-
Home
- TV Shows
- TV Schedule
- NASCAR
-
Formula 1
- Auto Racing
- Moto Racing
- Cars
- Bikes
- Store
- Social
- Games
- Mobile
- Deals
- Videos
- Photos
- Home
- TV Shows
-
TV Schedule
-
SPEED Showcase
-
- NASCAR
- Formula 1
- Auto Racing
- Moto Racing
- Cars
- Bikes
- Store
- Social
- Mobile
- Deals
- Videos
- Photos
Camping World Trucks
TRUCKS: Sellers Overcomes Bad Luck At Pocono
Peyton Sellers struggled all weekend at Pocono Raceway...
Peyton Sellers had bad luck during the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Good Sam RV ERS 125 at Pocono Raceway but pulled out a 25th place finish. (Photo: Ronda Greer)
NASCAR drivers and teams are nothing if not tough and resilient. Witness Brad Keselowski’s gritty performance in winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Good Sam RV Insurance 500 at Pocono Raceway just four days after breaking his left ankle.
Other competitors also faced and overcame challenges at Pocono.
Take Peyton Sellers, who drove the No. 66 SkillsUSA-sponsored Turn One Racing Chevrolet in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Good Sam RV Emergency Road Service 125 at Pocono Raceway. The team’s bad luck began on Thursday of race week when its hauler knocked over the flag stand at the track.
“We were driving up Thursday afternoon, my dad and I, when we got the call that the hauler driver had knocked the flag stand down,” said Sellers. “Well that didn’t sound right, I thought, ‘How in the world does that happen?’ Well when we got up there we figured out what went on.”
As it was explained to him, the haulers park four-wide on the front stretch leaving little room for error. With Turn One’s hauler driver keeping a close eye on the other teams carriers, he caught the flag stand with the top of the hauler, pulling the stand forward about 10 inches. Track officials surveyed the damage and elected to remove the old stand, replacing it with a temporary unit for the weekend’s races.
“There was no excuse for hitting it but then again it was just one of those things that happens,” Sellers said.
But the weekend would not get any better.
“I was driving in practice and we lost an engine, a first for the team all year, the bottom end just came out of it. When that happened everything caught on fire in the truck. It burnt up the wiring harness and actually burned through the seat belts on the back of the seat,” Sellers said.
Tense moments followed while Sellers got the truck halted and emergency workers were able to extinguish the blaze. Hard work by the team put the truck back together for qualifying but the engine was not 100 percent and Sellers started last.
The race itself was the victim of bad luck when after 17 laps on Saturday, rain forced the event to be red-flagged and eventually rescheduled to run Sunday morning.
Sellers, 27, a native of Danville, Va., was making his way up through the field on the 2.5-mile tri-oval and it seemed like the team’s luck was turning. Then, on Lap 36, David Starr turned Brendan Gaughan in Turn 3, snaring Sellers with him.
“We got spun and then pitted to get some fresh tires,” said Sellers. “We were moving back up and I truly thought we could have finished 15th to 18th, which would have been a solid day for my first visit to Pocono. But it didn’t work out. We had another issue where the kill switch on the steering wheel actually went bad and left us stalled out. Hard to plan for stuff like that,” Sellers said.
The end result put Sellers with a 25th-place finish, but considering all the adversity the driver and team faced over the weekend he had nothing but high praise for the Turn One Racing organization.
“The team puts in a lot of hard work and hours. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series veteran Stacy Compton and his crew are doing very well for themselves. It’s tough in this economy but their program is solid,” Sellers said.
Sellers’ plans are not complete for the rest of the season.
The next Truck Series event, the Aug. 20 VFW 200 at Michigan International Speedway, will be televised live on SPEED, beginning with The NCWTS Setup with Krista Voda at noon ET.
Jim Rising is an Associate Editor for SPEED.com, covering NASCAR and is an Editor for TruckSeries.com.
Other competitors also faced and overcame challenges at Pocono.
Take Peyton Sellers, who drove the No. 66 SkillsUSA-sponsored Turn One Racing Chevrolet in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Good Sam RV Emergency Road Service 125 at Pocono Raceway. The team’s bad luck began on Thursday of race week when its hauler knocked over the flag stand at the track.
