Peters Wins in Iowa
Jul 14, 2012
NEWTON, Iowa -- It turned out to be a dash to the finish.
It was fitting that one of the fastest trucks all night was able to close the deal.
Timothy Peters ran out front most of the race and took the lead off a restart with 10 laps remaining to speed to victory in the Camping World Truck Series American Ethanol 200 Saturday night at Iowa Speedway.
“You don’t get Toyota Tundras like this often and it was dominate. We sat on the pole. The testament goes to this team right here -- Butch Hylton (crew chief), all the guys back in the shop -- you work your butts off. Thank you so much,” said Peters. “Joe Gibbs Engines -- how about that horsepower? This right here is for my dad. It will be 11 years Tuesday that I lost my dad, so this was for him. Man, I’m going to be a dad -- that’s kind of scary in itself too.”
A late wreck forced a seventh caution with less than 20 laps remaining to set up the final restart between Peters and veteran Ron Hornaday.
When Hornaday spun his tires slightly in the double-file restart, Peters moved ahead and never looked back, pulling away for his first win this season and fourth career victory.
“I was shaking in my pants. You’ve got the restart king (Ron Hornaday Jr.) on the outside and I’m just doing my normal deal. After Kentucky, I really went to work thinking about what can I do to better or where can I be better on restarts, because I was just so horrible there. Hornaday got in front of us, but I made sure that I was going to get back by him. Thanks Johnny Sauter -- he gave us a good push. He was going to duck under, but I threw the block on him. Nevertheless, Toyota in victory lane,” said Peters.
The win allowed Peters to maintain his points lead, which increased to 12 over Justin Lofton.
Peters paid back Hornaday, who snatched the lead from him on a restart with 33 laps to go, diving to the inside of both Peters and Johnny Sauter.
Hornaday was only the third leader after the race was dominated by Peters and James Buescher, who was vying for his third win of the season.
The pair traded leads, but Buescher blew his right-front tire, sending him into the wall coming out of Turn 2 on Lap 135.
Hornaday finished second for his best performance of the season. Matt Crafton, who won the Coca-Cola 200 last year at Iowa Speedway, was third, giving him four top-four finishes at the 0.875-mile oval.
**NASCAR Wire Service
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