Photo Credit: Simon Scoggins
Timothy Peters plans on covering almost 5,000 miles and hopefully another 500 or so laps next weekend. He’s attempting the Las Vegas-Martinsville double and two things are certain: it’s a first and it’s going to be exciting to follow.
Peters is one of the top stars of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He also loves Martinsville Speedway and theValleyStar Credit Union 300 Late Model Stock race. And that’s why he’s decided to be a road warrior next weekend.
He has quite the itinerary next week. He flies to Vegas Friday and is on the track Saturday morning for practice and then qualifying for the Rhino Linings 350 truck series race. The green flag falls on that race 10 o’clock eastern time Saturday night.
When the race is over, he will hurry to the airport for a redeye back to Statesville, NC. Optimistically he will get to Martinsville by 3 a.m., in time to get a couple hours of sleep and head to the track for the ValleyStar Credit Union 300.
“As a racer you always want to be at the track any chance you get. It makes you better as a driver,” said Peters, explaining the ‘why’ of attempting the two days of cross-country travel and racing. “When the opportunity came up with a chance to race in Vegas with my Red Horse Racing Tundra and come back to race the Late Model race, we jumped at it.”
Getting back to Martinsville in time for Sunday’s race may be the easy part. Making the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 will be a totally different story. Because he will miss practice and qualifying on Saturday, he will have to start at the rear of a heat race and hopefully drive forward enough in 20 laps to transfer to the feature. And if he doesn’t qualify in his heat race, he’ll have one more opportunity in a 20-lap last chance race.
“The reason I want to do the double is the challenge. Having to start last in a heat race should be a challenge but I feel we can get to the lock-in spot to advance to the main,” said Peters. “I’ve never had this opportunity so I want to try it while I have the chance. I may never get to try it in the future.”
If there is a track where Peters could be successful after a full day of racing in Vegas and overnight travel, it’s Martinsville. It’s his home track, but more than that he’s been very successful there with both a truck series and a late model win at the historic speedway.
To keep fans up to date and involved in Peters’ two-day odyssey, his Late Model sponsor, autosbynelson.com has created the #wherestimothy? campaign. Their social media team will provide real-time updates on Peters’ progress on and off the track all weekend.
“It is a way we thought we could have some fun with the weekend and let fans keep up with Timothy all weekend,” said Barry Nelson, president of autosbynelson. “All of us at autosbynelson are excited about the weekend and hopefully Timothy can put it in victory lane twice in two days.”
Fans will be able to track Peters’ weekend progress through his twitter account and facebook page. A photo album of his weekend will be compiled as it happens on the autosbynelson facebook page.
