Proud Of His Roots, Peters Wants To Bring Title South

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is one of NASCAR’s three national series, but it still projects an “outsider” identity.

All but one of its champions — Bobby Hamilton — hail from beyond NASCAR’s traditional Southeast- ern base. Californian Ron Hornaday Jr. (No. 33 Longhorn Chevrolet) perhaps most reflects the series’ alternative roots. Hornaday leads in championships (four) and victories (45).

Timothy Peters (No. 17 K&N Toyota), the surprise points leader heading to this week’s Atlanta 200, hopes to engineer a geographical shift. Peters, from Providence, N.C., climbed the traditional NASCAR lad- der winning NASCAR Whelen All-American Series championships at a trio of short tracks south of the Ma- son-Dixon line.

His heroes growing up included, naturally, Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip.

“Earnhardt Sr. was a tremendous ambassador for the sport,” said Peters. “I liked Darrell’s driving style and the way the Tide car looked. He was aggressive and smart and always seemed to run well.”

In effect, Peters is racing for his fellow North Carolinians — some of NASCAR’s most devoted fans.

“The year that Bobby (Hamilton) won, everything seemed to fall into place,” he said. “I’m hoping the way our year started that it could be one of those Cinderella seasons for us. I would love to add my name to the list of southern drivers that have achieved that goal.”

Peters hasn’t done especially well at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Of course, his record there isn’t exten- sive — just three starts with a best finish of 15th.

He believes Saturday’s race will show great improvement, in part thanks to tutoring by Hamilton, for whom he drove in 2005-06.

“He taught me how to use multiple grooves to make the truck run better,” said Peters. “You can run your truck high or low or in between.”

Peters has enjoyed the glow of the past couple of weeks celebrating his Daytona victory. But that was then; this is now.

“It’s a very cool feeling being the points leader of the series but Atlanta changes the game,” said Peters. “This is when (it shows) you have it or you don’t have it. It’s privileged to be in this position, but we also know it’s our job to stay up there the entire season.”

Pair Of Bodine Brothers Line Up For Atlanta 200

It’s been nearly six years since brothers Todd and Geoff Bodine have taken the green flag in the same NAS- CAR Camping World Truck Series race. They look to do it for a sixth time in the series this week.

Todd (No. 30 Toyota) won the 2006 Atlanta 200. Geoff, who’ll drive the No. 95 Team Gill Racing Dodge, has 21 starts (the last in 2004) and a trio of second-place finishes. Bodine has spent the past several weeks at the Winter Olympics, overseeing the fortunes of his Bo-Dyn bobsleds and the Gold Medal U.S. Bobsled team.

“It’s going to be like old times, you know?” said younger brother Todd. “He’s looking forward to it. Once a racer, always a racer. It’s giving him an opportunity to have some fun.”

Said Danny Gill, whose Dodge (numbered 46 with Dennis Setzer at the wheel) finished third at Daytona, “We have worked really hard to prepare him a piece so that his return will be a competitive one. With his record (four NASCAR Sprint Cup top fives ) Atlanta is a perfect track for him. I think he’ll be a lot of fun to work with and have no trouble being a contender.”

Busch, Ballew Return To Atlanta But From Different Directions

Few drivers and teams have dominated a race track as Kyle Busch and Billy Ballew Mo- torsports. Busch and owner Billy Ballew have won four times at the 1.54-mile track, including three of the past four times the NASCAR Camp- ing World Truck Series has competed at AMS.

Is a fifth victory in the cards?

Perhaps — but only one member of the com- bination will find itself in Victory Lane.

Busch left his Atlanta owner’s team after the 2009 finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He formed his own team, Kyle Busch Motorsports, and will take the green flag in his own No. 18 Toyota Tundra Toyota along with teammate Tayler Malsam (No. 56 One Eighty Toyota).

Ballew, meanwhile, returns with Aric Almirola in the defending Atlanta 200 winning No. 51 Gateway Pharmaceuticals T oyota. BBM’s second entry, the No. 15 Red Top Auto Auc- tion Toyota, will be driven by Steve Wallace, a NASCAR Nationwide Series veteran making his truck racing debut.

“It’s great to race in Billy Ballew’s hometown of Atlanta. What better place to bring home a victory for Billy,” said Almirola.

Wallace, coming off a 10th-place finish in the NASCAR Nationwide Series Sam’s Town 300, said, “This is awesome. It’s something I’ve al- ways wanted to do.”

His uncle, Mike Wallace, is a four-time NCWTS winner.

Busch, meanwhile, is pleased to return to Atlanta and go for a 17th career victory that would tie him for fifth on the all-time series list with Todd Bodine and Ted Musgrave. “It’s a track I really like. It’s fast and the truck races are always really good,” said Busch. “Obviously, getting a win there would be really huge because it would be the first for Kyle Busch Motorsports.”