Timothy Peters had worked his way up to the fourth position in the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway and was trying to take away the third spot when he ducked underneath Matt Crafton and both trucks got loose going into the corner.  Peters No. 4 Dodge Motorsports Dodge spun around and stopped by hitting the inside retaining wall.  The crew worked diligently behind the wall to repair the damage but a broken line and leaking fluid caused their day to end early.  Peters finished the NASCAR Craftsmen Truck Series event in the 35th position.

“It’s frustrating,” Peters said on pit road watching the final laps of the race from his pit stall.  “We worked on the truck and it had gotten a lot better and we had a plan to help us for the final laps.  Then I ducked underneath Matt Crafton going for third and we both hit the stay dry on the track.  He slipped so I took advantage of it and went under him, and then I got loose and spun around hitting the wall.”

Timothy Peters No. 4 Dodge Motorsports Dodge Race Report

• Peters qualified his Dodge in the 19th position in 20.119 seconds with a speed of 94.120 mph.
• The first of a record 16 cautions came out on lap 12.  Peters told Crew Chief Kip McCord, “I have to hold the brake to keep the back end from coming around.  If I let off the brake it gets loose, so if they tap me it will be hard to hold onto it.”
• Then after the fuel load had burned off, Peters radioed McCord on lap 50 that he was tight from the center off the turns.  Peters brought his Dodge to the attention of his crew on lap 65.  The team made an adjustment to the air pressure and sent the Virginia native back on the track in the 18th position.
• Peters spun the No. 4 Dodge on lap 82 but did not hit anything.  When he brought his truck to pit road his left rear tire was cut.  As he exited pit road trying to beat the leaders he got caught for speeding.  So the driver took the penalty and restarted his Dodge at the tail end of the longest line in the 23rd position. 
• Since the team had just pitted McCord chose to get off sequence from the leaders when they pitted under the next caution.  Peters restarted in the 16th spot. 
• Then on lap 109 the 33 truck shoved Peters’ Dodge out of the way coming off turn four causing him to lose three positions.  Once Peters regained his composure he came back with a vengeance.
• On lap 120 Peters went three wide on the half-mile oval to take over the 14th spot. 
• Then on lap 128 several teams pitted and McCord decided it was too early to bring his Dodge on pit road.  So Peters stayed out and restarted in the 7th position.  McCord told his driver to take care of his tires so they would last longer. 
• In the next laps Peters was smooth sailing on the short track.  He drove with finesse, preserving his equipment and working his way into the fourth spot.
• Then on lap 163 Peters noticed Matt Crafton got loose and he took advantage to pass.  He ducked underneath him and hit stay dry on the race track causing his Dodge Motorsports Dodge to spin around and hit the inside retaining wall.  Then on lap 164 he drove his Dodge into his pit stall and when the team started to assess the damage they realized there was fluid running from his Dodge.  So they took him behind the wall to cut the front end off and repair the damage enough to get him back on the track to log more laps. 
• Peters made two laps under caution and then brought his Dodge back to his crew.  The race restarted on lap 202 with Peters still on pit road.  The team realized that a line had burst and more fluid was leaking out so they told Peters to turn off the engine and their day was finished early.

“I shouldn’t have been in that position,” Peters said.  “I saw him wash up the track, so I ducked under him.  They just put all this stay dry down on the track and I slipped.  It spun me around and hit the wall.  The guys tried to get me back out, but the front end was knocked in so bad that we were finished.  I’m mad – I never want to leave Martinsville this way.”

David Starr won the Kroger 250 in front of 43,000 sun-baked NASCAR enthusiasts. Ted Musgrave, Matt Crafton, Mark Martin and Mike Bliss rounded out the top five.  The next stop for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competitors will be on April 29th at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois.