NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year candidate Timothy Peters had high hopes going into Saturday night’s Built Ford Tough 225 at Kentucky Speedway. Unfortunately for Peters and his No. 4 Bailey’s Dodge team, those hopes were dashed by an ill-handling race truck and a series of unfortunate events. The ultimate consequence was a less than satisfying 28th place finish after a hard fought evening at the 1.5 mile oval.

Peters started the weekend on a high note, posting fast times in practice and demonstrating that his Bailey’s Dodge was a force to be reckoned with. In a search for even more speed, Peters and his team made a series of chassis adjustments prior to qualifying. Those changes led to a loose condition after the green flag fell on Saturday evening.

“We had a good truck and we just made some changes right before qualifying that really didn’t work out too well,” Peters said after the event. “It might have been the right way to go but not necessarily for me. I was all for the changes so I guess we all have to live and learn from our mistakes. We will rebound as a team. All the guys on this Bobby Hamilton Racing team really worked hard all weekend on this Bailey’s Dodge.”

Peters started the race in the 16th position, but soon after the start he radioed his crew to let them know he was loose on entry into the corners. He made his first stop on lap 47 after falling one lap down to the leaders under green flag conditions. His crew worked to alleviate his handling woes and he restarted in the 30th spot. On lap 77 he was able to get his lap back under NASCAR’s “Lucky Dog” beneficiary rule. He once again fell a lap down under green flag conditions and was once again the beneficiary of the “Lucky Dog” on lap 106. Peters soon radioed his crew and informed them that he could not feel the front end of his Bailey’s Dodge. His problems grew worse when he was forced to make a series of pit stops due to a mechanical malfunction with the studs on one of his wheel hubs that left his Dodge virtually impossible to drive. Despite the valiant efforts of his crew the only thing left to salvage was 28th place finish.

“It was a handful to drive,” Peters said. “I just tried to hang on to it as best I could and get the best finish that I could. We will take this Bailey’s Dodge and go to Memphis and rebound. I love short track racing and Memphis will hopefully prove to be just the tonic that this team needs to get where we need to be.”

Dennis Setzer won the Built Ford Tough 225 in front of a crowd of 40,196. Todd Bodine, David Reutimann, Mike Skinner and Ted Musgrave rounded out the top five.