You will almost certainly need a program to identify some of the top-10
drivers in the 2009 point standings heading into Saturday's NASCAR Camping World
Truck Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway (2 p.m. ET on SPEED; NCWTS Setup
with Krista Voda at 1:30 p.m. ET).
Just who are Timothy Peters, T.J. Bell, Chad McCumbee and J.R. Fitzpatrick and
how many of them will finish the year as dramatically as they've started?
Granted, it's only two races into the new season but four obscure, younger
drivers are flying under the radar and straight into the top 10 in Truck Series
point standings. Timothy Peters sits fourth in points on the strength of two
top-10 finishes. T.J. Bell has scored one top-five and one top-10 finish in two
starts, elevating him to a tie for fifth with three-time series champ Ron
Hornaday Jr. McCumbee holds the eighth position by virtue of one top-five and
one top-10 finish, and Fitzpatrick, a rookie who made only his fourth career
Truck start at Daytona, sits 10th with one top-10 effort and is the only one of
the group currently slated for the full season in the No. 7 TRG Motorsports
Chevrolet.
Peters, 28, runs his race team on a shoestring budget out of his buddy's home
garage with only two fulltime employees -- himself and the crew chief -- and
three trucks.
"Being in the top 10 in points with those veterans means everything in the world
to me, especially with our budget and where our shop is," said Peters, driver of
the No. 17 Premier Racing Toyota. "It speaks volumes for us and I'm just proud
we've accomplished a lot with less than a lot of other guys."
"We certainly believe that it's stories just like this that make the series a
hit with our viewers," said SPEED President Hunter Nickell, coming off the
network's most-watched race in series history. "Every single lap, half of these
guys are racing for their careers … it doesn't get more exciting than that."
Throughout the entire 2008 season, the quartet, of whom only McCumbee had run a
full Truck Series schedule before, combined for only 25 top-10 finishes but has
collectively scored five in only two races this year. The foursome's experience
ranges from five career Truck Series starts (Fitzpatrick) to 73 (McCumbee), and
despite their varying levels of on-track time, they're all honored to find
themselves on the roster with champions like Hornaday, Todd Bodine and Mike
Skinner.
"Anytime you can run with those names is unbelievable," said Bell, driver of the
No. 11 Red Horse Racing Toyota. "Being in a truck this year at Daytona was a
great feeling because most of the time I'm down there walking around looking for
a job, so to be in the top 10 in points and tied with Hornaday for fifth is
unbelievable."
McCumbee, contracted for a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series ride with the former Petty
Enterprises until the company merged with Gillett Evernham Motorsports, says his
recent showing in the Truck Series has helped ease his disappointment over the
loss of his Cup ride.
"Running so well with the veterans definitely pumps you up," said McCumbee,
driver of the No. 07 SS Green Light Racing Chevrolet and last year's 11th-place
points finisher. "Not getting to run the Cup Series fulltime is a big
disappointment but I really enjoy running the Truck Series and to run this
competitively and showcase what you can do is really special. If we can keep
this thing up front and keep it strong, maybe it will turn into a full season."
The teams' strong runs followed on the heels of hard work and have boosted their
confidence levels across the board.
"A lot of it ('09 success) stems from good runs at the end of last year and I've
got my confidence back," said Bell, 28, who holds 37 career Truck starts. "I
also worked extremely hard this winter and think I'm in better shape physically
and have the confidence to run with these guys now. My situation with Johnny
Benson as my teammate is unbelievable because I'm learning from the reigning
champion."
For most of these up-and-comers, three of whom are searching for sponsorship to
run the entire season, standing pat in their points position and running the
full schedule would spell success.
"We're guaranteed quite a few races but we still need to find funding and that
would be the biggest success," Bell said. "Other than that, we want to finish in
the top 10 in points and hopefully get a victory."
"I'd like to think we can continue our performance and top 10s and maybe those
will turn into a top five or a win," Peters said. "We made a big splash and we
want to continue that momentum but our main goal is finding that almighty dollar
to keep us going all year long."
Fitzpatrick's team is the only one with enough of the almighty dollar for the
duration of the season.
"It's so hard to evaluate each guy on his merit this early in the season but
when you look at their teams, the edge probably goes to J.R. Fitzpatrick," said
SPEED reporter Ray Dunlap. "Timothy's is very small operation - three trucks
total trying to make it from week to week. Chad's deal is a good team but across
the board, TRG Motorsports probably has the best overall operation to keep J.R.
running that well into the year. He's the guy I'd keep my eye on. But it's neat
to see the changing of the guard, so to speak, in our points, but realize we're
very early in our season."
And despite how uphill the climb and sponsorship search might seem for some of
these lesser-funded yet performing teams, perseverance is key to success.
"My dad always taught me to make the best of your situation, and sometimes
things are bad but are they really that bad?" Peters said of his late father.
"If you've got the desire to be in motorsports and are in it, you're very
fortunate, and if you want to continue, the sky is the limit. Don't give up.
Just look at us."
SPEED, now in more than 78 million homes in North America, is the exclusive home
of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Gatorade Duel at Daytona, NASCAR Sprint Pit
Crew Challenge and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The only network
delivering live, at-track programming all season long, SPEED offers the
definitive pre- and post-race NASCAR Sprint Cup Series programs - NASCAR RaceDay
and NASCAR Victory Lane, as well as other popular NASCAR programs including
Trackside Live, NASCAR Performance, NASCAR Live!, This Week in NASCAR, NCWTS
Setup, NASCAR Smarts and NASCAR in a Hurry.
