Timothy Peters returns to victory lane at ‘Dega

Timothy Peters

Getty Images for NASCAR

For driver Timothy Peters, and his Red Horse Racing team, the 2014 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series' season has been rather frustrating. It was a trend that often saw race weekends filled with a high level of potential turn into race weekends that were consumed by bad luck. That situation took a turn for the better during a weekend in Alabama where Peters finally returned to victory land after winning the Fred's 250, powered by Coca Cola, at the Talladega Super Speedway.

Peters led 31 laps of the race and scored his first win of the season and his eighth series' career win. Peters has also won at least one race during the course of the last six, consecutive, seasons. Taylor Malsam and Spencer Gallagher finished second third, a career best for both of these young drivers, pole winner Tyler Reddick was fourth while Ryan Blaney, who also led 31 laps, rounded out the top five.

However, Peters' return to the winner's circle wasn't exactly an easy process. This race had a total of six yellow caution flags, that consumed a total of 22 laps. It was the final two caution flags that upset Peters' race rhythm the most.

With the laps winding down, the fifth yellow of the race surfaced on lap 86 when the trucks driven by Brian Silas, Brennan Newberry and Clay Greenfield collided on the back stretch. That incident led to a restart, with six laps remaining, that had Peters and John Wes Townley pacing the field from the front row. Townley didn't exactly get the restart he needed and that allowed Peters to take the lead while gaining ground on the pack of hopefuls behind him.

However, there was one more obstacle for Peters to overcome before the parked his Toyota in victory lane. That moment came on lap 92 when Norm Benning's single truck spin brought out the sixth, and final, yellow flag of the race. It also created the need for NASCAR's definition of overtime: the green-white-checker finish.

When the final restart of the race produced a green flag, Peters and Ryan Blaney were lined up side by side. They remained that way as they crossed under the white flag signifying the final lap of the race. That when Peters received a major assist, in the form of a massive rear bumper push, from Taylor Malsam. That move allowed Peters to take command of the race lead for the final lap. He came across the stripe for the final time a mere .143 seconds ahead of Malsam who moved into second on the final circuit.

After parking his Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra in victory lane, a very delighted Peters thanked Malsam for the assist and then added "it's a dream come true to be able to say that I've won at Daytona and now Talladega. That makes up for what has been an up and down season for us. We were making our Toyota Tundra as wide as we could, (during the final laps). It just feels really good to go to victory lane."

Peters also had high praise for his spotter, Chris Lambert, and said "he did a great job from the time the green flag fell till the checkered flag waved. It was system overload. He told me everything, how far apart they were in front of me, how close the guy behind me was and what run was coming on the outside to the checkered flag."

It's very well known that the Talladega Super Speedway is famous for being the home of the multi race vehicle wrecks referred to as the "big one." While some of the six caution flags in this race involved two or more trucks, none of the incidents met the specifications of being a "big one."

However, there was one major crash, on lap 67, that was scary involving young driver Ben Kennedy. Coming down the backstretch, Joe Nemechek made contact with Kennedy's truck that sent him hard into the outside retaining wall. Following the hard impact, the truck's radiator and oil cooler was found lying in the center of the track.

A very shaken Nemechek immediately came over his radio and inquired if Kennedy was okay. After being assured that Kennedy had climbed out of his badly wrecked truck and walked away, Nemechek responded "put all of the blame for that one square on my shoulders."

The Talladega race was also a frustrating experience for two team mates campaigning for the series' season championship. ThorSport Racing's Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter arrived at Talladega listed one-two in the championship standings separated by 19 points .

Sauter's source of frustration arrived early when, on lap 24, he made that slow trip down pit road with a blown engine, something that rarely happens to this team. The source of the problem was equally surprising. A loose bolt knocked a hole in the radiator and that led to the scalding hot power plant that blew up a few laps later.

Later, a clearly dejected Sauter said "another kick in the ass. The championship's over and all we have to do now is race like hell." The situation led to a 31st place finish and a fall from second to fourth in the championship standings, 36 points out of first.

Meanwhile Matt Crafton's bid to become the first driver in NASCAR's truck series' history to win back to back titles also became a little frustrating at times. That process began early in the event, when during the first round of yellow flag pit stops, Crafton, exiting his pit stall, collided with Bryan Silas, who was entering his pit box at the same time. The result was a return to the pits for damage repair, that limited his windshield visibility, and a large loss of track position.

The next round of frustration for Crafton came with 39 laps remaining in the event. After racing his way back into the top five, Crafton was heading down the backstretch when he received a bump push from driver Joe Nemechek.

NASCAR's push policy, during its restrictor plate races at Daytona and Talladega, is crystal clear. One driver can lightly tap the rear bumper of a vehicle and push that vehicle forward. It's a move that has been known to greatly influence the outcome of one of these races. However, the policy clearly states that the second driver can tap the bumper but must back off immediately following that initial push. This is a safety measure designed to, hopefully, reduce the possibility of a "big one" crash.

Unfortunately, Nemechek didn't back off of Crafton's bumper fast enough and continued to push him down the backstretch. The mere seconds worth of pushing was a direct violation of NASCAR's policy and the result was a pass through penalty down pit road for each driver. One again, Crafton's track position was gone. Carl Joiner, Crafton's crew chief, was livid when he came over the radio to call his driver to pit road. An equally angry Crafton came over his radio and said "tell Joe, thanks a lot, you !@#$%^ idiot."

By the end of the race, Crafton was, once again, in a position to score a good points day. Unfortunately, on the final restart, he was shuffled to the outside line and the result was the loss of several positions which led to a 14th place finish. The good news is: he left Talladega still on top of the championship standings, with only four races remaining on the schedule, and holds a 16 points advantage over Ryan Blaney.

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to action next Saturday, October 25th, at the Martinsville Speedway with Fox Sports 1 providing a live broadcast that begins at 1pm eastern time.