“We were driving up Thursday afternoon, my dad and I, when we got the call that the hauler driver had knocked the flag stand down,” said Sellers. “Well that didn’t sound right, I thought, ‘How in the world does that happen?’ Well when we got up there we figured out what went on.”
As it was explained to him, the haulers park four-wide on the front stretch leaving little room for error. With Turn One’s hauler driver keeping a close eye on the other teams carriers, he caught the flag stand with the top of the hauler, pulling the stand forward about 10 inches. Track officials surveyed the damage and elected to remove the old stand, replacing it with a temporary unit for the weekend’s races.
“There was no excuse for hitting it but then again it was just one of those things that happens,” Sellers said.
But the weekend would not get any better.
“I was driving in practice and we lost an engine, a first for the team all year, the bottom end just came out of it. When that happened everything caught on fire in the truck. It burnt up the wiring harness and actually burned through the seat belts on the back of the seat,” Sellers said.
Tense moments followed while Sellers got the truck halted and emergency workers were able to extinguish the blaze. Hard work by the team put the truck back together for qualifying but the engine was not 100 percent and Sellers started last.
The race itself was the victim of bad luck when after 17 laps on Saturday, rain forced the event to be red-flagged and eventually rescheduled to run Sunday morning.
Sellers, 27, a native of Danville, Va., was making his way up through the field on the 2.5-mile tri-oval and it seemed like the team’s luck was turning. Then, on Lap 36, David Starr turned Brendan Gaughan in Turn 3, snaring Sellers with him.
“We got spun and then pitted to get some fresh tires,” said Sellers. “We were moving back up and I truly thought we could have finished 15th to 18th, which would have been a solid day for my first visit to Pocono. But it didn’t work out. We had another issue where the kill switch on the steering wheel actually went bad and left us stalled out. Hard to plan for stuff like that,” Sellers said.
The end result put Sellers with a 25th-place finish, but considering all the adversity the driver and team faced over the weekend he had nothing but high praise for the Turn One Racing organization.
“The team puts in a lot of hard work and hours. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series veteran Stacy Compton and his crew are doing very well for themselves. It’s tough in this economy but their program is solid,” Sellers said.
Sellers’ plans are not complete for the rest of the season.
The next Truck Series event, the Aug. 20 VFW 200 at Michigan International Speedway, will be televised live on SPEED, beginning with The NCWTS Setup with Krista Voda at noon ET.
Jim Rising is an Associate Editor for SPEED.com, covering NASCAR and is an Editor for TruckSeries.com.
Shake and Bake: Recent Posts
-
Race Day Blog: Sights and Sounds From the All-Star Race »
-
Daryl Wright Breaks It Down With Pit Road Rapper Kenyatta Houston »
-
Daryl ' Vodkatime ' Wright Takes To Charlotte Motor Speedway »
-
Brad Keselowski's All-Star Car Features Awkward Kyle Busch Photo »
-
Kyle Busch Kicks Off All-Star Weekend With Trucks Win »
-
Dale Earnhardt Sr., Father of the All-Star Paint Scheme »
-
Charlotte Television Schedule: Sprint All-Star Weekend »
-
Trickle Was A Legend »
Kansas Speedway
LATEST HEADLINES: NASCAR
-
CUP: Saturday Charlotte Notebook (UPDATE 4)
Matt Kenseth is one of the favorites to win tonight’s Sprint… -
EXCLUSIVE: Kahne Says He And Kyle Busch Are Cool
Kasey Kahne spun out racing Kyle Busch for the lead at Darlington… -
CUP: JGR Heavily Favored, But No Slam Dunk
Joe Gibbs Racing is five-for-five on intermediate-length tracks this… -
CUP: Earnhardt Fond Of 'Home' Track
Dale Earnhardt Jr. grew up a few miles from Charlotte Motor Speedway...… -
TRUCKS: It’s Kyle Busch – Again
Kyle Busch rallied from a pit-road problem to win Camping World Truck… -
CUP: Friday Charlotte Notebook (UPDATE 14)
Kyle Busch wins the North Carolina Education Lottery 200... -
CUP: Edwards Wins All-Star Pole
Carl Edwards has good speed and a good pit stop to win All-Star pole…… - More News
