RACE REPORT
Homestead-Miami 200
Homestead-Miami Speedway
November 18, 2016
Red Horse Racing at Homestead-Miami Speedway
For the final race of the 2016 season, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series teams went far south to Miami, Florida and Homestead-Miami Speedway. On Friday, teams participated in two practice sessions in the morning. Matt Tifft, in the No. 11 BrainGear/Surface Sunscreen Toyota Tundra, posted the 16th and 17th fastest times, while Timothy Peters, in the No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra, was 11th and 18th on the board. Friday afternoon, the lineup for the 201-lap event was set with two rounds of single-truck, knockout qualifying. Neither Tifft or Peters transferred out of the first round, and Peters would start the race 13th, while Tifft rolled off from the 22nd position. Peters entered the evening as part of the inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship 4. The green flag waved, and Peters quickly began to move toward the front. Tifft encountered a vibration on his Toyota Tundra, and was forced to pit under green flag conditions, going a lap down, but the 20-year-old made up ground and finished on the lead lap in 12th. Following a loose wheel and a change in handling on his red-and-white Tundra, Peters finished the night in ninth, fourth in the Championship Chase.
Timothy Peters No. 17
No. 17 Red Horse Racing
Toyota Tundra
Timothy Peters Earns Top-Ten Finish, Fourth-Place in Points Standings
Timothy Peters and the No. 17 Red Horse Racing team earned a ninth-place finish in the season-ending event at Homestead-Miami Speedway and a fourth-place result in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chase. On Friday, teams participated in two practice sessions and Peters posted the 11th and 18th fastest times. Qualifying consisted of two rounds of single-truck, knockout qualifying, and Peters barely missed the final round, locking in the 13th starting spot. The green flag flew just after 8 p.m. and in race conditions Peters was quite happy with the balance of the red-and-white machine, moving into the top five by lap 12. On lap 15, crew chief Shane Huffman called Peters to pit road under caution and gave him four scuffed tires and fuel as well as an air pressure adjustment. Peters restarted in fourth, but did not like the balance of the Tundra with that set of tires. Under a caution on lap 42, Peters returned to pit road for four fresh tires and fuel, but still sought a different feel in the No. 17 Tundra. On lap 83, Peters visited pit road again, but trouble on the stop put him back in traffic. A few laps later, Peters reported a vibration, and when he returned to pit road under caution on lap 111 the team discovered that the right front tire was slightly loose. In the final laps, Peters battled intensely with two other Championship Chase contenders, but ultimately would cross the line in the ninth position, and finish fourth in the inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship Chase. In 2016, the Danville, Virginia native earned eight top-five and 16 top-10 finishes in 23 races. The fourth-place points finish is Peters’ second-best finish in eight years of full time competition.
Start – 13
Finish – 9
Driver Points Position – 4
Owner Points Position – 9
Laps Led – 0
Timothy Peters Quote:
“Everybody did a great job. One pit stop – it is what it is. These guys do a great job for me every week. All we wanted was a shot coming down here. We were so good when we initially fired off the start of the race. It never would come back, so I don’t know. I’ll be scratching my head a little bit, but all in all it’s still a great year for the Red Horse Racing team. Just so proud to be in this moment. It’s really surreal and we wanted to get that championship, but fourth isn’t too shabby.”
Matt Tifft
No. 11 BrainGear/Surface Sunscreen
Toyota Tundra
Tifft Rebounds For 12th-Place Finish in Homestead
In his second-career start at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Matt Tifft put a period on his 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series campaign with a 12th-place finish. Tifft rallied from a loose wheel and regained a lap to claw his way back into contention by the end of the season’s finale. The Hinckley, Ohio native began his night from the 22nd position and wasted no time moving forward, entering the top-15 by lap 20. Shortly thereafter on lap 29, Tifft’s night would be threatened. A vibration forced him to make an unscheduled four-tire pit stop under green on lap 29, and from there, the rally from 32nd began. A fortuitous caution on lap 43 allowed him to take advantage of the wave around and rejoin the lead lap. With a 12-lap disadvantage on tires, Tifft muscled his BrainGear/Surface Sunscreen Toyota into the top-20 by lap 75. While he lost a lap to the leaders on lap 81, Tifft stayed in the Lucky Dog position until a lap 84 caution which brought him back into contention on the lead lap. After climbing his way to 14th, trouble on his final four-tire pit stop under yellow at lap 111 when another truck contacted Tifft’s front tire carrier, sent him back to 19th. The 20-year-old made the most of the season’s final restart on lap 115, completing four-wide passes and using every available lane on the progressively-banked surface to climb to 12th at the checkered flag. Tifft closed his 2016 NCWTS efforts with one top-five three top-10, and eight top-15 finishes in 10 starts.
Start – 22
Finish – 12
Owner Points Position – 7
Laps Led – 0
Matt Tifft Quote:
“We started off just a little tight, but once we got rolling, we were pretty good tonight. We had the vibration. I’m not sure what it was, it started sparking and we were playing catch-up from there. It’s hard to come back from that. Then one of our guys got run into on pit road, and we didn’t have anything go our way in that department. I think we had top-five speed in our Brain Gear/ urface Sunscreen Toyota and could have gone up and played with those guys towards the front. It’s hard to capitalize on those things when you’re playing catch-up. Once again, we made a good finish out of a night that could have been worse. These guys at Red Horse Racing dig hard and we do everything we can to knock good finishes down. I’m glad we were able to come back and finish the season out on a solid note.”