Red Horse Racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway
It was a home game for most NASCAR Camping World Truck Series teams as they traveled to Concord, N.C. and Charlotte Motor Speedway for the North Carolina Education Lottery 200. On Thursday, teams battled inclement weather, but were able to get one of three scheduled practice sessions in. Matt Tifft in the No. 11 Toyota Tundra was ninth fastest, while Timothy Peters was 20th on the board in the No. 17. On Friday, teams returned to the one and a half-mile facility to do battle with rainy weather. Qualifying was rained out, so the field was set per the NASCAR rule book and the race was postponed until Saturday afternoon. Tifft started ninth, while Peters rolled off from 20th. Under the noon sun, Tifft finished fifth, his best finish in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and Peters seventh.
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Matt Tifft
No. 11 NASCAR Heat
Toyota Tundra
Matt Tifft Earns Best Career Series Finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway
Matt Tifft and the No. 11 NASCAR Heat Toyota Tundra team picked up a fifth-place finish in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. This was Tifft’s best career finish in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Tifft was ninth fastest in the only practice session on Thursday evening, and on Friday, qualifying was rained out, so the race lineup was set per the NASCAR Rule Book. Due to the inclement weather, the race was also postponed until Saturday afternoon. When the green flag fell under sunny skies, Tifft rolled off ninth, but encountered an extremely tight handling condition on his Toyota Tundra immediately. Crew chief Scott Zipadelli called Tifft to pit road twice for four Goodyear tires and Sunoco fuel, but despite multiple adjustments, was unable to find a good balance on the Tundra. During the final caution period on lap 73, Tifft returned to pit road to top off with fuel, then was able to save enough to stay out for the rest of the race and pick up positions as other teams had to pit for fuel. Tifft finished fifth, which was his highest series finish to date.
Start – 9
Finish – 5
Driver Points Position – 21
Owner Points Position – 11
Laps Led – 0
Matt Tifft Quotes:
“We had a little bit of damage on the first lap, but we were just way too tight all day. When you have those situations and you’re in the back like that, you have to play the strategy piece. Scott Zipadelli (crew chief) did an awesome job with that, obviously bringing home my first top-five in the Truck Series.”
“It was really cool having NASCAR Heat Evolution on the truck, it’s awesome what they’re doing for the sport with video games. Red Horse Racing has worked hard this whole year and the funny thing is that we’ve had really, really fast trucks and we didn’t get the finishes we wanted. Today may be the opposite, but we’ll take top-fives as they come.”
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Timothy Peters No. 17
No. 17 Red Horse Racing
Toyota Tundra
Timothy Peters Picks Up Fourth Top-10 of 2016 at Charlotte Motor Speedway
Timothy Peters piloted the No. 17 Toyota Tundra to a seventh-place finish, his fourth top-ten in six races, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200. On Thursday, all but one practice session was rained out, and Peters posted the 20th fastest lap. On Friday, Mother Nature ruled the day and qualifying was canceled and the race postponed until Saturday due to inclement weather, so the field was set per the NASCAR Rule Book by practice speeds. Peters would begin the race in the 20th position. Saturday brought sunny skies in the afternoon and Peters took the green flag in 20th position, but gained six spots on the first lap as one lane was held up. Peters continued to march forward until the first caution on lap 24, when he hit pit road for four Goodyear tires and Sunoco fuel. He was in the 13th position, but a quick stop by the No. 17 team put him in the eighth spot for the restart. Peters continued to gain positions and was up to third by the next caution on lap 67, during which crew chief Shane Huffman called him to pit road for another four tire stop. Peters exited pit road with the lead. He led 11 laps before falling back. Peters had to pit under green for fuel with 12 laps to go, putting him back in the running order, but he worked his way back up to finish in the seventh position.
Start – 20
Finish – 7
Driver Points Position – 2
Owner Points Position – 2
Laps Led – 11
Timothy Peters Quote:
“Shane (Huffman, crew chief) and the guys made good adjustments after practice on Thursday. We didn’t have a good balance then, so to have a balance like we did was really encouraging in the race. We moved up really fast, but the way it cycled out at the end with fuel mileage we came up seventh, but we feel like we had a top-five Toyota Tundra.”