Dodge Driver Timothy Peters is once again singing the country ballad, “Why Me?” after the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series O’Reilly 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Peters had another strong run going, climbing as high as the fourth position, when a bad alternator ruined his night.

The entire day started off in the right direction when Peters posted the fastest time in morning practice beating the likes of Nextel Cup Stars Mark Martin and Kyle Busch. He backed that up going faster in qualifying than practice landing him 12th on the grid for the O’Reilly 200. At the start of the race the sophomore season driver wasted no time making his way into the top 10 and then quickly moved up to the top five.  Later with Peters running 10th on lap 135 his alternator stopped charging the battery and caused the No. 4 Dodge Motorsports Dodge to lose power on the race track. Peters made his way behind the wall to the attention of his team who diagnosed the problem and replaced the battery. Peters returned to the track on lap 148, 14 laps down. He finished the race in 33rd position. It was the second consecutive race that Peters was running in the top 10 when something out of his control ended his chances for victory.        

No. 4 Dodge Race Review

• Peters was fastest in the morning practice. Then that afternoon for qualifying he picked up two tenths, running around the fastest half mile oval in 15.556 seconds at a speed of 123.348 mph to qualify in the 12th position. 
• By the second caution on lap 28 Peters had worked his way into the eighth position. “It’s a tick tight,” radioed Peters. 
• By lap 40 Peters was running fifth.
• The third caution waved on lap 63, while Peters was running in the third position, and Crew Chief Marcus Richmond made the decision to come down pit road. The Dodge Racing Team changed four tires, added fuel and made a wedge bolt adjustment. He restarted in the 19th position as several competitors chose not to pit during this caution. 
• Peters wasted no time working his way through traffic. On lap 105 he was running in the 12th position. “The truck is working well through traffic,” said Peters.
• On lap 126 the sixth caution waved. Peters was running in the 10th position. Crew Chief Richmond made the decision to stay out. On the restart Peters immediately realized something was wrong. “It just lost power,” Peters said.
• He made his way off the race track and behind the pit wall. The Dodge Motorsports Racing team went to work diagnosing the problem as a bad alternator.  The team replaced the battery and Peters resumed racing on lap 148. He was scored in the 34th position, 14 laps down to the leader.
• Peters would complete the final laps and finish the O’Reilly 200 in the 33rd spot.

Mark Martin won the O’Reilly 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Todd Bodine, Ted Musgrave, Johnny Benson and David Starr completed the top-five. The next stop for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competitors is at the New Hampshire Raceway on Saturday, September 16th.