MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Timothy Peters took the lead when Denny Hamlin pitted on the 117th lap Saturday and won the NASCAR truck series race at Martinsville Speedway.
Tayler Malsam of Mill Creek finished 28th after dropping out shortly after the halfway point. Malsam missed a shift while coming up to speed after a restart and wrecked his transmission.
It is the first career victory for Peters, who lives in nearby Danville.
“It’s awesome. Words can’t describe what I’m feeling right now,” Peters said after being doused with frigid water in victory lane by points leader Ron Hornaday Jr. and others.
Peters stopped just once in the 200-lap race, after just 33 laps, and led the final 84 laps, holding off Todd Bodine over three restarts to cruise to the win by 1.815 seconds.
The biggest question at the end was whether he would have enough fuel.
In the spring, Peters was running fifth at Martinsville with eight laps remaining when he ran out of gas, and crew chief Chad Hedrick found it difficult not to fret until the end.
“I don’t think I watched the last eight laps at all,” Hedrick said.
The victory came in Peters’ 64th career start in the series.
“I wanted to race today really bad because I knew in race trim we had a really good truck,” he said. “The last time I’ve been in a victory lane was ‘05, and it was here.”
That win, though, came in a late model race.
Peweters’ victory was popular among his competitors.
“I’m really tickled to see Timmy win. He’s a great kid,” Bodine said during his postrace interview. “As soon as I leave here I’m going to go find him. I think the world of him.”
Hornaday finished fourth and extended his lead to 224 points over Matt Crafton with four races remaining. Hornaday is seeking his record fourth championship in the series.
Bodine finished second, followed by Colin Braun; Kevin Harvick was fifth.
Saturday at Martinsville Speedway
Martinsville, Va.
Lap length: .526 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (11) Timothy Peters, Toyota, 200 laps, 129 rating, 195 points, $50,275.
2. (8) Todd Bodine, Toyota, 200, 117.3, 170, $28,395.
3. (12) Colin Braun, Ford, 200, 101.2, 165, $21,765.
4. (2) Ron Hornaday Jr., Chevrolet, 200, 129.6, 165, $16,330.
5. (3) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 200, 112.1, 155, $9,805.
6. (4) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 200, 119.2, 155, $8,730.
7. (28) Dennis Setzer, Chevrolet, 200, 83.6, 146, $10,230.
8. (13) David Starr, Toyota, 200, 96, 142, $10,180.
9. (22) Matt Crafton, Chevrolet, 200, 84.1, 138, $10,130.
10. (14) Terry Cook, Toyota, 200, 86.3, 134, $13,330.
11. (19) James Buescher, Ford, 200, 72.5, 130, $11,030.
12. (15) Aric Almirola, Toyota, 200, 78.3, 127, $9,905.
13. (20) Jason White, Dodge, 200, 71.5, 124, $9,855.
14. (6) Stacy Compton, Toyota, 200, 74.7, 121, $9,805.
15. (7) Rick Crawford, Ford, 200, 84.4, 118, $11,055.
16. (9) Johnny Sauter, Chevrolet, 199, 82.6, 115, $9,630.
17. (29) Chris Fontaine, Chevrolet, 199, 57.2, 112, $7,330.
18. (23) Marc Davis, Chevrolet, 199, 60.2, 109, $7,280.
19. (17) Burt Myers, Chevrolet, 199, 58.7, 106, $9,480.
20. (32) Brett Butler, Chevrolet, 199, 41, 103, $7,880.
21. (18) Max Papis, Toyota, 199, 56.1, 100, $7,155.
22. (27) Chris Jones, Chevrolet, 197, 43.5, 97, $7,130.
23. (1) Mike Skinner, Toyota, 196, 84.1, 94, $11,355.
24. (5) Brian Scott, Toyota, 195, 91.9, 91, $9,330.
25. (31) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, 195, 32.2, 88, $9,280.
26. (34) Derek White, Chevrolet, 188, 34.7, 85, $8,005.
27. (26) Tim Brown, Chevrolet, 178, 41.9, 82, $7,930.
28. (10) Tayler Malsam, Toyota, transmission, 119, 66.8, 79, $6,905.
29. (30) Brent Raymer, Ford, brakes, 106, 45.4, 76, $6,855.
30. (21) T.J. Bell, Toyota, accident, 87, 45.7, 73, $7,330.
31. (16) Peyton Sellers, Toyota, transmission, 54, 41.8, 70, $6,380.
32. (25) Rob Fuller, Chevrolet, accident, 52, 49.3, 67, $6,355.
33. (24) Hermie Sadler, Chevrolet, accident, 51, 42.4, 64, $6,330.
34. (33) Nick Tucker, Dodge, vibration, 30, 31.7, 61, $6,280.
35. (36) Wheeler Boys, Dodge, shock, 21, 26.8, 0, $6,255.
36. (35) Brandon Knupp, Chevrolet, brakes, 12, 26.3, 55, $6,222.
Race Statistics
Average Speed of Race Winner: 69.312 mph.
Time of Race: 1 hour, 31 minutes, 4 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 1.815 seconds.
Caution Flags: 8 for 39 laps.
Lead Changes: 3 among 3 drivers.
Lap Leaders: R.Hornaday Jr. 1-54; D.Hamlin 55-116; T.Peters 117-200.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): T.Peters, 1 time for 84 laps; D.Hamlin, 1 time for 62 laps; R.Hornaday Jr., 1 time for 54 laps.
Top 10 in Points
1. R.Hornaday Jr., 3,375; 2. M.Crafton, 3,151; 3. M.Skinner, 3,049; 4. T.Bodine, 2,815; 5. B.Scott, 2,805; 6. C.Braun, 2,797; 7. T.Peters, 2,768; 8. J.Sauter, 2,762; 9. D.Starr, 2,694; 10. R.Crawford, 2,694.
NASCAR Driver Rating Formula
A maximum of 150 points can be attained in a race.
The formula combines the following categories: Wins, Finishes, Top-15 Finishes, Average Running Position While on Lead Lap, Average Speed Under Green, Fastest Lap, Led Most Laps, Lead-Lap Finish.
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