Red Horse Racing at Chicagoland Speedway
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series journeyed to the Windy City for the 16th race of the 2015 season. On a rainy Friday at the Joliet, Illinois-based Chicagoland Speedway, teams completed a single practice session. Timothy Peters was fifth fastest, while Ben Kennedy was ninth fastest. Two rounds of single truck qualifying were scheduled to set the field for the American Ethanol e15 225, but a fast moving storm drenched the track as the first round was coming to a close. The starting lineup was set by practice speeds as per the NASCAR Rule Book. The 150-lap event was slated for Friday night, but severe storms postponed the race until 10:30 a.m. ET on Saturday. In the 200th start of his NCWTS career, Peters led 41 laps en route to a third-place finish, while Kennedy finished the race in the 12th position.
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Timothy Peters No. 17
No. 17 Red Horse Racing
Toyota Tundra
Timothy Peters Earns Top-Three Finish in 200th Series Start
In the 200th start of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career, Timothy Peters earned a third-place finish after leading 41 of 150 laps in the American Ethanol e15 225 at Chicagoland Speedway. In the only practice session of the weekend on Friday, Peters posted the fifth-fastest time. This would eventually earn him the fifth starting position, as knockout qualifying was canceled due to inclement weather and the field was set by practice times. The 150-lap event was postponed from Friday night to Saturday morning after strong storms entered the area that evening. On Saturday morning, crews dried the track for a 10:30 a.m. ET start time, and Peters rolled off in the fifth position. Peters fell back to seventh on the start, and reported that the red and white No. 17 Toyota Tundra was a little tight in Turns 1 and 2. During the competition caution on Lap 30, crew chief Marcus Richmond brought the veteran driver to pit road for four fresh Goodyear tires and Sunoco fuel, and the quick stop enabled Peters to restart in the third position. On lap 38, he moved into the second position, but still fighting a tight condition, asked Richmond to free him up a little. The field began to cycle through green flag pit stops, and Peters came to pit road on lap 83 from the third position, but an incident in the infield grass caused the yellow flag to fly. Richmond instructed Peters to drive through and stay out until pit road was open. The team was lightning-quick with another four-tire stop and after a lengthy caution, several trucks came to pit road to top off with fuel, so Peters was scored as the leader on the restart. He led 41 laps until returning to pit road for fuel and two tires with 15 laps to go, which caused him to fall back to the eighth position. As pit stops cycled through and other competitors ran out of fuel in the closing laps, Peters charged up to third and picked up his third top-10 finish in seven starts at Chicagoland Speedway.
Start – 5
Finish – 3
Driver Points Position – 7
Laps Led – 41
Timothy Peters Quotes:
How strong was the truck today?
“We definitely had a great Red Horse Racing Tundra here today. When we came down pit road under the green flag and the caution came out, it was the right call to go through so we didn’t get caught a lap down. This is what this team is about right here, we’ve really worked hard and we’re coming into our own right now. I’m just proud of Marcus (Richmond, crew chief) and all the guys on this crew did an awesome job. Not a bad day for us.”
What was going through your mind when the team wanted you to conserve fuel?
“It’s just the way the trucks are built. You can’t change it unless a caution comes out. I saw rain – whatever I could see I was radioing back in. It was a great run for our Tundra today. Thanks to the guys back at the shop and Triad motors and all the guys here – pit road was awesome. This is what this team is all about. We’ve been hit or miss but I feel like we came into our zone. We’ll get on a roll and we have seven more opportunities to go to victory lane.”
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Ben Kennedy
No. 11 Local Motors
Toyota Tundra
Ben Kennedy Earns 12th-Place Finish at Chicagoland Speedway
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series headed to Chicagoland Speedway for the American Ethanol e15 225. All activity was scheduled to be a one-day affair, with a single practice session, qualifying and the 150-lap event on Friday. Ben Kennedy and the No. 11 Local Motors team turned in the ninth-fastest lap time during the morning’s final practice. As inclement weather approached, NCWTS teams attempted to complete the first round of single-truck lap time trials but qualifying was halted by rain and the field set by the practice speeds. As the precipitation continued into the evening, NASCAR officials postponed the race until the following morning. Under partly cloudy skies Saturday morning, Kennedy took the green flag in ninth. He reported a tight-handling condition on the black and white Toyota Tundra, slipping to 15th by lap 70. During routine pit stops, crew chief Scott Zipadelli called for four tires, Sunoco fuel and chassis adjustments. Following a visit to pit road on lap 77, the yellow flag was displayed on lap 82 before the field could cycle through the green-flag pit stops, catching Kennedy a lap down to the leader. The race remained under green-flag conditions for the final 55 laps and the Daytona Beach, Florida native took the checkered flag in the 12th position.
Start – 9
Finish – 12
Driver Points Position – 10
Laps Led – 0
Ben Kennedy Quote:
“It was a combination of bad luck and bad timing today. Our Local Motors Toyota Tundra was a little tight, especially in the center of Turns 1 and 2. Zippy (crew chief Scott Zipadelli) was working to get us some more front grip during pit stops, but that caution coming out during the green flag stops didn’t help at all. I was trying to keep us in the Lucky Dog position, but we didn’t get another caution so it didn’t matter. We’ll take 12th and look ahead to next week at Loudon (New Hampshire Motor Speedway).”