Young’s Motorsports (YMS) successfully completed their fourth season of NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway this past Friday night and the team’s top-10 performance in the Ford EcoBoost 200 is just a glimpse of what’s to come next season.
For the season finale at Homestead, the team tapped series veteran Timothy Peters to steer the No. 02 Brandt Chevrolet Silverado. The likable and experienced driver made his team debut at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway in Sept., and his 11th place finish left more to be desired.
The weekend didn’t start off on the right foot for the Mooresville, N.C.-based team. While the team was able to showcase speed right off the hauler, Peters believed he was having engine issues. Upon further inspection from the team, they confirmed Peters’ hunch limiting their practice in preparation for the 134-lap race.
Still, quick work by the Young’s Motorsports team and crew chief Chad Kendrick left more to be desired for qualifying and the race.
During time trials, Peters qualified 17th but felt confident in the truck’s ability for racing later that afternoon.
When the green flag was thrown, Peters steadily utilized traffic to come through the field and eventually latch himself onto the top-10. As the race motored on during Stage 1, the better Peter’s truck became.
By the conclusion of Stage 1, Peters had worked his way though the pack and landed 10th overall.
Continuing to pluck away at the field, a well-balanced truck found Peters seventh by the end of Stage 2 and with a legitimate opportunity to score Young’s Motorsports another solid outing.
Just four tires and fuel were the call for the 37-year-old driver heading into the final stage.
Making sure Peters had enough gas to make it to the end, he lost a few positions on pit road and slipped to 11th for the Lap 88 restart.
Methodically and patiently, Peters continued to stalk his competition and after a quick spat back in the top-10, a loose truck slipped the Danville, Va. native back to 11th with the laps winding down for the season finale.
Perseverance behind the wheel and a little luck bolted Peters back inside the top-10 in the closing laps where he took the checkered flag in 10th, earning his fourth top-10 finish in eight starts this season.
Two of those outings were for Young’s Motorsports.
“I really can’t thank Tyler (Young), Chad (Kendrick, crew chief), Rick (Brandt, CEO of Brandt) for the opportunity to come to Homestead and have a good showing,” offered Peters.
“You know I thought we could be a little better in the day, but we didn’t quite get the handling we needed on the truck to make an impact on the other teams. Still, we finished 10th, so there’s a lot to be thankful and appreciative.
Young’s Motorsports team principal and veteran NCWTS driver Tyler Young echoed his driver’s sentiments and feels the Homestead finish is exactly what his team needed to propel them into the offseason.
“Timothy did an awesome job for us,” added Young. “I can’t thank him enough. I was really impressed with the way he drove Homestead. He has a niche for that place and he really kept us pumped up.
“He certainly put us in the spotlight and proved that we’re going in the right direction with our program. No doubt his effort really boosted the spirits of everyone on the team.”
With the off-season now here, Young says it’s time for some rest, relaxation and reflection – but also focus hard on improving the operation for an impending stronger 2018 Truck Series season.
“I feel like we’re making some big gains, especially towards the end of the season,” Young added. “We’ll keep working on it, making tweaks – building new trucks and more. The future looks pretty bright for us and I can’t wait to see all unfold in less than 90 days at Daytona.”
Earlier this month, Young’s Motorsports announced that Austin Hill will drive the team’s flagship, No. 02 Chevrolet Silverado truck next season, but the team is planning to enter a second-truck for the full-23 race slate with announcements regarding that program announced at a later date.
Overall, in 238 NCWTS starts, Peters has earned eight poles, 10 wins, 57 top-five and 122 top-10 finishes and has led over 1,500 laps in competition. In a span of 13 years, Peters has crafted an average start and finish of 12.7 respectively.
For more on Tyler Young and Young’s Motorsports, please visit YoungsMotorsports.com or click on his Facebook page. Young is also active on Twitter. You can follow and tweet with him @TylerYoung02.
Young Motorsports PR
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