Staying Alive

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship contenders Timothy Peters and Ty Dillon are coming off two very different outcomes last weekend in Martinsville, but both are looking to Texas Motor Speedway to keep them in the title hunt.

  Peters has rebounded from a three-race stretch of finishes outside of the top 10 with three consecutive top-10 efforts, including seventh at Martinsville after starting on the pole, to leave him third in the championship. He is 25 points behind the leader, James Buescher, and just four back of Dillon.

“We’re going for wins and that’s what it’s going to take for us to get back on top,” Peters said.  “It’s going to come down to the checkered flag at Homestead to find out who wins.  We’ve got our work cut out for us, but we’re looking forward to Texas.”

Peters definitely will have his work cut out for him at Texas if he is in need of a win. He has only been able to muster one top-10 finish – seventh in the summer race of 2010 – in nine career starts at Texas Motor Speedway.

 Dillon also is eyeing a win at Texas Motor Speedway and hopeful that the Martinsville finish was just a blip on a strong season. He was seemingly in control of the championship with four top-five finishes over the last five races before his disastrous misfortune in Martinsville.  His one-point lead on Buescher turned into a 21-point deficit after his No. 3 Chevrolet blew a tire and nosed into the wall on Lap 151, resulting in a 28th-place finish.

Dillon only has two NCWTS starts at Texas Motor Speedway, but has been strong in both outings. He finished third in last fall’s WinStar World Casino 350 and followed with a seventh-place finish while leading 22 laps in this summer’s WinStar World Casino 400.

“It’s a fun track to race and we had a decent finish there in the spring,” Dillon said.  “We have a strong team and just have to keep our heads down and keep digging for the last few races. I have a lot of confidence in my team that we can win another race before the season is over and we’re hoping to do that in Texas.”

TMS PR