{"id":15565,"date":"2018-03-23T19:18:41","date_gmt":"2018-03-24T00:18:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=15565"},"modified":"2018-03-23T19:19:41","modified_gmt":"2018-03-24T00:19:41","slug":"nascar-friday-martinsville-notebook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2018\/03\/23\/nascar-friday-martinsville-notebook\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR: Friday Martinsville Notebook"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/b><\/p>\n

Timothy Peters returns to NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at his home track<\/b><\/p>\n

MARTINSVILLE, Va. \u2013 Timothy Peters<\/strong> says he isn\u2019t looking beyond this weekend at Martinsville Speedway<\/strong> and his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series<\/a> race of the year, though the temptation to do so might still be there.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Timothy Peters. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

A fixture in the series for more than a decade, Peters lost his ride last year when Red Horse Racing disbanded after the fifth race of the season and has competed in the series only three times since then.<\/p>\n

Born in nearby Danville, Virginia, Peters returns to his home track with what has to be a modicum of nostalgia. After all, he scored the first of his 10 NCWTS victories at the .526-mile paper-clip-shaped speedway in 2009.<\/p>\n

In Saturday\u2019s Alpha Energy Solutions 250 (2 p.m. ET on FS1), he\u2019ll be running a one-event deal for owner Ricky Benton. Though his focus will be on the race at hand, Peters can be forgiven if he\u2019s hoping for more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just glad to be back \u2013 first start of the year,\u201d said the affable 37-year-old. \u201cI cut my teeth on tracks around here with Late Model Stocks, so I just thank Ricky Benton for the opportunity to come up here with the BTS Ford F-150 to a place that I call home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t wait to get out there and mix it up.\u201d<\/p>\n

A strong performance on Saturday could lead to additional opportunities in the series.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now our focus is on (Saturday\u2019s) race, and again, I\u2019m thankful for what he (Benton) has done to let me drive this truck and work with (crew chief) Mike Hester,\u201d said Peters, who finished in the top 10 in the series standings for eight straight years before last season\u2019s abrupt hiatus.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as going forward, we\u2019ll just have to see how (Saturday) goes. Hopefully, there\u2019s more opportunities to be back in the Trucks, and I\u2019d really love to do it with Ricky Benton Racing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s race will mark Peters\u2019 239th NCWTS start, but it will be his first in a Ford. Previously, Peters had driven Dodges, Chevrolets and Toyotas.<\/p>\n

THORSPORT STILL PLAYING CATCH-UP AFTER SWITCH TO FORD<\/b><\/p>\n

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series hasn\u2019t raced since March 2 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but for ThorSport Racing driver Ben Rhodes, the break was welcome \u2013 and necessary.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Ben Rhodes, driver of the #41 Alpha Energy Solutions Ford, practices for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville Speedway on March 23, 2018 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

ThorSport made an offseason manufacturer change from Toyota to Ford, with a small window of time to accomplish the changeover. That\u2019s why Rhodes was fine with the pause in the schedule after Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith our switch to Ford this year, we need all the time we can get,\u201d said Rhodes, who finished fourth, fourth and seventh in the first three races. \u201cWe haven\u2019t been to the wind tunnel yet. We haven\u2019t done any of the other things that teams like Kyle Busch Motorsports and GMS Racing are doing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis time allows us to do some R&D on our side and really work off the track to get at speed. A lot of the speed you see these days is made at the shop, from the wind tunnel, the seven-post machine, stuff like that. It\u2019s kind of a blessing, but the racer in me wants me to race every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Ben Rhodes, driver of the #41 Alpha Energy Solutions Ford, prepares to practice for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville Speedway on March 23, 2018 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Incidentally, Rhodes is also the poster child for the value of stage points in NASCAR racing. He finished fourth in the season opener at Daytona but failed to finish in the top 10 in either of the first two stages of the race and left the track 16th in the series standings, tied for the position with journeyman Norm Benning.<\/p>\n

SHORT STROKES<\/b><\/p>\n

Three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practices produced three different leaders on Saturday at Martinsville Speedway. Justin Haley topped the speed chart at 94.125 mph in opening practice, with Matt Crafton fastest in second practice at 94.571 mph and Crafton\u2019s ThorSport Racing teammate, Grant Enfinger, quickest in final practice at 95.055 mph\u2026<\/p>\n

The engine in Todd Gilliland\u2019s No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota blew after running six laps in second practice. Gilliland will make his first start of the season at Martinsville on Saturday, but he\u2019ll do so from the rear of the field because of the engine change. With the new power plant in his truck, Gilliland was 12th fastest in final practice.<\/p>\n

Media Center Interviews:<\/h3>\n

Kyle Benjamin, Timothy Peters and Ben Rhodes – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/MS_NCWTS_Benjamin_Peters_Rhodes_032318.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Harrison Burton, Todd Gilliland and Noah Gragson – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/MS_NCWTS_Burton_Gilliland_Gragson_032318.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service   Timothy Peters returns to NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at his home track MARTINSVILLE, Va. \u2013 Timothy Peters says he isn\u2019t looking beyond this weekend at Martinsville Speedway and his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race of the year, though the temptation to do so might still be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15569,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[407,16,160,268],"class_list":["post-15565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-martinsville-speedway","tag-nascar","tag-nascar-camping-world-truck-series","tag-ncwts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/ms_ncwts_ben_rhodes_032318.jpg?fit=6444%2C4061&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-433","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15565"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15565\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15579,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15565\/revisions\/15579"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}