Connect with us

The last two times Timothy Peters arrived at Martinsville Speedway, he did so while under the pretense that he was racing for a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship.

Over the past six months, Red Horse Racing shut down and left him without a full-time ride and forced the 36-year-old to return to his Late Model Stock racing roots.

Now Peters has returned to Martinsville, hoping to score the biggest Late Model victory of his career in the Valley Star Credit Union 300. The Providence, North Carolina native has won the race before, collecting a grandfather clock for his efforts back in 2005, but this is different.

It’s arguably more important than the one he earned for his Truck Series victory back in 2005 too.

This first-ever Martinsville 300 under the lights is being viewed by many as the most-important Late Model Stock race of recent memory and that’s something Peters wants desperately to win for himself.

“I think it would be big to win the first one under the lights,” Peters said after the open test on Thursday. “I mean, look at this place right now. It’s lit up and I applaud Clay (Campbell) and everyone responsible for making this the first race under the lights.

“The fans and everyone involved with Late Model racing deserve this.”

Even though Peters still wants to be in NASCAR to close out the championship run he started last season, the VSCU 300 is a nice consolation prize for a local racer like himself.

His NASCAR responsibilities forced him to miss the 2016 running and the hiatus made him giddy to return.

“It was nerve-racking at first but not depressing,” Peters said. “It was cool to see everyone’s hard work with Bobby (McCarty) doing a good job in the car for us. It’s just cool to see these fans come in here and pull for their favorite driver. It was cool to see that from the outside.”

Even though he’s won the race before, Peters doesn’t think he has much of an advantage. Due to his NASCAR and Late Model tenure, Peters arguably has more laps turned than anyone entered into the race.

But he still views the race as a crapshoot.

“Experience doesn’t hurt for sure but I can tell you that the guys that run this race are the best of the best,” he said. “They have just as much experience as anyone and anyone that shows up can win this race under the right circumstances.”

Given his ties to the local community and hard-luck on the NASCAR side, a Peters victory would be one of the most popular in quite some time, however.

“We appreciate that fans feel that way obviously,” Peters said. “Barry Nelson and AutosByNelson.com. We’re from Martinsville, this is a special place to us and it’s a race that we work really hard to win.

“Hopefully we have something for them.”

Matt Weaver is the owner and founder of Short Track Scene. Weaver grew up in the sport, having raced himself before becoming a reporter in college at the University of South Alabama. He also has extensive experience covering NASCAR, IndyCar and Dirt Sprint Cars.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More in Late Model Stock Cars