendan Gaughan’s series record set at Texas Motor Speedway in 2002-03.
Harvick has won in NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide series competition in Thunder Valley but he – and his trucks – remain winless. He came within a lap and a few feet of victory in 2003 before a tire failure while leading sent Harvick’s Chevrolet into the frontstretch wall. He’ll bring three trucks to Bristol for himself, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Elliott Sadler. Busch will add Josh Richards to KBM’s lineup.
Sauter Regains Points Lead But Little Comfort As Margins Narrow
For now anyway, the stars appear aligned for Johnny Sauter’s run to a NASCAR Camping World Truck title. Sauter is back in the top spot despite spotting his rivals a six-point penalty at Pocono and an accident-punctuated 13th-place performance at Michigan International Speedway.
Sauter bypassed one-week leader Austin Dillon, who was collected in a late-race accident, finished 22nd and dropped from first to third.
For Sauter, the outcome may only be delaying the inevitable. Just 12 points cover the top four championship contenders Sauter, James Buescher, Dillon and Peters.
Buescher was Michigan’s biggest winner. A fourth-place finish pushed Buescher to second in the standings, five points off the lead. Buescher’s 11th consecutive top-10 finish maintains his bid to become the first NASCAR Camping World Truck champion to have missed a race – his failure to qualify at Phoenix in February.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Etc.
Miguel Paludo and his wife Patricia welcomed a bouncing baby boy, Oliver, to the world on Aug. 22. Oliver weighed in at 8 lbs. 3 ounces. … Harvick’s Michigan victory was KHI’s 37th representing the second most wins in series competition. … KHI and Kyle Busch Motorsports trucks have won 25 of the series 40 most recent races. … Busch and Hornaday are the only previous Bristol winners entered in this week’s race. … There have been 37 series races run on concrete surfaced tracks with 22 different winners led by Busch (seven) and Hornaday (four).
NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES TOP 10 | ||
Driver | Points | Points Back |
1 - Johnny Sauter | 519 | 0 |
2 – James Buescher | 514 | -5 |
3 – Austin Dillon | 511 | -8 |
4 – Timothy Peters | 507 | -12 |
5 – Cole Whitt | 487 | -32 |
6 - Matt Crafton | 475 | -44 |
7 – Ron Hornaday Jr | 473 | -46 |
8 - Joey Coulter | 468 | -51 |
9 – Parker Kligerman | 460 | -59 |
10 - Todd Bodine | 448 | -71 |
No comments:
Post a Comment