This weekend's trip to Martinsville Speedway will be a little different for
crew chief Chad Kendrick. In March, Kendrick and his driver, Timothy Peters (No.
17 Strutmasters/Red Horse Racing Toyota), were with Danville-based Premier
Racing. Working with fewer resources, they were doing a lot with a little,
sitting in the top 10 in points three races into the season.
Fast forward to June. Peters makes the move on the opportunity to run with Red
Horse Racing, taking Kendrick with him.
Since their move to Red Horse Racing just before the Michigan race, the team has
collected three top-five and six top-10 finishes. Peters also grabbed his first
career pole at Nashville.
Kendrick discusses the season and what they expect heading back to Martinsville:
Q: What do you expect at Martinsville? "Earning a top 10 at Martinsville in the spring would have felt like a win
for us. Now we feel like a trip to Victory Lane is not only possible, we feel
like it's imminent for this team. At this point we should be earning top-10s
each and every week so our goals have changed. Now our goals are to lead laps
and win races and we feel like that is just as realistic for us now as those
early goals were."
Q: What is the biggest change from March to October? "Timothy's confidence level has changed dramatically since the last
Martinsville race. We've earned three top fives since then and we both feel like
a win is more possible than ever. I also feel more confident with myself. I
trust my decisions and my own judgment more than I did back then."
Q: What would a win mean to both of you? "When I came to Red Horse Racing, I walked in my office and took out a
calendar and wrote down all the rest of the races for the year. I put a big
circle around Martinsville because that is the race Timothy and I want to win
the most. We both really want this win and we both think we should win at
Martinsville. At this point I think we would be disappointed with anything other
than a win. It would be an amazing feeling to be in Victory Lane at our home
track."
Q: Your team has climbed from 17th to ninth in the standings. What is it like
to make that move? "At the start of the year we felt like with the combination of me and
Timothy, that we would have no problem earning a top-10 points position. After
the season started, we realized that wasn't going to be possible with our
resources.
"When we came to Red Horse I was hopeful that we could make up the ground we
lost, but wasn't sure it would really happen. I am thrilled that we climbed all
those positions but that means the goal has changed again. Now we don't want to
just finish in the top 10 in points, we want to finish in the top five in
points. Timothy and I both know that means we need to finish in the top five
each of the last five races, but we are committed to the goal."
Q: What has helped your team progress? "Our communication gets better the longer we are together and that obviously
helps performance. Probably the biggest thing that propels us to do well is the
support we have behind us. Rick Gay and Tom DeLoach give us both a ton of
support that only helps build our confidence. If we are struggling, I can count
on Rick to help us. If we need something to better our program, Tom will give it
to us. Everyone in the shop is counting on us and that gives us even more
motivation to do well."
