Stock Car Racing

Timothy Peters Scores Talladega Truck Series Win

Timothy Peters celebrates in Victory Lane
Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

Timothy Peters finished Saturday's Fred's 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Talladega Superspeedway exactly where he started – at the front of the pack – despite an extraordinary ebb and flow between the opening green flag and the checkers.

Peters was out front when NASCAR called the sixth caution of the race on the first lap of the only attempt at a green-white-checkered-flag finish, after contact between the trucks of John Wes Townley and Spencer Gallagher sent both crashing hard into the outside wall.

The victory was Peters' first of the season, his second straight at Talladega and the ninth of his career.

Brandon Jones, who led the field to the last restart on Lap 97, finished second after Gallagher, his GMS Racing teammate, pushed Peters to the lead. Mason Mingus ran third, a career-best, and Erik Jones finished fourth and extended his series lead to 18 points over second place Tyler Reddick, who came home fifth on Saturday.

Jones picked the inside for the final restart, even though he could have started in front of Gallagher. Peters wasn't particularly surprised that Jones picked the preferred lane, rather than choosing the spot in front of his teammate.

"I kind of thought that maybe he would take the outside," Peters said, "but we'd already gotten the radio from the tower that this was going to be the one and only attempt (at the green-white-checkered). At that point, teammates are good for 95 laps.

"Coming to the checkered, you're on your own, and he kind of knew it was every man for himself. I appreciate the push that Spencer gave to me. I'm glad he's OK after that wreck on the back … The push that Spencer gave me was a little delayed, but it was enough to get us both in front of the 33 (Jones)."

Matt Crafton (88) leads Jon Wes Townley (05) at Talladega. Crafton would fall to third in points after getting caught up in a late-race crash
Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Throughout the afternoon, storylines materialized and disappeared as quickly as the smoke from the "Big One" – the almost inevitable multicar wreck that finally occurred on Lap 92 of a scheduled 94 and skewed both the finishing order and the series standings.

Brian Keselowski, making his first series start in a Ford owned by his brother, Brad Keselowski, threatened to win the race – until he ran out of fuel before the last restart.

"They (Keselowski's team) said right from the get-go to save fuel, and I was," said Keselowski, who finished 17th after leading 10 laps. But you can only do so much when you're leading.

"You've got to go, so I didn't save any when I was out front. I guess I should have, but that's a little bit of inexperience in the Truck Series probably showing up. We'll learn better next time."

Two-time defending series champion Matt Crafton was shuffled to the rear of the field when debris struck to the grille of his No. 88 Toyota, but that was the least of his troubles. Crafton was a victim of the Lap 92 10-truck wreck ignited by contact between the Tundras of Johnny Sauter and Matt Tifft.

Crafton finished 24th and fell to third in the standings, 23 points behind Erik Jones.

Pos No. Driver Make Start Laps Led Status Points
1 17 Timothy Peters Toyota 1 98 23 Running 47
2 33 Brandon Jones Chevy 13 98 7 Running 43
3 15 Mason Mingus Chevy 19 98 0 Running 41
4 4 Erik Jones Toyota 3 98 6 Running 41
5 19 Tyler Reddick Ford 15 98 0 Running 39
6 13 Cameron Hayley Toyota 16 98 0 Running 38
7 98 Johnny Sauter Toyota 8 98 0 Running 37
8 45 Chris Fontaine Toyota 12 98 0 Running 36
9 16 Chad Boat Chevy 20 98 0 Running 35
10 02 Tyler Young Chevy 18 98 0 Running 34
11 8 John Hunter Nemechek Chevy 14 98 0 Running 33
12 36 Bobby Gerhart Chevy 17 98 0 Running 0
13 54 Christopher Bell Toyota 10 98 0 Running 31
14 07 Ray Black Jr Chevy 27 98 1 Running 31
15 08 Korbin Forrister Chevy 30 98 0 Running 29
16 05 John Wes Townley Chevy 2 98 1 Running 29
17 29 Brian Keselowski Ford 11 98 10 Running 28
18 23 Spencer Gallagher Chevy 9 98 0 Running 26
19 74 Jordan Anderson Chevy 32 97 0 Running 25
20 94 Timmy Hill Chevy 25 97 1 Running 25
21 6 Norm Benning Chevy 24 96 0 Running 23
22 82 Austin Hill Ford 22 96 0 Running 22
23 51 Matt Tifft Toyota 6 96 0 Running 21
24 88 Matt Crafton Toyota 7 96 43 Running 22
25 11 Ben Kennedy Toyota 5 96 6 Running 20
26 63 Tyler Tanner Chevy 28 91 0 Accident 18
27 1 Travis Kvapil Chevy 31 91 0 Accident 17
28 14 Daniel Hemric Chevy 4 91 0 Running 16
29 91 Stanton Barrett Chevy 21 85 0 Accident 0
30 68 Clay Greenfield Chevy 26 77 0 Overheating 14
31 30 Terry Jones Chevy 23 35 0 Accident 13
32 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Chevy 29 29 0 Engine 12