RIDGEWAY, VA :: Peyton Sellers will be making his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start since 2012 in Saturday’s Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway. Sellers will be racing for WinTron Racing and enters the race with a lot of optimism after a strong run in the MDCU 300 at Martinsville Speedway earlier this month.
Sellers, who won the track championship at South Boston Speedway this season, will be racing in a truck that Mason Mingus and Daniel Suarez have both competed in this season. The deal to run the race was a last minute deal that wasn’t finalized until Tuesday.
“This deal came together on Tuesday and I was able to get some of my sponsors on it and I’m looking forward to it,” Sellers said. “I had to run around and get drug tested and everything before I could commit to it and they commit to it. It’s NASCAR’s process for it.”
Sellers feels optimistic after having one of the best runs he’s ever had at Martinsville back on October 5th in the MDCU 300. He set the fast lap in qualifying and was in position to win the race until he got caught up in an accident on the last lap.
“I think our performance helps us,” Sellers remarked. “It helped me get this opportunity and it gives me a lot of confidence going back to the track I just ran at three weeks ago and maybe a little redemption trying to get a better finish.”
Saturday’s race will be Sellers’ eighth career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start. His best finish in the series, entering Saturday’s race, was a 20th place finish in the 2012 Kroger 200 racing for Stacy Compton. Sellers feels he should be able to improve on that racing for WinTron Racing.
“I haven’t been in a truck for years now so I’m looking forward to getting in there in practice tomorrow and getting in the rhythm,” Sellers commented. “I tried to put some stuff together last year for the truck race and things just didn’t work out. This team seems like a good fit for a lot of their racers. WinTron is good at short tracks. Frank Kimmel runs ARCA with them. It seems to be a good fit so far.”
Sellers has his sights set on a top-10 finish in Saturday’s race.
“Realistically, I feel like we should shoot for a top-10 and if things go right with pit stops and if the driver does his job, we have a legitimate shot at being there at the end,” Sellers remarked. “Practice will tell a lot tomorrow. We’ll know when we go to bed tomorrow night whether we have a chance or whether we’re throwing a Hail Mary trying to get more speed.”
The veteran racer, who won the 2005 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series National Championship, has plenty of laps logged at Martinsville Speedway in both the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series as well as in a Late Model Stock Car. Earlier this month, he appeared destined to win the MDCU 300 until the final two laps when Lee Pulliam got around him on a controversial restart. On the last lap, Sellers was turned around off the front bumper of Sam Yarbrough and taken out in the multi-car accident. That accident relegated him to a 12th place finish in a race he otherwise dominated.
“We’ve had some really good cars in the past but luck has never been on our side at Martinsville and to have the opportunity to be in the hunt for the win in the end of the race is something I’ve looked forward to. We’ve had good cars in the past but the pieces have never fallen in to place. It was encouraging. I was dejected because our car was torn up and everything played like it did but it was a good accomplishment knowing we had one of the top cars there all weekend.”
As for his Late Model program, he doesn’t plan to compete anymore this season.
“We went in to Martinsville and I was satisfied that we would be done there and getting our car destroyed made our mind up for us. We had a long summer running a lot of races. We’re looking forward to the winter trying to improve things.”
Saturday’s Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway can be seen live on FOX Sports 1 at 1:00pm EST.
