DES MOINES, Iowa — Timothy Peters and crew chief Butch Hylton used a weekend at Iowa Speedway a year ago as an opportunity to shake things up.
Twelve months later, Peters returned to Iowa and showed how much better he and the No. 17 truck have been since last summer.
Peters took his first pole of the season Saturday and beat Ron Hornaday on a late restart to win the first of two truck races at Iowa Speedway this season. The victory, the first of the year for Peters, extended his lead in the points race to 12 over Justin Lofton.
“We're just in a zone right now,” he said. “We're doing everything right. Butch Hylton and I have a package that is comfortable for my driving style, and I'm able to get out there and hustle the truck without jeopardizing the equipment.”
Peters' breakthrough came after years of decent but unremarkable seasons. Now 31, he has raced in the trucks series since 2005. After a spell as a development driver for Richard Childress Racing, he signed with Red Horse Racing for a full-time truck ride for the 2009 season.
Peters always had been a good driver, finishing eighth in 2009 and sixth in 2010 with a win at Daytona. But in their quest to turn top-10s into top-five finishes, Peters and Hylton decided to use last year's race in Iowa as a chance to re-evaluate what they were doing.
Peters and his team went to work on the truck, tweaking the mechanics and the aerodynamic package to better fit his driving style so, as Peters said, he could drive the truck instead of the truck driving him.
Peters finished 11th, then went to Nashville and led much of the race before ending up third. He won the following week at Lucas Oil Raceway and wound up a career-best fifth in the points, even though he and Hylton didn't feel like they'd perfected their setup until the finale.
“We just kind of went back to the drawing board and tried something different,” Peters said. “We got on a roll, and we've been building this notebook and we continue to build it and I continue to try and improve my skills.”
This season, Peters has been the best of the series regulars. He has top-10 finishes in eight of his nine races and has been fifth or better six times. He didn't have a pole or a win until last weekend, when he took care of both.
“We went there with determination. Wanting to run well, trying to keep things going positive for us from the momentum side,” he said. “We were able to sit on the pole. That doesn't make you cocky, but it gives you confidence.”
The renewed focus has extended beyond his notebook. He also has incorporated film study to improve, among other things, his restarts.
That work paid off last weekend.
